The argument that a woman should be able to do whatever she wants with HER body is a noble one, however, the “my body, my choice” argument simply does not hold up when it comes to pregnancy. I will go through the spiritual, physiological, and biological support for this and some common sense anecdotes.
First, a human baby is genetically unique. These genetics are not the same as the mother or the father but have his or her own genetic code. One obvious way we know this is that a baby can be a different sex than the mother. Therefore, that woman’s body, when pregnant, houses a separate individual within her womb.
Think of the case of Laci Peterson. She was pregnant with her son, Connor, when she was murdered. Her husband, Scott, was charged and later convicted of double homicide.
Why do people who murder a pregnant woman get charged with double homicide? In and of itself, that implies the death of two separate individuals, and criminals are charged with both counts of murder. Thanks to the 1973 Supreme Court case Roe vs. Wade, federal law has morphed the Constitution to allow women to do what they want with “her” body. I seek to point out that it is not just her body; there are two bodies once a woman becomes pregnant.
There is also the practical argument that the mother and the baby have separate and distinct body parts. For example, if you were to look at a pregnant woman and someone asked you how many arms she has, you would say “two.” But, if that baby is considered “part” of the mother’s body, you would really have to answer, “four.” If the mother is pregnant with a boy, the “my body, my choice” argument will purport that the mother has a penis. Neither of these scenarios makes sense.
A baby in the womb and the mother DO NOT SHARE a circulatory system. While the fetus depends on the mother for nutrients and oxygen, the fetus has its own separate and distinct circulatory system.
“The placenta is a unique vascular organ that receives blood supplies from both the maternal and the fetal systems and thus has two separate circulatory systems for blood: (1) the maternal-placental (uteroplacental) blood circulation, and (2) the fetal-placental (fetoplacental) blood circulation.” (d) Rhesus disease helps further the point that a mother and a baby have two different circulatory systems, “Rhesus disease (Rh disease) is a condition caused by an incompatibility between the blood of a mother and that of her fetus. If the mother is Rh-negative and her baby is Rh-positive, during pregnancy (and especially during labor and delivery), some of the fetus’s Rh-positive red blood cells may get into the mother’s bloodstream. Since these red blood cells are foreign to the mother’s system, her body will try to fight them off by producing antibodies against them—a process called “sensitization.” (e)
Even more importantly, there is a system that mother and baby do not share that reigns supreme in making an individual unique.
It is the system that connects man the physical to man the spiritual (or woman the physical to woman the spiritual).
It is your nervous system. This is the very first thing to develop in utero, and it is what allows an individual to interpret the world around them. If you were to cut the nerves going to your heart, what would happen to your heart?
What would happen to you? Answers: Your heart would die, and you would die. In each unique individual, there exists a mind, a body, and a soul. They are very different and distinct from the ‘mothers.’ The nervous system is the conduit that connects your eternal soul to your physical body. It is what makes you YOU while you are on this earth. When your nervous system dies, it is the last connection to the earthly world, and when you die, your body turns to dust. However, your soul remains. This is a concept to be pondered and meditated on because it is awe-inspiring.
(As the wife of a chiropractor who deals with the spine, brain, and nervous system daily, and as an owner of a chiropractic clinic, I can tell you that this is most wonderous indeed). I did not create the human body and did not choose the nervous system to hold this dubious honor. That is God’s design.
A woman’s body contains organs, cells, and tissues that support life. Each has a specific purpose. A doctor would not allow a woman to remove her liver, for instance, because it would cause her death. However, a baby in a mother’s womb does not, in any way, contribute to the functioning of the mother. She can function perfectly without it. Therefore, that child is its own separate human life.
To go off on a tangent for a moment because a baby depends on its mother, and many would argue that it is not fair to force a woman to be pregnant. However, this argument must be taken further upstream. When a man and a woman choose to have sex, they open themselves up to new life. The result of that sexual act should mean those two people must be willing to deal with the consequences of that action. Unfortunately, our society has made this unimportant, completely overlooked, and made to seem ridiculous. I highly recommend reading Pope John Paul’s writing, The Theology of the Body, for more on this topic. (e) Hear me well on this next point. If a woman is violated through rape and/or incest and becomes pregnant, while I cannot even fathom the depth of hurt, despair, and uncertainty that would occur, I still fully believe that the child formed in that mother’s womb for a reason (Jeremiah 1:5). The sanctity of that child’s life is no less than any other. Although any scenario would be excruciatingly painful, in those cases, adoption would be a viable option.
Women are not born pregnant; therefore, that child is not part of her body. Likewise, some women never become pregnant, and we would never consider them to be lacking anything. Ryan Mayer states it very well, “If the unborn were a part of a woman’s body, there would be two natural ways for a woman to develop this “part.” One possibility would be for her to be born pregnant, as women are born with other prenatally developed body parts, such as limbs, a brain, sex organs, lungs, a stomach, etc. Women are not born pregnant, and no one expects them to be. Another way we come to have organs or parts is to develop them postnatally. But some women never become pregnant. Clearly, we do not speak of non-pregnant women as lacking something essential to womanhood or to her bodily integrity. A non-pregnant woman is not missing any of her organs or parts. And since we do not speak thus, the unborn cannot be said to be a part of the woman whenever it is present.” (f)
Suppose I go back to the upstream discussion. In that case, I firmly believe that our values have been so distorted and eroded and the value of human life so diminished that abortion has been able to become so commonplace. Bodies have become objects; pleasure has become the ultimate pursuit, families have been decimated, and on and on. Again, I refer you to Pope John Paul’s Theology of the Body for more related to this topic.
As a mother of two boys, the thought of them getting into a situation where a woman becomes pregnant by them and then having no say whatsoever in what happens to THEIR child frightens me to my core. My boys and us, as their parents, would gladly accept that child, who is their offspring, and who is our grandchild, into our world. The “my body, my choice” stance completely takes away all rights of the father. My heart goes out to men who have had their voice muffled and have to live with the knowledge that someone took away their child without discussion, consult or agreement, therefore, removing the right of that man to be a father to their own child.
Another resource I highly recommend, whichever side of the issue you are on, is the movie Unplanned. It is something everyone should watch. (g) It is a very well-done documentary that answers many questions and elicits many more. It also helps relate to women who have been in positions where they end up at an abortion clinic and make decisions that change their lives forever- whether they end up with an abortion or a change of heart. It is a must-see.
I will end with a short excerpt from my book, Maximizing Your Pregnancy, Birth, and Newborn, “The progression of conception is glorious and nothing short of awe-inspiring. Think of the marvel of one egg from a woman and a single sperm from a man uniting together to intentionally yet spontaneously create life. Remarkably, 2 cells become 4, dividing into 16, over and over again until eventually achieving a phenomenal count of approximately 74 trillion cells. This division, replication, and growth transpires all in a matter of 9 short months. “(h) It is a gift. The most glorious gift!
References:
- https://www.christianpost.com/news/m-babies-aborted-in-2020-surpassing-leading-causes-of-death.html
- https://www.worldometers.info/abortions/
- https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031995_evangelium-vitae.html
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK53254/
- https://www.parents.com/pregnancy/stages/1st-trimester-tests/all-about-rh-disease/
- https://d2y1pz2y630308.cloudfront.net/2232/documents/2016/9/theology_of_the_body.pdf
- https://catholicvote.org/10-reasons-the-unborn-is-not-a-part-of-a-womans-body/
- https://www.unplannedfilm.com/
- Roberto, Kim (2020) Maximizing Your Pregnancy, Birth, and Newborn Maximized Living, LP