Abortion: the arguments, and our answers.

A fair hearing

You will hear strong arguments for abortion, from people who care about women. They deserve a fair hearing and an honest answer. Below are the ones we hear most, stated the way their supporters state them, followed by what we would say back.

Where the facts favor their side, we say so. Most of the disagreement is not about facts at all. It comes down to one question: is the child in the womb one of us? We believe the answer is yes, and that a mother and her baby both deserve protection and help.

“My body, my choice”

The argument. A woman has the right to decide what happens inside her own body, and no one should be forced to stay pregnant. Planned Parenthood’s advocacy arm puts it this way: “No one is free unless they control their own body.”

Our answer. We agree that your body is yours. One of our own modules is called Your body is yours for life. But a pregnancy involves two bodies. From the first cell, the baby has his or her own DNA, and around weeks 6 to 7 a heart beating in a regular rhythm. That a new, living human organism begins at fertilization is standard embryology, not a religious claim.

So the question isn’t whether you own your body. It is what we owe a second, smaller body that depends on it. We believe the answer is care, for both of you. Real freedom also means being free from pressure, and from the fear that there is no other way out.

“It’s not a person yet”

The argument. An embryo or an early fetus is a possible life, not yet a person with rights. Many who hold this view say that what makes a person is being conscious, being able to feel, or being able to live outside the womb. The main obstetricians’ group, ACOG, prefers the words embryo, fetus and cardiac activity, and calls “baby” and “heartbeat” inaccurate this early. In Roe v. Wade, which was overruled in 2022, the Supreme Court wrote that “the word ‘person,’ as used in the Fourteenth Amendment, does not include the unborn.”

Our answer. Whether someone counts as a person isn’t something a microscope can settle. It is a moral question, and the law has answered it differently at different times. What biology can tell us is what is there: a living, growing human organism, with a heart beating in a regular rhythm around weeks 6 to 7 and every major organ begun by week 10. Whether that makes him or her one of us is the moral question, and we answer yes.

What separates that child from a newborn is size, stage of development, location and how much help he or she needs. We don’t believe any of those decides whether a human being matters. Every one of us was once exactly that small. See Pregnancy week by week.

“Abortion is safer than childbirth”

The argument. Legal abortion has a low rate of serious complications, and far fewer women die from it than from pregnancy and childbirth.

Our answer. On the numbers, this is largely true, and we won’t pretend otherwise. The CDC counted about 0.5 deaths for every 100,000 legal abortions from 2013 to 2021, and about 18 mothers died for every 100,000 births in 2024. The two are counted in different ways, so no exact comparison is possible, but the direction is clear. The National Academies concluded that serious complications from abortion are rare, and less frequent than in childbirth.

Safety for one patient is only half of the picture when there are two. An abortion that goes exactly as planned ends a life every time. And “safe” describes the body, not always the heart: some women grieve afterward, and those who felt pushed into it are among the most likely to. See The risks, told straight.

“Abortion is health care”

The argument. ACOG calls abortion an essential part of evidence-based health care, and says decisions about it belong to patients and their doctors.

Our answer. Part of this is an argument about a word. By health care we mean care that aims to heal, and we believe an abortion chosen for other reasons is different in kind, because it ends a life. When a mother’s life is in danger, treating her is health care even when her baby cannot survive, and we would never tell a woman to refuse it.

Most abortions are not sought for that reason. In a 2004 survey of more than 1,200 patients at 11 large abortion clinics, 12% said a concern about their own health played a part and 4% called it their main reason. Far more named money, timing and relationships. Those are real problems, and we believe they deserve answers that don’t cost a child’s life. See Every reason has an answer.

“Women need it for school and work”

The argument. In 1992, in a ruling that was overruled in 2022, the Supreme Court wrote that women’s ability “to participate equally in the economic and social life of the Nation has been facilitated by their ability to control their reproductive lives.” A study that followed women for five years found that those turned away from an abortion were more likely to be living in poverty afterward.

Our answer. That study deserves to be taken seriously. Six months after being turned away, 61% of those women were below the poverty line, compared with 45% of the women who had abortions, and the gap lasted four years. We read that as proof that mothers are being left without enough help, not as proof that their children should not have been born. The same study followed 161 of the women who were turned away, and found that their feelings about it became less negative and more positive over the following years.

No woman should have to choose between her child and her future. Federal law protects a pregnant student’s place at school, larger employers must make reasonable accommodations for pregnancy, and Washington offers paid leave, health coverage, cash assistance and help with child care. It is not enough yet, and closing that gap is work we want to share. See Every reason has an answer.

“What about rape or incest?”

The argument. A woman or girl who became pregnant through rape or incest should not have to carry that pregnancy.

Our answer. This is the hardest case, and people who share our view of abortion disagree about it among themselves. What was done to her was a crime, and none of it was her fault. She deserves safety, medical care, justice and people who believe her, and no one from OISHA will ever shame her, whatever she decides.

Our own belief is that a child conceived in violence is as innocent as any other child, and as much one of us. So we hope for both of them, and we will help both. We know how much that asks of her, which is why we say it gently and offer help instead of judgment.

If this is your situation, call 911 if you are in danger now, and see a clinician as soon as you can. SAFE San Juans answers 24/7 at (360) 376-1234, and an advocate can stay with you through each step. See Sexual assault & getting help.

“What if her life or health is at risk?”

The argument. Some pregnancies threaten a woman’s life or health, and ending the pregnancy can be the only way to protect her.

Our answer. When her life is in danger, she should be treated, without delay. Treating an ectopic pregnancy or a miscarriage is not counted as an abortion, by the CDC or by us. When a pregnancy that is still continuing has to be ended to save the mother, doctors and Washington law call that an abortion. Pro-life medical groups describe it differently, but they too hold that she should be treated when nothing else will save her. We would never tell a woman to refuse care her life depends on.

“Health” covers more ground than that, and here we do differ. Where a pregnancy can continue safely with treatment, we believe both patients should be cared for. Washington law puts nothing in the way of any of this care, and no one should ever hesitate to call 911 because of anything on this site.

“The baby has a serious condition”

The argument. When testing shows a severe or fatal condition, ending the pregnancy can spare the child suffering and the family a long grief.

Our answer. Start with the test. A screening result is not a diagnosis. In two large studies of the common blood screen, about 8 in 10 positive results for Down syndrome turned out to be right, but fewer than half for trisomy 13, and far fewer for some rarer conditions. Ask for a diagnostic test before making any decision.

When a diagnosis is confirmed, there is another path. ACOG lists perinatal palliative care as one of the options parents should be offered: a team helps them carry their child, meet him or her, and say goodbye with comfort and care. Providence Sacred Heart in Spokane runs such a program: 509-455-3854. We believe a short life is still a life, and a baby with a disability is still a baby.

“Every child should be wanted”

The argument. Children born to parents who didn’t want them or can’t care for them suffer, and the foster care system is already overloaded.

Our answer. “Unwanted” describes how the adults feel in a hard moment, not what a child is worth, and feelings change. In a study that followed 161 women who had been turned away from an abortion, their feelings about it became less negative and more positive over the following years.

A mother who can’t raise her baby has another loving choice. In an adoption she can choose the family and stay in contact, and her newborn goes home with that family, not into foster care. Foster care is a different system, mostly for older children: in a preliminary federal count for 2025, about 67,000 children in foster care had an adoption plan, and only about 3 in 100 of them were under a year old. See Other paths.

“It can’t survive on its own”

The argument. Before a baby could survive outside the womb, the decision belongs to the mother. Washington law draws its line at viability.

Our answer. Viability measures our hospitals, not the baby. In a study of American academic hospitals, covering births from 2013 to 2018, about 1 in 10 of all babies born alive at 22 weeks survived to go home, and about 3 in 10 of those who were given active treatment. At 24 weeks, about 7 in 10 survived.

A line that moves as medicine improves can’t be the line where a human being begins to matter. We don’t believe a person’s worth depends on how much help he or she needs to stay alive.

“It’s between a woman and her doctor”

The argument. Medical decisions are private. ACOG says decisions about abortion belong to patients, made with their doctors, and that outsiders have no place in them.

Our answer. We aren’t the government, and we will never stand between a woman and her doctor. We are neighbors offering information and help.

But this decision involves a third person, who has no voice in the room. And often there is no familiar doctor in the room either: in 2025, about 1 in 4 abortions in the United States were provided by online-only clinics. A decision this large deserves time, the whole truth, and someone on your side. That is all this site is for.

“You only care until the baby is born”

The argument. People who oppose abortion often oppose the things that help mothers and children afterward, like paid leave, health coverage and child care.

Our answer. Sometimes that criticism is deserved, and we take it as a challenge, not an insult. Judge us by what we do.

This site points islanders to prenatal care, health coverage, food, diapers, housing help, child care and counseling, before a birth and after it: see Local resources, Having a baby on Orcas, New baby & parenting and Becoming a dad. If you think we are falling short, tell us.

Where we agree

People on both sides of this argument agree on more than the shouting suggests:

• No woman should be pressured or forced, in either direction.
• Rape is a crime, and survivors deserve care and justice.
• A mother whose life is in danger must be treated.
• Mothers and children deserve far more support than many of them get.

We would rather work on that last one with people who disagree with us than argue with them. If you are pregnant right now, start with Abortion: before you decide.