Bioethics

The Immune Response against Abortion

Author Alan Shlemon Published on 12/08/2015

When a pregnant woman says “My body, my choice,” her own body disagrees. The proof doesn’t come from a pro-life person’s persuasive arguments. It comes from the “testimony” of her body’s physiology.

During pregnancy, the mother’s circulatory system and the unborn’s circulatory system come very close together in the placenta, but they don’t mix. This allows oxygen and nutrients to pass to the unborn while simultaneously allowing carbon dioxide and waste products to return to the mother.

In some abnormal conditions, the unborn’s blood enters into the mother’s bloodstream. If this happens, it evokes an immune response by the mother. Her body creates antibodies that attack the unborn inside her. That’s because the mother’s body recognizes the unborn’s body as a foreign body, not merely an extension of her own body.

The mother’s immune system doesn’t create antibodies against her appendix, her tonsils, or her teeth because these are part of her body. She can correctly state, “My body, my choice,” regarding those parts and—without committing a moral crime—procure an appendectomy, tonsillectomy, or tooth extraction.

Procuring an abortion, however, doesn’t remove a part of her own body, but rather, a different body. That’s the unbiased testimony of a pregnant woman’s own physiology.

Related post: My Body, My Choice?