Abortion is to this day still one of the touchiest subjects in social and political conversations. Is it surprising that it was the topic I decided to write a response paper about? Not if you know me well.

In my Women's Studies (WMS201) course at Miami University, the students are tasked with writing an essay in response to one (or more) of the readings we are assigned to do; we have five response papers due for the term. Closing the Barn Door is a response to various readings from Patricia Miller's collection of autobiographical essays called The Worst of Times and Margaret Sanger's, My Fight for Birth Control. This is my second submission to my professor, and it earned a 45 of 50 possible points (an 'A-') in return.

Take a look, and let's have a discussion--but remember, keep it civil. Freedom of speech is permitted on my blog, as long as it's constructive and respectful, even if you don't agree.

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“The woman had become pregnant and had taken various drugs and purgatives, as advised by her neighbors. Then, in desperation, she had used some instrument lent to her by a friend.” (Sanger, My Fight for Birth Control, p.51)

“Some had tears along the vaginal tract where they had used coat hangers to get up into the uterus and break things up—like rupture the amniotic sac.” (Miller, The Worst of Times, Coroner Fred, p.12)

“The knitting needle perforated mother’s uterus, and she developed peritonitis and then gangrene.” (Miller, The Worst of Times, Marilyn, p.41)

“The self-help methods I saw were douches with irritating solutions and ‘instruments’—a knitting needle, a straightened-out coat hanger, or literally any kind of implement that they could force up into the cervix.” (Miller, The Worst of Times, Dr. Francis, p.287)

“’At nineteen, this linoleum is the last thing I’m ever going to see, because I’m dying. I’m going to die because I was stupid. I got pregnant and then I went to a doctor with a dirty office.’” (Miller, The Worst of Times, Laura, p.298)

Each of these quotes are at once horrific and the kind of thing pro-abortionists might use to garner outrage and support for their cause. What I do not believe people consider when reading about the terrible things that happened to these women is that even though they happened pre-1973, before Roe v. Wade and the legalization of abortion, they also happened before the plethora of preventative birth control options that we currently have available to us today: abstinence is 100% effective; sterilization, Depo-Provera, IUDs, and birth control pills (taken properly) are greater than 99% effective; and condoms, diaphragms, and birth control pills (average usage) are approximately 90% effective. In addition, we have Mifeprex (formerly known as RU-486) and “the morning after pill” to assist when preventative birth control options fail, are forgotten, are used improperly, or are unable to be used (as in the case of rape).

With such a number of viable preventative options, as well as emergencies measures that can prevent a pregnancy before sperm have a chance to fertilize the egg and create life, it seems immediately clear to me that abortion, while once a necessary evil, is now outmoded and unnecessary. In addition, women of any social class have the ability to receive preventative birth control and education to supply them with the tools needed to make them responsible decisions with their lives and their bodies.

The continued legalization of abortions is effectively making the government and those that provide the abortion services enablers. An enabler, as defined by the Miriam-Webster dictionary, is “one who enables another to persist in self-destructive behavior by providing excuses or by making it possible to avoid the consequences of such behavior.”

If you rob a bank, you are not acting in a responsible manner and are held accountable for your actions, usually by going to jail. If you lie to your employer about taking a day off due to illness, then are caught at the local bar having a drink, you are not acting in a responsible manner and are held accountable for your actions, often by being fired. If you receive loans and credit cards, then fail to pay for them, you are not being responsible and are held accountable for your actions, remuneration received through the repossession of your property, wage garnishment, and a lowering of your credit rating to show to others that you are a risk.

If all of your actions have consequences, and acting responsibly is your duty as a productive citizen, how can abortion be seen as anything other than a way for women who refused act responsibly to escape the consequences of their actions? We are no longer living in an era when wives cannot say no to their husbands’ demands for sex. Aside from rape, every single person that engages in sexual activities has made that choice to do so; and every single person who does not use a form of preventative birth control has also made that choice to do so and must live with the consequences of their failure to be responsible and their desire for instant gratification.

In rape cases, when a woman may be unable to speak for herself due to injury, or unwilling due to shame, fear, or emotional trauma, making a drug such as “the morning after pill” or Mifeprex a standard item in every rape kit can eliminate the need for rape-related abortions. Is it a violation of human rights to give one of these drugs to every rape patient? Not exactly. When a patient is unable to speak for themselves whether due to unconsciousness or emotional trauma so severe that they are considered (temporarily) mentally incompetent to make decisions regarding their medical care, parents, spouses, or other relatives can make the determination for care in the patient’s stead and, barring the availability of those persons, the doctor attending her can make the decision.

The only reason I can possibly see abortion as being an option for any woman is if the continuing pregnancy puts the mother’s life at risk, but even then, there can be other options. Can the mother safely carry the child to the point of viability if put on strict bed rest or in-hospital care? If so, then continue the pregnancy. Will any pregnancies the mother has always put her life at risk? In that case, she should be strongly advised to have surgical sterilization. Is the pregnancy ectopic (within the Fallopian tubes)? If so, then the pregnancy can, and should, be terminated—until such a time as medical advances can relocated an embryo from the tubes to the uterus without harming the mother or child.

Abortion has outlived its usefulness and now it is time for women, and legislators, to start holding women responsible for their actions. It is now time for government officials in direct contact with impoverished women and schools in direct contact with our youth to provide education. It is time for parents to teach their children that their actions and desire for instant gratification can have consequences and to come down from any moral high ground or embarrassment or disgust to explain to their children that if they make the decision to have sex before adulthood or marriage, they need to make the decision to take preventative measures.

Abortion is not a solution, but a temporary “fix” for a deeper problem. Even if you do not agree with the thinking that life begins at conception making abortion, in essence, murder, it is difficult to refute the fact that abortion is definitely “closing the barn door after the horse got out” as well as being an option that has outlived its usefulness in a majority of cases.