My mother raised me to never put my penis in a woman unless I was prepared for the possibility of pregnancy and all the responsibilities that come along with it. Yesterday I asked her (because I never honestly thought to before) what her thoughts are on abortion. Her answer was predictable to me (being that I was raised by her) she said (paraphrasing) that a woman has full control over her body when deciding whether or not to have sex & if she gets pregnant she should accept the outcome of that choice. She also said a pregnant woman has 50% control over her body when pregnant. She also mentioned that a complete ban on abortion would be a bad idea (again paraphrasing) because it should be available for cases of rape & unviable pregnancies (medical reasons) as at that point the woman should retain 100% control of her body.
I tried asking her when she believes life starts and she refused to answer (literally sucked her teeth in that Jamaican way) and said (paraphrasing) if you don't want a baby don't have sex until you're ready for one.
I'm sharing this convo because I'm genuinely interested in opinions on my momma's position.
While it is decent advice to talk about not getting pregnant as a way to avoid accidental pregnancies, the truth is, people in mature relationships have accidents too. And ultimately, we need to step away from the Just Say No argument. There are unwanted pregnancies before Roe, during Roe, and now tragically after Roe. Abortion isn't the cause of unwanted pregnancies. Human nature is. And much like in an ideal world we wouldn't have car accidents, accidental pregnancy among a large group of people, despite precautions is a guarantee.
So the see no evil, hear no evil approach is effectively naïve. We need to address the problem, not pretend we can prevent it all the time.
And we are seeing with some GOP'ers and Justice Thomas, the target is well well beyond abortion. They are aiming at birth control (hence they aren't seeking to eliminate accidental pregnancies) and basic gay rights.