“I don’t believe in abortion, but if I became pregnant right now, I would have one,” – teenage me. I remember the confusion as a teenage girl, learning about sex and hearing everyone was having it, then eventually having it myself. I remember struggling with what I would do if I were to become accidentally pregnant at a young age. It was this battle I would have with myself over right from wrong. Am I supposed to have sex? It’s all anyone ever talks about. Boys are expected to, but girls have to take responsibility. So, should girls not have sex this young? But how are boys going to have sex if the girls aren’t? Growing up Catholic, but also living in a time where abortion was still hush-hush, was tough. I’m taught abortion is wrong, by my parents, my church, but also my community. Yet, I still know that everyone at my high school is “doing it”. On the inside, I knew I would get an abortion if I needed to. I knew I could not face a teenage pregnancy for practical reasons but also emotional reasons as well- I was not old enough to become a mother, a provider, a caregiver! My life was still starting. But when I said it out loud, I felt shame.
Now, as a twenty-four-year-old woman living in 2019, I’ve learned how abortion is not only an issue of morality, but it also takes on environmental concerns. With climate change becoming more of a serious recognized issue in our society, the argument of abortion has taken on more of a legitimacy. I believe Hawkins ideas are just practical based on real world issues we face. For example, as a teenager I knew that if the time ever came, I would be able to get an abortion. It would be expensive, but I would do it because I would have accessibility based on where I lived, and I knew I could pull together the money. But I know that not all women have that luxury. Hawkins says, “at least 1.2 billion people are presently estimated to be living in absolute poverty around the world, of which about half are thought to be trapped in such a self- reinforcing process,” (690). Abortion restriction is thought to be systematically maintaining, if not expanding, world poverty and therefore, heightening our effect on climate change. More people mean more environmental degradation. Hawkins says that we have an issue of overpopulation in the world and there aren’t enough resources to sufficiently provide for everyone. She states, “… tomorrow, the overall needs will be greater, while the resources for meeting them will be proportionately less,” (691). So, from an environmentalist perspective, abortion and other birth control options are not only okay but necessary.
She raises a great point about how living in a first-world country makes population overgrowth seem like distant issue that is not an actual threat to our society. I think that this also contributes to why our country has such a moral stance on abortion. We are able to look at it from a human perspective rather than as a solution to environmental and social issues like poverty. Yet, I think it’s interesting how people can argue for example, that killing animals for consumption is necessary for human survival, yet birth control used for the survival of our planet and therefore the human race is wrong. Maybe if we highlighted this reason for abortion, the social stance on this issue would change and become more accepting. With more people understanding climate change and making the necessary changes, like recycling or solar energy, maybe we can use this environmental perspective as an effective argument in favor of abortion. Hawkins believes that abortion can help our environment in a logical way by simply reducing the amount of our planet’s natural resources we consume (692). It’s an easy way to limit the amount of environmental degradation made by humans. Can our first-world society change its moral stance on abortion for the greater good of the planet?
Hawkins, Ronnie Zoe. “Reproductive Choices: The Ecological Dimension”, Environmentalism, Accessed: 8 March 2019. https://umassd.umassonline.net/bbcswebdav/pid-1227086-dt-content-rid-11913333_1/courses/D2830-12796_MASTER/Scanned%20from%20a%20Xerox%20multifunction%20device001%282%29.pdf
Victoria,
I agree that abortion should be a legal right to women, and that the resources offered to them regarding this should not be limited. I feel that Hawkins has a point about overpopulation, but that’s not all abortion covers. Abortion gives the choice to women whom face different situations regarding their pregnancy. While this is an incredibly sensitive topic, I feel that it should be spoken about more. Women have a right to their own body, and their rights to reproductive rights and justice for themselves and their children. To deny someone abortion rights, is to force them into a possibly dangerous situation. I feel that we should look at this from a perspective of if it was our body, would we want the choice, or would we want to be shamed for doing something that may be saving our own lives? It’s not just overpopulation, so I disagree with Hawkins there. But, yes, more humans equals more harmful effects on our environment. However, we can combat this with education and teaching our upcoming generations about how to better treat our planet and environment.
Great post,
Rachel 🙂
Hi Victoria,
Despite your upbringing you have very strong feminist values. It comes across this post particularly. Did you have a sex ed class when you were a teenager? I remember doing a history assignment on Margaret Sanger and browning props from the health teacher (fake birth control packs and diaphragms). Haha.
I also like Hawkins’ view points on population growth and how abortions are not just good for women but also the planet. We are certainly lucky enough to live in states where we can have access to birth control. I say states because not all women in the United States have equal access to abortion clinics. In my post I mentioned that her idea about the downward spiral reminded me about the research by Agarwal. We know from her writing on women in India that they are effected the most by environmental degradation. I would be curious if the women Agarwal wrote about even had access to birth control. I don’t think we should put all the blame of population growth on women who are in extreme poverty. Is it odd that I almost what to tie in Curtain’s ideas with Hawkins? I almost wanted to say that women who have the opportunity to not bring another life into this world should take it because some women don’t have this option. Curtain thinks this way about veganism. If we have the option should we choose abortion for the greater good of the planet? I would think that for a woman who was already thinking about taking steps not to have a child. As again the pro-choice movement is about allowing women choose motherhood.
Do you think that your parents or old community would agree with abortions more if they knew the environmental impact? What would you think it would take to change someone’s mind about abortion rights?
Thanks again for your insight.
-Nina
Nina did you know that sex Ed is not allowed in most schools;(. Which started in the early 90’s country wide. So sad that kids these days don’t have the education on their own anatomy.
In my town (in the suburbs of MA) there is sex education. As parents we have to sign off on it but the 5th grade at the elementary schools get together and they a class given by a sex education specialist about their anatomies, sex, safe sex, pregnancy, diseases, and drug education is also included. We talk with our children when they enter 5th grade to have “the Talk” so they aren’t surprised. I had it also in 5th grade when I lived in CT. I’m sure not all places offer it but it is an invaluable experience and it should be mandatory throughout the country.
-Tara
Hi Victoria, I think the experience you describe is definitely so so common. Working in a high school, I overhear the most outrageous things regarding sex and bodies and it is really so sad that even in Massachusetts our sex-ed classes have let kids down so much and left them so conflicted about there bodies and topics related to sex like birth control, consent, etc. I think part of the problem is that from a young age the conversation regarding bodies is always so taboo and that its *private & sacred* or not something you should speak about with others, which in the absence of comprehensive information about them, sort of alienates us from our own and properly understanding it. Even in a very secular and liberal household where these topics could always be discussed, I still entered my twenties with many unanswered and conflicting feelings towards totally natural things regarding my body. The last word of that paragraph really sums it up – shame. We’re taught to be ashamed of our bodies, of all the totally natural and normal things it does or ways it looks, and definitely taught to be ashamed of the decisions we make about it – like abortion of course.
I entirely agree that abortion restriction is used to systemically maintain poverty. This is seen even in the United States, where it has been made effectively unavailable to people – predominantly impacting poor people. With restrictions that strictly limit the time a person has to obtain one, and defunding locations that offer them so that people have to travel long distances, sometimes hours away to get one, at high costs too, abortion is no longer accessible to millions of people in our country. Rich people can still afford to pay these costs, take the time off to go these long distances, or in the case where the procedure were made entirely illegal – pay off doctors to get them. In my opinion abortion laws are in no way about “preserving life” but rather to further oppress poor people and maintain a population for rich people to exploit labor from. Most importantly, abortion being illegal doesn’t lead to less abortions – it just forces people to find other unsafe alternatives, with greater related complications and deaths.
Alternatively, as we see in Hawkins argument, it shouldn’t be posed to poor people as a means to reduce poverty either. With Hawkins addressing a privileged western audience in her essay, its especially eery to promote this when we’ve directly exploited the populations she’s speaking about, creating and sustaining these conditions. Domestically and internationally, this is a dangerous philosophy that would be used as a tool to reduce and eventually eliminate entire communities who have been historically oppressed and forced into poverty.
Hello,
Very detailed and well written blog post. I appreciate you for giving us a little of your own background. I agree that Hawkins makes valid points as she is looking at abortion decision making from an ecological standpoint. I’m convinced that it’s worth adding into the list of different things you already have to consider when making that kind of decision.
Hi Victoria,
I, too, have always said that if I were to get pregnant right now, I would have an abortion. In my family and community birth control was talked about quite a bit, all of my friends had either the pill or an IUD, even if they weren’t very sexually active. Teen pregnancy was fairly unheard of, and because everyone was using birth control, abortion wasn’t talked about much. I did grow up around a lot of religious people, though I am not religious. Some of the Catholic girls I remember weren’t allowed to go on the pill, saying it was against their religion. Pretty much everyone else believed that abortion is immoral, so they were comfortable taking the pill to prevent them from hopefully ever having to make that decision. One thing I never considered until this course was an envrionmental perspective on abortion. I love your discussion about this. I agree, it’s such an important factor to consider. Great post!
Erica