Is the right to Abortion more about a woman's body autonomy, or simply dodging responsibility?

Rumthiefno1 · 2026-01-10T14:33:15+00:00

Bodily autonomy.

The fact that people put women's autonomy up for debate on the basis it concerns a question of responsibility, when women can't make babies by themselves, shows the people fighting against abortion rights don't care about someone's right to decide for themselves.

Everyone should have the right to their autonomy. Why does a possible life, that at the stage an abortion can occur, not even survive outside a womb, take priority?

fiftypoundpuppy · 2026-01-10T15:57:21+00:00

Let's look at this framing of "dodging responsibility," and apply it to other situations:

1) should people who have sugary diets and don't floss be prevented from getting dental care?

2) should people who don't wear their seatbelts be prevented from getting emergency care if they get in an auto-accident?

3) should motorcyclists who don't wear helmets also be prevented from getting medical care in the event of an accident?

Those are just the "didn't safely behave" circumstances. Now let's look at the "contraception failed" analogy:

1) should someone who brushes and flosses every day but still requires dental treatment be denied?

2) should anyone who gets in an auto accident be prevented from getting medical treatment for their injuries? After all, they voluntarily got in the vehicle. That was their choice.

3) should a motorcyclist who wore a helmet + safety gear also be prevented from getting medical care in the event of an accident? After all, no one told them to ride the motorcycle. They knew the risks, and they still did it.

As it stands, even when people are complicit or responsible for their own physical misfortunes, society has determined they still deserve healthcare. And that goes double when they did everything right and still end up in unfortunate circumstances.

Pregnancy is a medical condition. So the attempts to frame denying abortion services as some sort of "enforcement of responsibility" sound quite hollow when you observe that it is the only circumstance singled out for such enforcement.

ProtectionKooky4764 · 2026-01-10T15:15:46+00:00

I’m in Ireland and in the last few years abortion has been made legal. I personally voted yes for this whilst being very much on the fence of whether I would avail of that service.

Ultimately, I felt I could not deny another woman access to that service as many Irish women had to travel to the United Kingdom to avail of their abortions I felt we left down every single woman that they had to travel outside the country to avail of this service.

I,however do have feelings about what an abortion is and I do believe that it’s the start of life at conception. I understand the foetus cannot survive without the mother in the first 6/7 months but I tie myself up in knots when I try to think about it.

Tylikcat · 2026-01-10T16:41:22+00:00

If you look at the numbers, abortions have been dropping for a while. And if you look at Colorado's experiment, we know how to get them to drop further - provide free birth control to young people. (Also, comprehensive sex ed. You need to know how everything works if you're going to prevent pregnancy.)

The women's autonomy argument is critical. Once the fetus is no longer in her body, whatever if you have a technological solution. (Though coming at it as a neuroscientist, the brain isn't doing much, and certainly isn't experiencing the world in any way until late in the pregnancy.)

Also, technological solutions are likely to be very expensive - look at the cost of NICU care.

LaFrescaTrumpeta · 2026-01-11T00:07:01+00:00

every single pregnancy brings a risk of permanent damage to one’s health, if not lethal damage. hundreds of women die from childbirth every year in the US. you can never know a person’s true motives, but you can know it’s always a threat to their health, they should always have the option to abort if they want to. women are dying because doctors in pro life states are afraid to give them that option. nothing else really matters to me more than that on this one.

Ego73 · 2026-01-10T16:59:38+00:00

So let's say that abortions do get replaced with artificial incubation. It still doesn't mean the parents are financially capable of sustaining a child. Do you pretend to also raise them at the government's expense? Because otherwise, you'd just be increasing the burden on understaffed orphanages.

Bekiala · 2026-01-10T15:15:05+00:00

I just don't see life as always good for humans. If that child doesn't have happy enthusiastic parents outside of the womb he/she may well choose not to be born. Of course they can't choose for themselves so it seems best the mom make the best decision she can.

The more I see of life and death, I see life isn't always good and death isn't always bad.

Dependent-Tailor7366 · 2026-01-10T15:25:06+00:00

It’s a silly question. Abortion is a responsible choice. Children should never be born unwanted. Having a child someone does not want and is not prepared for in any way is irresponsible and harmful to everyone.

GridReXX · 2026-01-10T15:10:00+00:00

Whether she’s “dodging responsibility” or not, it’s her cells, it’s her organs, her body, and the entity inside of her is literally siphoning her life source to grow.

Many pregnant women lose teeth because the in utero growth needed some nutrient.

Men can decide when the alien is mushrooming from them.

TLDR: It’s bodily autonomy more than anything.

CatallaxyRanch · 2026-01-10T18:03:32+00:00

For me, abortion is 100% about bodily autonomy and the right to end the physical process of pregnancy. At present, ending the pregnancy necessitates killing the fetus. But in a hypothetical scenario where we could incubate the fetus outside of the mother, I'd be fine with that. The mother can then surrender the baby, give it up for adoption or whatever if she doesn't want to be a parent, but to me that's an entirely different issue than the right to terminate a pregnancy.

catsarehere77 · 2026-01-10T17:14:45+00:00

The question is why should a woman be responsible for a life she doesn't want because she accidentally got pregnant?

Do you think it's moral and ethical to force a woman to raise a child she doesn't want?

Do you think a child will be harmed by being raised by a mother who doesn't want it? If the answer is yes - is it moral and ethical to force the mother to have the child and harm it?

Hypothetically if we are able to develop a fetus outside of the woman's body who will lovingly raise the child so they turn into a healthy functional adult - Who will pay for all of the child's needs so the child thrives? Needs include a college education.

What is the benefit to society to force a birth? How does it benefit the baby? How does it benefit the mother? What is the outcome you expect to see?

bluestjuice · 2026-01-10T21:11:46+00:00

I don't think anyone has a responsibility to have a baby.

I do think people have a responsibility to take precautions to avoid accidental pregnancy if they're not looking to become parents, so if they neglected that I'm not impressed, but either way now they have the responsibility to decide whether to have a baby or an abortion.

The right to abortion is about all of these things.

Big-Sir7034 · 2026-01-11T09:25:25+00:00

If you ask me, those should not separate points. Autonomy is how you commit to a decision. Your autonomy is crucial when, say, signing a contract to pay for this or that. That’s the basis of your responsibilities and duties. Notably, the requirements to be autonomous involve having the capacity to make a decision, a number of adequate decisions to choose from and independence.

Now when you commit to having a baby that’s a big responsibility. You are liable for that baby’s wellbeing and any thing that child does until they reaches maturity. Even if you give the child up, it will have consequences for the people around the child and for kids that the local authorities would have otherwise had the capacity to care for.

Given the level of responsibility, I think it is fair that women want autonomy to commit or not commit to such a massive risk.

Of course, people always say to make that decision before having sex, but committing to the decision before conception makes no sense. Many impacts of having a child are remote and difficult to predict. Crucial information about the baby is going to be required to make your decision on whether to have it. Are they going to suffer from health conditions? Will the child have an acceptable upbringing? How many resources will raising this child take? What risks are the parents, grandparents and third parties likely to incur if this child is born? Without information about the particular baby, how can you make that decision? The baby at least has to be conceived first.

The point of autonomy is to allow us to pursue our own ends and what we each consider good without interfering with other people. You exercise autonomy by taking responsibility for your decisions. But you cannot take responsibility for a decision if you don’t know anything about the particular consequences of your decision.

Objective_Ad_6265 · 2026-01-11T09:27:32+00:00

There is also adoption. So abortion is more about the body. Pregnancy and birth seriously damage the bode.

Rumthiefno1 · 2026-01-11T09:52:50+00:00

I've been replying to a lot of comments concerning my posts.

But why should abortion even be up for debate?

NoDanaOnlyZuuI · 2026-01-10T16:12:50+00:00

Bodily autonomy. Full stop.

ResponsibilityAny217 · 2026-01-10T18:55:13+00:00

I had a theory long ago about human farms. This could be a way to do it. Likely be very expensive though.

Flightlessbirbz · 2026-01-11T14:20:44+00:00

If we get to the point where a fetus or embryo can be extracted and artificially sustained outside of a womb, I would see little reason for abortion… as long as there were enough people able and willing to adopt. That’s the issue. Someone has to take care of a child once they are born, and that’s not something we can or should try to force people to do. That’s how you get child abuse and neglect.

So I’d say as long as you have adoptive parents lined up for the fetus being removed, no need to abort. But simply doing this by default without ensuring adoptive parents would overload the foster care system and result in more human suffering ultimately.

Makuta_Servaela · 2026-01-12T12:13:45+00:00

The right to an abortion is being responsible. If you make a mistake that will in the future cause someone a lot of harm, like have procreative sex when you aren't ready to have a child, then the responsible thing to do would be fix the mistake as soon as possible while you still can and while it's still in your control, like have an abortion.

The idea that birth is just the "punishment" for sex is dehumanising to both the woman and the baby. Babies deserve to be born to parents who want them.

Brilliant-Block-8200 · 2026-01-10T17:20:16+00:00

Personally, if we could safely extract the fetus so the mother wouldn’t have to carry the pregnancy and give birth, I’d be fine with abortions becoming illegal. But only if this would be available to everyone, not just the wealthy, but people in poverty too. For me, abortions are purely about bodily autonomy

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El_Tigrex · 2026-01-13T14:38:53+00:00

Seems like a false dichotomy, the primary objection to abortion is that it’s perceived as murder, not that women are somehow cheating their way out of a punishment for having sex

pie-mart · 2026-01-18T23:47:39+00:00

Bodily autonomy. I mean dodging responsibility? Im ADHD and bipolar. Not making excuses but im hella mentally ill. I have a boyfriend but mistakes can happen. Why am I being the one punished for him impregnating me? And why should then the baby be subjected to a woman who would be super neglectful and a shit mom? Because low key i would just pit the baby up for adoption. And is the option to gove up babies avoid responsibility or my own autonomy?

Like why do I have to suffer the consequences of sex when I love in a world where yall constantly expect sex then if we get pregnant use it as punishment against us women

If that is the case, id rather join the 4b movement and have 0 sex with men if having a kid is seen as my punishment for having consensual sex

ivegotcharisma · 2026-01-10T20:53:10+00:00

Some women would still opt for the baby to be killed rather than be allowed to survive outside their body to full term.

Women really need to listen to their own bodies and have discernment. Ask themselves why it feels bad to have an abortion. Maybe bc it’s wrong.

snowboy_art · 2026-01-10T16:50:24+00:00

It's both. Abortion should always be legal, but western women circlejerk about it endlessly because their entire identity revolves around hyperindividualism, and they cater to the idea that every thing they choose is perfect and moral. Which means no one can question a woman's life choices if the topic ends up becoming co-opted endlessly by the media.

Just look at how western women literally give no craps about the codification of their own bodily autonomy when they neglect to attack the Democrats for always having power to codify abortion and never doing so. Abortion is a western circlejerk for voting points. Nothing more.

mlo9109 · 2026-01-10T15:15:08+00:00

Depends on the situation... There are legitimate medical reasons why one would need an abortion (ectopic pregnancy, post miscarriage care, dx of Down syndrome or other fetal anomalies). I'd argue mental health in the case of trauma survivors (pregnancy resulting from rape or incest).

As for those who simply get abortions as birth control, yes, I believe it is dodging responsibility. It's 2026 and we have a wide variety of options for birth control. Use them. Also, there are many prospective parents who'd love to adopt a newborn if you don't want to raise the child.

ChicagoFaucet · 2026-01-10T17:04:29+00:00

Dodging responsibility. There was a retired doctor that was on one of those Jubilee videos a while back. He performed abortions during his career. He said that he performed 1200 abortions during his career, and only 12 of them were for emergency reasons. All of the other abortions were performed on healthy mothers and healthy babies. So, one in a hundred are for emergency reasons.

Also, over one million abortions are performed every year. If abortion was counted as a cause of death, it would be the leading cause of death in America - by a lot.

statsfodder · 2026-01-10T23:07:53+00:00

Men have no rights or autonomy when it comes to pregnancy.. so umm y'all want equality or no??

No-Rough-7390 · 2026-01-10T15:41:56+00:00

It’s an incredibly obtuse misunderstanding of the responsibility implied.

If abortion is solely up to the woman, then by default so is the sex that’s responsible for it. By claiming one, they claim both.

But that hurts their feelz and takes away the power associated with it/gives them culpability they’d rather not have, so we all have to act gaslit that sex and pregnancy have no relation at all.

Title	Is the right to Abortion more about a woman's body autonomy, or simply dodging responsibility?
Author	OhGoshIts
Upvotes	3
Comments	212
Date	January 10, 2026 4:18 AM UTC (6 months ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/PurplePillDebate
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/PurplePillDebate/comments/1q8uct7/is_the_right_to_abortion_more_about_a_womans_body/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/PurplePillDebate/is-the-right-to-abortion-more-about-a-womans-body.1570863 https://theredarchive.com/post/1570863

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