Episode 179--The A Word

Hello, and welcome to episode 179 of the Childless Not by Choice Podcast. My name is Civilla Morgan. My mission is to recognize and speak to childless women and men not by choice worldwide, reminding us that we can live joyful, relevant, and fulfilled lives, childless by choice.  

Whether you have children or not, thank you for tuning in!  

 

What is today’s show about?

 Abortion

 

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Body of episode:

It may be hard to believe I have not broached this subject at all in the 10 years of this podcast’s existence. But I have not. Honestly, I may have avoided the subject. But, I can’t end this 10 year run without discussing it. At least I don’t think I should, although it does not necessarily directly correlate with childlessness…although it could.

 

So here goes. Abortion:   

 Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus.[nb 1][2] The unmodified word abortion generally refers to induced abortion,[3][4] or deliberate actions to end a pregnancy.[nb 2] Abortion occurring without intervention is known as spontaneous abortion or "miscarriage", and occurs in roughly 30–40% of all pregnancies.[5][6] Common reasons for inducing an abortion are birth-timing and limiting family size.[7][8][9] Other reasons include maternal health, an inability to afford a child, domestic violence, lack of support, feelings of being too young, wishing to complete an education or advance a career, and not being able, or willing, to raise a child conceived as a result of rape or incest.[7][9][10]

 As you can see here, there are several types of abortion and several reasons for abortion. The issues around abortion, as we well know, include such questions as: is abortion wrong or is it right in certain cases? Christians may ask ‘will a woman go to hell if she has an abortion?’ Is it right or wrong based on the reason? OK, that’s the question on an abortion a woman chooses to have. 

 Now I am not going to insult your intelligence, especially if you are 100% against abortion no matter the reason it may be needed or happens, but here goes: I often wonder if those who are against abortions no matter what, realize a miscarriage is a type of abortion? And I often wonder this because of the conversations I hear in real life and in the political arena. The conversations where people simply say they are absolutely against abortion and I wonder if they did any research on abortion, the different types, or reasons. The fact that in some cases the woman has no choice because her body is controlling the outcome.    

 When most people think of abortion, without doing any additional research on the issue, basing their beliefs on just what they have heard, they see it only as the act of terminating a pregnancy. Many people tend to see the termination as selfish, as murder. 

 In a 2025 Gallup Poll, 40% say abortion is morally wrong, while 49% say it is morally acceptable. 

Overall U.S. opinion on abortion morality

In the 2025 Gallup poll:

• 40% said abortion is morally wrong.

• 49% said abortion is morally acceptable.

  That was a little surprising to me as I thought the numbers would be neck and neck, but be that as it may, there is still a good percentage of the public who believe abortion is morally wrong. But I ask, what type of abortion are they referring to? Have they thought critically about the type of abortion they consider when making an answer? 

Those who believe it is morally wrong, what about miscarriage? What about ectopic pregnancy? What about dare i say, gray areas? Gray areas such as abortion bans delaying care, causing great danger, even death, to the mother? What about cases like the one involving Amber Thurmon? Link to the story in the show notes.

 Do you think I am making excuses for abortion? For having an abortion? I created this episode to have us think about why abortion, as well as why not abortion. In fact, I wanted to talk about abortion, not to tell you how I feel about it, about my opinion, but to ask for critical thinking. I honestly believe critical thinking is lacking in many subjects, not just abortion. 

 And I know some of you may say wrong is wrong and right is right. Please do not try to force abortion on me. Please do not try to get me to agree that abortion is right. Well, that is not what I am doing. Actually, what I am doing is asking for two things:

1. Research the reasons why abortions happen or are chosen. 

2. Think about what if it were you or a loved one who had a miscarriage, an ectopic pregnancy or decided on an abortion due to being attacked, whether as an adult or as a child. How would you deal with it? How would you interact with the person?

I think my biggest issue with subjects like this is the way Christians treat people who have or are about to make certain decisions, like having an abortion. How do we talk to, judge, interact with people who made the decision to have an abortion? Outside of the fact that if your body aborts or wants to abort, it is out of a woman’s control. As I mentioned earlier, I’m not sure if those who haven't done the research fully understand that.      

 

Research links:

https://www.propublica.org/article/georgia-abortion-ban-amber-thurman-death

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion

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