Thread by @shawnwenzel

Allowing abortion only for rape or where the woman's life is in danger: a concept that may seem like a good compromise but when you dig further into it it's a disaster. Let's talk about it and why abortion should be freely available without these restrictions. #AbortionStandJA 1/

Let's start with the woman's life in danger: who makes this determination? Pregnancy and childbirth are risky and can cost a woman her life, even if it is a normal pregnancy. If she doesn't want a baby is it not inhumane to force this risk on her? 2/

Now let's think about rape. Who is to determine if a woman was raped, when it's often just her word against the alleged rapist? The police? A court? What happens if there's no proof at all she was raped other than her own word (as is so common)? Does this mean no abortion? 3/

I can't think of few things more demeaning than forcing a woman to interrupt her career to carry the child of her rapist to term and spend the next 18 years raising a child that looks like her rapist. 4/

This abortion rape requirement also creates an impediment for prosecuting real rape cases. If the rapist's lawyer can make a good argument that the sex was consensual and the woman made up the story just so she could get an abortion, it could let the rapist get off scot free! 5/

Another issue is how long all this takes: how long does it take to determine if she was raped or her health is in danger? This delay can mean that instead of a simple first-trimester abortion of a collection of cells we're stuck with a late-term abortion of a developed fetus! 6/

This delay has important medical considerations too: an early abortion can be done medically by taking pills at home or at one's doctor's office. A late-term abortion is much higher risk and may need to be done surgically in a hospital setting. 7/

In short, requiring that a woman was raped or her health is in danger may seem like a good compromise on the surface. But when we dig deeper one can see where this doesn't make sense, and why abortion should be freely available without these restrictions. #AbortionStandJA 8/8