Unplanned pregnancies are often difficult as the couple is not ready mentally, financially and in many other ways to take care of a child at a certain point of time. However, we often see people shaming couples and women for aborting unplanned pregnancies and badmouthing them.
A child is an addition to the family which requires a lot of planning. There are mental, physical, financial, lifestyle and personal changes that happen in a couple's life when a child is born. Hence, unplanned pregnancies bring a lot of unexpected pressure on both parents no matter how well-off they are. The decision to have the child is difficult as there are repercussions for both of them. If they focus on their life and abort the pregnancy, they are shamed for being irresponsible and emotionless and if they keep the child, they have to make drastic lifestyle and financial changes that may not be easy for everyone.
Though this decision is taken by both parents, unplanned pregnancies trouble majorly women. Not only their bodies will be changing, but the child will also change their entire future. The people will ask them to leave their career, stay at home, get married if the pregnancy is out of wedlock and nobody will ask her what she wants for herself. A page on Reddit named @AskWomen asked the female users of the platform, "How did you handle an unplanned pregnancy?" and the comment section was full of women who aborted their unplanned pregnancies without regret.
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Shaming Women For Abortion
A comment under the post read, "By aborting it. Best decision I ever made. I felt nothing but relief afterwards. Being a parent is the hardest thing I've ever done and I knew I didn't want to do it more than once." Society expects women to be emotional about their children and not have abortions even when they are not ready for it. They shame them and try to make them regret their decision. However, it is right to have an abortion if you think you are not prepared for raising a child as it's better for the unborn child's future as well as a woman's own mind as it is her body and her choice.
A Reddit user wrote, "I had 4 unplanned pregnancies, all different birth control failures. I have 3 children and one abortion. I never regretted the abortion or my choice to have my children. You do what’s best for you at that moment in time. No one else lives your life." Accepting your previous unplanned pregnancies does not mean you have to accept the next ones too. At any moment you feel that you cannot do it, just choose abortion. It is not wrong to prioritise your personal life, already existing family and your body choices.
Unplanned pregnancies out of wedlock are even more difficult as they not only bring shame for the woman majorly but also the difficult decision of giving up their personal and professional life and starting a family. At times we see the man not accepting the child and backing off leaving the woman all alone to raise the child. In such cases, if the woman feels like she can't raise a child alone or has to focus on her career and education right now, then she should not be ashamed of it.
Women can choose abortion despite of whether they already have children or not and shaming them about it is the worst thing that a progressed society can do. It is a woman's body and she can do whatever she wants with it. The decision of keeping or aborting an unplanned pregnancy is up to the couple and whether they can accommodate the needs of a child along with their current situation. That way, it is better for the parents and saves the unborn child from a difficult future. It's high time society stops meddling with the personal choices of people.
Views expressed by author are their own
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