The Car Crash
An ethical argument for the right to choose
TRIGGER WARNING
This piece contains strong language pertaining to violations of bodily autonomy and consent, extensive discussion of pregnancy and abortion, and brief references to sexual assault, drug use, and mental health problems. If you are sensitive to exposure to any of these issues, please take appropriate precautions.
You’ve been in a car crash. Maybe you were reckless and forgot to check both ways before crossing an intersection, or maybe your brakes stopped working as you made your way down the interstate. Maybe you’re not even in the driver’s seat. It doesn’t matter how you got here: you’re in crisis, and you need help.
A stranger lies in the car next to you, barely alive.
The paramedics arrive. They check your vitals and tell you that you’ll be fine; aside from a traumatic memory, you could potentially continue to live the life you’ve always planned. There’s just one problem: the stranger beside you needs you to survive.
The doctor explains to you that the stranger’s vital organs can’t function independently for several months and that you’re the only person with the right genetic profile to support them. Without asking you for consent, they artificially connect your organs to those of the stranger, forcing you to share biological materials. You protest, but they ignore you, claiming that the stranger’s life comes first.
You discover that living for two people is exhausting, painful, and restrictive. Your doctors won’t let you eat or drink certain substances for the sake of the stranger, and certain activities are off limits until the stranger no longer needs you. You constantly feel nauseous and sore, and your mental health is suffering. To make matters worse, the doctors say that there’s a risk of severe complications, even death. They tell you that your body may never look or feel the same and that it will take months to recover after the procedure ends. They tell you that the pain will only get worse.
You endure nine months of discomfort, inconvenience, and frustration before the doctors finally disconnect you from the stranger. The process is lengthy and excruciating— when it finally ends, you’re left exhausted, feeling a strange mixture of happiness, grief, and relief. Finally, the ordeal is over… Or so you think.
The doctor comes back into the room and hands you the long list of medical bills that you accumulated throughout the course of the stranger’s treatment. You discover that you’re responsible for both of your costs. The doctor sends you home to recover, reminding you that you shouldn’t work during your recovery period and that your employer may not guarantee paid leave. Your bills are due at the end of the month.
Before you leave, the hospital staff congratulates you for “saving a life.” Their kind words sound hollow… After all, the stranger is alive, but at what cost?
You probably found this story disturbing— after all, its narrative reads like the plot of a dystopian novel. But as much as this story is hypothetical, it’s far from fictional: this is the reality of an unplanned pregnancy in a world without legal abortion.
The car crash is the accidental conception. Maybe you were reckless and had unprotected sex, or maybe your contraception failed. Maybe you were sexually assaulted. It doesn’t matter how you got here: you’re in crisis, and you need help.
But now there’s a foetus inside you, barely alive. Its status as a human being with rights is debatable at best.
Now imagine the world forcing you to change your diet, restrict your activities, and undergo nine months of pregnancy, risking your health for a foetus you may not even want. Imagine the pain of childbirth and the long recovery. Imagine being forced to pay for everything and never recovering your lost income. Imagine being told that a non-sentient foetus’ “life” comes before your choices.
Maybe you would gladly volunteer to keep the stranger alive after the car crash. Maybe you could accept the risks, endure the pain, and afford the costs. If you have the privilege of resources, health, and time, that’s your choice. However, for the vast majority of people who find themselves unexpectedly pregnant, it would be beyond unreasonable to force them to carry a foetus to term or resort to unsafe abortions. It would be unethical.
Next time the pro-life lobby starts to lecture you about the morality of abortion, tell them about the car crash. Would they keep the stranger alive? At the very least, wouldn’t they like the right to choose?
A stranger lies in the car next to you, barely alive.
The paramedics arrive. They check your vitals and tell you that you’ll be fine; aside from a traumatic memory, you could potentially continue to live the life you’ve always planned. There’s just one problem: the stranger beside you needs you to survive.
The doctor explains to you that the stranger’s vital organs can’t function independently for several months and that you’re the only person with the right genetic profile to support them. Without asking you for consent, they artificially connect your organs to those of the stranger, forcing you to share biological materials. You protest, but they ignore you, claiming that the stranger’s life comes first.
You discover that living for two people is exhausting, painful, and restrictive. Your doctors won’t let you eat or drink certain substances for the sake of the stranger, and certain activities are off limits until the stranger no longer needs you. You constantly feel nauseous and sore, and your mental health is suffering. To make matters worse, the doctors say that there’s a risk of severe complications, even death. They tell you that your body may never look or feel the same and that it will take months to recover after the procedure ends. They tell you that the pain will only get worse.
You endure nine months of discomfort, inconvenience, and frustration before the doctors finally disconnect you from the stranger. The process is lengthy and excruciating— when it finally ends, you’re left exhausted, feeling a strange mixture of happiness, grief, and relief. Finally, the ordeal is over… Or so you think.
The doctor comes back into the room and hands you the long list of medical bills that you accumulated throughout the course of the stranger’s treatment. You discover that you’re responsible for both of your costs. The doctor sends you home to recover, reminding you that you shouldn’t work during your recovery period and that your employer may not guarantee paid leave. Your bills are due at the end of the month.
Before you leave, the hospital staff congratulates you for “saving a life.” Their kind words sound hollow… After all, the stranger is alive, but at what cost?
You probably found this story disturbing— after all, its narrative reads like the plot of a dystopian novel. But as much as this story is hypothetical, it’s far from fictional: this is the reality of an unplanned pregnancy in a world without legal abortion.
The car crash is the accidental conception. Maybe you were reckless and had unprotected sex, or maybe your contraception failed. Maybe you were sexually assaulted. It doesn’t matter how you got here: you’re in crisis, and you need help.
But now there’s a foetus inside you, barely alive. Its status as a human being with rights is debatable at best.
Now imagine the world forcing you to change your diet, restrict your activities, and undergo nine months of pregnancy, risking your health for a foetus you may not even want. Imagine the pain of childbirth and the long recovery. Imagine being forced to pay for everything and never recovering your lost income. Imagine being told that a non-sentient foetus’ “life” comes before your choices.
Maybe you would gladly volunteer to keep the stranger alive after the car crash. Maybe you could accept the risks, endure the pain, and afford the costs. If you have the privilege of resources, health, and time, that’s your choice. However, for the vast majority of people who find themselves unexpectedly pregnant, it would be beyond unreasonable to force them to carry a foetus to term or resort to unsafe abortions. It would be unethical.
Next time the pro-life lobby starts to lecture you about the morality of abortion, tell them about the car crash. Would they keep the stranger alive? At the very least, wouldn’t they like the right to choose?