Nate Sherman’s column Abortion trumps animal cruelty (SN 8/29) comparing abortion to animal cruelty was completely off-base and factually inaccurate. Abortion, unlike crimes against animals, is a right to which every woman should be entitled as part of her inalienable right to control her own body and her reproductive decisions.
Abortion cannot be equated with the ending of a human life because abortion does not affect a human baby but rather a fetus. Furthermore, Mr. Sherman misrepresents women who seek abortions as careless and irresponsible people. The decision to get an abortion is not made lightly, and many women who choose this option do so because they are not able to afford the economic and social costs of pregnancy. Others have become pregnant after a sexual assault.
As for Mr. Sherman’s suggestion that women with unwanted pregnancies should simply choose adoption, he seems to view pregnancy and childbirth as though they do not dramatically affect a woman’s life. Maybe for a man, it’s easy to suggest this option because he will never have to worry about being in this situation himself. In addition, he seems to blame women who choose abortion for depriving married couples of adoptable children. This skewed logic blatantly ignores the thousands of children already in foster care in the United States.
Until people like Mr. Sherman understand the facts about abortion and the women who rightfully choose it, misinformed, incorrect opinions like his will continue to hinder the freedom of reproductive choice for all women.
Kelley Schacht
interdisciplinary humanities junior
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