For most people this wouldn’t be an issue but that summer I had a boyfriend “Andy”. We were sexually active at that time, so you can imagine my fear in having sex. One night, during the time when I wasn’t taking anything, we started making out and one thing lead to another and we ended up having sex. Andy did use a condom though, which is what we did all the time anyway. A couple days later, I was back to taking my pill and everything was great. That was until a few weeks later when I realized I was late. So I went to the doctor and he confirmed what I had feared, I was pregnant.
Other than not being on the pill for that short amount of time, with Andy wearing a condom, I did everything I could to make sure that this didn’t happen. Neither one of us was sure what happened the fact was that I became pregnant and we needed to make a decision. For myself, the decision was rather easy; I was for having an abortion. After all, I was only 17 and about to become a senior high school. Being pregnant was just not something I was willing to deal with in any capacity.
So after talking it over with both sets of parents, they all agreed with me and a few days later I went down to get the abortion, bringing my mom and my best friend Alison, who is now my life partner. I was so scared but I knew I was doing the right thing. That is what I thought until about a week later when I started regretting my decision. I realized I probably should have thought it over more. If I had thought it out I may have decided to go through with the pregnancy but I am quite certain that I would have given up that baby for adoption because I know that at that time in my life I was not ready to take care of another life.
Before today, there were only six people that knew about this, not counting my doctor. I have regretted my hasty decision every for nearly 10 years. I decided several years ago that I would never get another abortion again but here is the one thing that many people that may read this aren’t going to understand. Even though I would never get another abortion, I am still pro-choice.
You may be asking yourself “how can you be against having an abortion and still be pro-choice?” It’s simple; my decision to never have another abortion is my choice and no matter how much I may dislike the idea of an abortion, I will not tell another woman what she can or cannot do with her own body. Whether pro-lifers want to admit it or not, being pro-choice does not mean that you are OK with abortions.
It’s one of the most aggravating things when it comes to pro-lifers. Many of them have the idea that being pro-choice means that you are for more abortions. While that may be the case for some members of the pro-choice movement, the overall majority thinks like I do and that is while abortions shouldn’t be taken likely, no one should be able to tell a woman what she can or cannot do with her own body.
I want pro-lifers to think about the fact that you live in a society where you can actually be pro-life. Think about places like China where they “encourage” couples to only have one kid. In other countries women are treated as only baby making machines. Imagine living an existence where you aren’t allowed to have an abortion by law or people have the right to stone you to death. I want you all to think about those things and really ask yourself if allowing women that want to have an abortion is really a bad thing or would you rather live in a country where you can’t make that decision on your own. I hope this reaches some of you and gets you to think about things in a little different light and to stop judging people for making a decision that they feel is best for them.
I think the central issue with abortion for pro-lifers is whether or not an unborn child is a "life." Because for born children, say a one-month old who is unwanted, there is no option and no reason that society can come up with that would allow the mother to kill the child, be that age, poverty, convenience, even abuse. No one would ever come out pro-choice for allowing mothers to decide if they want their already born child to live past the age of 1, for example. And I think that for someone who believes that an unborn child is equal to a born child, that is basically the leap you are asking them to make. So ultimately, it comes down to is the unborn child a life or not? If no, then it is a choice about the mother's body, if yes, then it is a choice much like deciding whether or not a mother has the "right to choice" for the life of her born child.
ReplyDeleteInteresting point. For me personally, I don't think a fetus is a person until it can survive outside the womb. That is usually in the third trimester and there are many people who don't think abortions should be legal by that time.
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