21 May Motherhood is Serious Business
Modern technology has made delivering a baby significantly safer. The average human female has the biological tools to incubate a baby. The availability of medical procedures such as cesareans has indeed lowered the mortality rate of women. Furthermore, the continuous development of better and better antibiotics and anti-hemorrhage drugs has made pregnancy and delivery the safest it has been throughout history. Needless to say, many women are biologically prepared to see a pregnancy to term.
Although many women are biologically prepared to deliver a baby, not all of them are psychologically prepared for the ordeal. It takes more than a safe and healthy delivery to raise a child.
For many parents, the first 9 months of the pregnancy is the easy part of being a parent. Anyone who assumes that everything will be easy after the baby has been delivered is living in a fantasy world where babies can take care of themselves and get jobs to pay for their own meals.
Babies demand a lot of time and resources. Only the person taking on those responsibilities should be able to decide whether to continue or to end a pregnancy. Motherhood is hard.
The article, “Uncovering the Realities of Motherhood“, sheds some light on the realities of motherhood.
The article provides a quick rundown of what most moms say surprised them about motherhood:
- The extent of nurturing required
- The overwhelming sense of responsibility
- The deprivation of sleep and personal time
- A disorganized household frenzy
- The feelings of alienation from the outside world
- The guilt over not being able to perform up to the standards of a supermom
- The physical exhaustion
- The disruption in marital interest and harmony
- How much they love and focus on this tiny new being in their lives
The truth is that parenting is a very intense and demanding vocation. It is not something you can do part-time, or dabble in, or do “just for fun.” When you decide to have a child, you are making a decision to devote twenty years of your life to the development of another human being. It will require patience, focus, and persistence. It will take a toll on your health, your psyche, and your bank account.
This is the biggest transformation a woman will undergo in her lifetime. As soon as she decides to deliver a child, she has already filled most of her schedule for the next 18-20 years.
A woman should not be forced into this lifestyle and vocation just because she got pregnant after a one-night-stand or a broken condom. At the very least, a woman who was raped should not be thrown into this ordeal, and forced to endure more hardship.
The decision to be a mother is a serious decision that one can’t make on a whim. It is a decision that one should not be forced to make.
In countries that restrict or forbid access to procedures that can end a pregnancy, motherhood is forced upon women who are not ready to take on the task.
In places where a woman is deprived of the option to end a pregnancy, a woman finds herself at the mercy of the government. She is robbed of a choice. It is a clear violation of her freedom.
The government is basically permitted to make a choice on motherhood for her.
For more resources on abortion please visit: EnGendeRights’ Policy Briefs and Fact Sheets
Sources:
familyeducation. “Uncovering the Realities of Motherhood.” Retrieved on: March 20, 2017.