Agreed.
But that requires of culture of disallowing glorification of abortion.
In what universe is abortion “glorified”? Other than a couple randoms (Lena Dunham? and some weirdo trans person who said he wanted to transition and get a uterus so he could have an abortion, and some others trying to be edgy, carried away with political ideology (which is often a reaction to attack or lack of access)), or reacting to current-day threats to its availability, virtually no one considers abortion a goal or god-like. Rhetoric and heated defensive political commentary aside, most everyone has better aims. You may hear people say it was the best decision they made or thank God for it, etc., but that’s not “glorifying” it.
We need a culture of education both sexes on what measures should be taken to avoid unwanted pregnancies and that it is always better to prevent.
We have education on bc (to varying degrees), but we also have stigma around it, accessibility issues, acceptance of young/unprepared childbearing (which severely disproportionately compromises the future of the women vs the men), acceptance of men opting out of child-rearing and/or financial support, acceptance of “please, baby, please, it just doesn’t feel the same,” and misunderstanding of error rates for birth control methods.
Education should say DON’T get pregnant/impregnate anyone unless and until you are 100% ready and in a position to provide that child a secure life with engaged parents who will put the child’s welfare before their own. It should reinforce that there is no reason to have sex - for the first or 5000th time - unless you yourself want to and are fully prepared (in every sense). It should counsel women to take control of their lives and use a woman-controlled birth control method, and never, ever to trust your potential pregnancy to a man. It should counsel men to stop wheedling and whining about condoms, promising to pull out, or “just the tip.” It should instill in men an independent, iron-clad sense of obligation to any child they create and its mother. It should provide accurate information on efficacy, side effects, and suitability of every type of birth control. It should underscore that Plan B (and various formulations intended to function after the fact) is a
plan B, not a primary birth control “method.” And it should prioritize sane, rational, fact-based evaluations of the entire topic, candid self-assessments, and manipulation-free and impersonal decisionmaking.
The conservatards should give up moaning about expelling literal clump of cells early on and making it some religious issue. And progressives must give up the "not a real person yet" claims of unlife and acknowledge that killing a mother and her fetus counts double.
I agree abortion should be considered seriously - it’s a serious decision. But if you severely reduce opportunities for unintended pregnancies (by instilling the things I mentioned above), then you’re
mostly left with cases such as the rare failure of birth control done right, or situations of rape or manipulation.
Both men and women should make every effort to avoid/prevent a pregnancy -using the best methods available - unless and until they are
both fully and completely independently wanting a child. That includes abstaining. And also includes using every method available to prevent it. …and once that choice (active or passive) to have sex is made, and a pregnancy results, both should be equally on the hook for every aspect of raising that child. And that means no more $50/month child support bullshit; no more women declining to pursue child support because they see it as a “punishment,” or “he’ll give what/when he can”; no more blaming single mothers for being leeches on society because they can’t advance in work/earning because they have a child they’re having to rear alone.
There will always be exceptions and outliers, but if everyone approached sex with accurate information and equal accountability and responsibility, the need for abortion would be drastically reduced. Everyone is not going to do that, and as noted, sometimes the best plans fail, so abortion is and should be an accessible option. But if you put in the groundwork and instill self-respect, responsibility, and agency in every person, it becomes a much smaller situation. In our imperfect world, though, where both parties don’t insist on responsible prevention, abortion remains a necessary option.