On Saturday, Donald Trump talked about his platform for abortion. The Republican party’s platform is widely known as not condoning abortion for any reason. Trump’s stated desire however is to allow for exceptions in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother. Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin wouldn’t guarantee that the GOP would change its platform on abortion, regardless of Trump’s statement. She only stated that the party will “remain pro-life.” The decision to make good on Donald Trump’s promise will be left up to the 100-ish delegates.
Trump speaking up about his desires to change the platform to allow for these three exceptions puts him at odds with a lot of conservatives who are already suspicious of his loyalty to the Republican party and the values of the Republican party. However, GOP presidential candidates before Trump have supported the same exceptions. These candidates include Mitt Romney, John McCain, and both Bush presidents.
I have to say that I for one, stand with Trump on this matter. As our world around us changes and advances, our ideals have to move with. While the Republican party is conservative on many issues, abortion is one they should probably reconsider. I have always been pro-life. I’ve grown up in a Catholic, Republican family and that’s one belief that while a touchy subject, I have remained true to. I have seen some amazing adoptions and some people become the best young parents I could ever imagine. But there are exceptions to every rule. Like Donald Trump, I think it’s important that we get the Republican party up to speed and change the platform to allow for exceptions. If a mother’s life is at risk or the child is a product of incest or rape, that should be a choice that a mother can make to terminate the pregnancy.
While a fetus’s life is important, a mother’s life is also important. If her life is at risk during the pregnancy, it should be her and the family’s right to make the decision to abort the baby if that means she survives or is more likely to survive.
A child of incest can have health problems of many sorts. They can exhibit lower intelligence, lower physical strength and get sick more often than normal children. Smaller gene pools allow more room for certain diseases as the recessive genes that are expressed are more likely to be expressed. Birth defects are also more prevalent in incest cases. Because of these problems, a mother should have the right to choose to terminate a pregnancy as bringing the child into the world would likely cause it health problems.
Rape cases are very difficult situations in which the mother should have her choice whether or not she carries the child to full term. Rape victims need to feel that they can regain control of themselves and their body. Carrying a child that they didn’t plan for that is also a product of their perpetrator can be stressful, difficult and unwanted. The victim can feel anger towards the child as he or she is a result of an incident the victim does not want to have to think about. While some victims choose to care for the child and some choose to put the child up for adoption after it’s born, the mother should have the choice to abort the baby if she doesn’t desire to go all the way through the pregnancy as it was a choice she didn’t get to make with her body.
Abortion is a subject that many have a hard time talking about. It’s sensitive and should be approached delicately. It’s one platform that has to be addressed as the care for these mothers is important and exceptions to the rules are appropriate with all three cases.
