Regarding abortion, for the most part, beyond the lip service to the fate of the fetus or potential child, most of it has more to do with control over the autonomy of the individual woman. And, to badly paraphrase and compress an excellent essay on the subject, in the broad sense, individuals, societies and nations don't really value the lives of anonymous or individuals in the abstract all that much, and innocent lives get snuffed out in innumerable ways every day. The 'right' to exercise life and death choices is all too easily done without any moral qualms. And it all boils down to circumstance.



In the end, the mother ought to have the absolute right of choice. It is her body and her risk and responsibility, and if she can't or won't take on that responsibility, then she should not be forced into going through with it.