On Life and Abortion
Morally opposed. Legally available. Fully informed. Massively supported.
The Autonomist Position
We believe abortion is the taking of a human life. We say this without euphemism, without apology, and without religious justification. A developing child — with unique DNA, a beating heart, the capacity to feel pain — is not "a clump of cells." It is a human being in the earliest stage of existence.
We also believe that criminalizing desperate women does not save babies — it kills mothers. Prohibition drives abortion underground. It creates back alleys, coat hangers, and unmarked graves. We have seen this history. We will not repeat it.
The Autonomist path is different: we do not use government force to compel pregnancy, but we do everything in our power to make abortion unnecessary.
Our Stance in Plain Language
Morally: Abortion is wrong. It ends a human life. We will never pretend otherwise.
Legally: Abortion remains available — regulated, restricted by gestational age, but not criminalized.
Practically: We make choosing life the easier path through massive support, resources, and a transformed adoption system.
Culturally: We reject both shame-based condemnation AND celebration of abortion as "empowerment." Neither is honest.
The Principle: Informed Consent
Autonomy requires information. You cannot make a genuine choice about something you don't understand. A woman considering abortion deserves to know — truly know — what she is choosing.
This is not about shame. It is not about guilt. It is about truth.
We do not whisper. We do not hide. We show.
Informed Consent Requirements
Before any abortion procedure, a woman must complete an educational process — not designed to shame, not designed to manipulate, but designed to inform:
- View her own ultrasound — see the life inside her, hear the heartbeat if present
- Watch an educational video of the actual procedure — understand exactly what abortion is, what it does, how it works at her specific gestational stage
- Receive complete medical information — risks, recovery, potential psychological effects, alternatives
- Learn about available support — adoption services, financial assistance, housing, healthcare, childcare resources
- Waiting period — 72 hours minimum between education and procedure, to allow reflection without pressure
This is not cruelty. This is respect. We trust women to make the right choice when they have the full truth. If abortion is truly the right decision, it remains the right decision after seeing reality. If it changes her mind — good. That was an informed choice too.
Why We Don't Criminalize
Some who share our moral convictions will ask: if abortion is killing, why permit it at all?
Because we are not naive about what criminalization produces:
- It doesn't stop abortion — it moves it underground, to unsafe conditions
- It kills women — desperate people do desperate things
- It criminalizes poverty — wealthy women travel; poor women suffer
- It requires surveillance — enforcing abortion bans means monitoring pregnancies, investigating miscarriages
- It doesn't address root causes — fear, poverty, abandonment, lack of support
We choose a different strategy: make abortion the harder choice by making life the easier one.
Making Life the Easier Path
What "Support" Actually Means
Not platitudes. Not pamphlets. Real, funded, available support:
- Universal prenatal care — no woman should fear the cost of pregnancy
- Housing assistance — stable housing for pregnant women and new mothers
- Adoption transformation — streamlined, destigmatized, with support for birth mothers
- Childcare infrastructure — affordable, available, quality childcare
- Educational continuation — pregnant students supported, not expelled
- Employment protection — pregnancy cannot cost you your job
- Paternal accountability — fathers who abandon bear financial and legal responsibility
- Mental health support — counseling available before, during, and after pregnancy regardless of choice
If we want women to choose life, we must make that choice possible. Anything less is moral posturing.
Gestational Limits
Not all abortions are equal. A first-trimester abortion is not the same as a late-term abortion of a viable child. Our framework recognizes this:
| Stage | Policy | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| First Trimester (0-12 weeks) | Legal with informed consent requirements | When most abortions occur; early intervention |
| Second Trimester (13-24 weeks) | Legal with additional requirements; states may impose restrictions | Fetal development advanced; viability approaching |
| Third Trimester / Post-Viability | Prohibited except for life of mother or severe fetal abnormality | Child could survive outside womb; effectively infanticide |
States retain authority to set specific gestational limits within this framework. Federalism allows different communities to express different values while maintaining core protections.
The Hard Cases
Rape and Incest
A woman who is pregnant through violence did not choose this pregnancy. Her autonomy was already violated once. While we grieve the loss of any life, we do not compound one violation with another by forcing her to carry her attacker's child. Informed consent requirements still apply — but the choice remains hers.
Life of the Mother
When continuing pregnancy will kill the mother, she may choose to save her own life. This is not elective abortion — it is a tragic choice between two lives when both cannot be saved.
Severe Fetal Abnormality
When a child will be born only to die in hours, or will never achieve consciousness, parents may make the agonizing decision to end the pregnancy. This is mercy, not convenience. Medical verification required.
What We Reject
- Abortion as contraception — casual, repeated abortion as birth control treats human life as disposable
- "Shout your abortion" culture — celebrating abortion as empowerment is morally grotesque; it should be mourned, not cheered
- Hiding the truth — euphemisms like "clump of cells" or "pregnancy tissue" are lies designed to make killing easier
- Criminalizing women — desperate women need help, not prison
- Provider prosecution — within legal limits, medical professionals should not face criminal penalty
- Abandoning mothers — "pro-life" that ends at birth is not pro-life at all
To Those Who Have Had Abortions
If you have had an abortion — or participated in one — this is not condemnation. Many of us carry our own grief, our own regret, our own weight from decisions made in fear, under pressure, without support, or before we understood what we were doing.
Moral clarity about abortion does not require cruelty toward those who have experienced it. Healing exists. Forgiveness exists — from others, from yourself, from whatever higher power you may believe in. The weight many carry is itself evidence of conscience — proof that something real was lost.
We would rather build a world where fewer face this choice at all — where support and truth and community make choosing life the natural path, not the heroic one.
Summary
| We Believe | We Do |
|---|---|
| Abortion takes a human life | Say so clearly, without euphemism |
| Criminalization kills women | Keep abortion legal but regulated |
| Autonomy requires information | Require full informed consent including viewing the procedure |
| Women need support, not just laws | Fund massive maternal support infrastructure |
| Late-term abortion is infanticide | Prohibit post-viability except medical necessity |
| Rape victims deserve compassion | Preserve choice in cases of violence |
| Shame helps no one | Offer truth and support, not condemnation |
We don't shame. We don't hide. We show. And then we support whatever choice is made — while working to build a world where choosing life is always possible.