Blog for Choice Day

Today is the 34th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, the landmark case that overturned all state and federal laws restricting abortion. NARAL is asking people to blog today and explain why they are pro-choice. You can read some of those posts here. (Thanks, Maya's Granny, for your reminder on your blog.)

I have always struggled with the issue of abortion. I have always believed in a woman's right to choose, although in my heart I never believed I could have an abortion. I think of my friends who have had them and am very thankful that they had that option available to them. And now that I am pregnant myself, I can't imagine how it would feel to be pregnant with a child that was conceived and not truly wanted--for whatever reason. It is an emotional and physical rollercoaster, and I can't imagine going through this unless I really, really wanted it and thought it was the right decision for me and my family.

I don't believe that people generally use abortion as birth control--I believe that those people are the exception, not the rule. I do believe that if abortion weren't legal, that women would once again die at the hands of illegal abortionists.

When I was in college, I spent one afternoon with other college students, escorting frightened young women across the lines of protesters and into an abortion clinic in Washington, D.C. I was completely horrified by the experience. That people could curse and yell threats at terrified women was eye-opening to me. And I can tell you that every single one of those women was terrified--about the procedure itself and about the screaming crowd trying to get in their way. None of them treated abortion like birth control, and none of them were casual about it. I don't think they would have been there if they hadn't been so desperate. I never went back to that clinic--in fact, the experience was so terrifying that sometimes I wonder if I experienced it at all or if I just imagined it. But I still couldn't put my finger on the root of why I was pro-choice.

Anyway, in looking at the posts on NARAL, I read something that got to the heart of my views (thanks, Jessica):

"My support and fight for reproductive health and justice is about more than the recognition of women’s right to control their own bodies and my feelings about how the state’s attempt to control women’s reproductive rights is connected to women’s oppression more generally. At the core of it, it’s about something much more simple.

It’s about trusting women.

I trust women to make their own decisions. I trust that women (of all ages) don’t need to be told what to do with their bodies or their futures because they know what’s best for themselves and their families. And I truly believe that the folks who are fighting so hard to limit women’s reproductive choices are doing so because they don’t trust women. And that terrifies me—because if women aren’t trusted to make decisions about something as personal as their own bodies, we’re in big trouble."

I'm sure not everyone who reads this will agree with my view. But I hope it makes you consider why you have the views that you have on the issue, whether you are pro- or anti-choice.