Adoption is always an option

The argument

This argument accepts that a woman may not want to raise a child, and denies that the conclusion follows from it. The premise it rests on is that abortion ends a life — a life form whose destruction is a serious matter — and that the reason usually given for ending it, the unwantedness of the child, is a reason admitting of another remedy. That remedy is adoption. Even where the biological mother does not want the child, there is no shortage of families who will love and cherish it, and many are actively looking to adopt. A woman who does not want to raise a child therefore faces a choice between two courses that both relieve her of raising it: one ends the child's life, the other places the child with people who want it. On this account an unwanted pregnancy is not a dilemma between motherhood and abortion at all, because a third path is open in every case. Proponents of this position draw a sharp moral conclusion from that availability. Where an alternative exists that preserves the life and satisfies the wishes of adults eager for a child, ending the life instead cannot be justified by necessity, because there was no necessity. What remains as an explanation is the convenience of the person making the choice — which is why the position describes it as an act of selfishness rather than a tragic decision forced by circumstance. A society that permits a life to be ended while willing families stand ready to receive it is, on this reasoning, permitting something for which it has no adequate ground. Because adoption is always an option, abortion should not be permitted and should be illegal.

Context

At any given moment, there are more than 1.5 million American families on the waiting list to adopt a child. These couples are waiting for a child to join their family and have love to give. Why would we allow abortions when there are so many parents waiting for a child?

Premises

Counter-arguments

Putting a child up for adoption is a huge undertaking. It requires the mother to carry the child in her womb for nine months, during which time a bond is created with the child. As a result, many mothers who have given a child up for adoption often suffer intense feelings of loss which last for the rest of their lives. Many women would prefer to abort the foetus than being forced into completing the full term the pregnancy. Partly, this is because although there is a large number of families hoping to adopt an infant, children from ethnic minorities often languish in foster homes and grow up in social services. Adoptive parents do not adopt babies of colour at the same rates they do young, white children. If a pregnant woman chooses to go through the pregnancy and relinquish her child, that is a noble and selfless decision. But that is her decision to make. Adoption is always an option, but it should never be the ONLY option and it is certainly not her duty.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P2] Adoption is not straightforward. Women should not be forced into it.