Pro-Choice is not Anti-Life

I'm going to venture onto a limb and delve into a topic that is always divisive and controversial, yet a dialogue must be had. ABORTION. There, I wrote it. In all caps so you can't ignore it. A word that many people consider even worse than vagina or uterus. And with the word - Abortion - also comes the always-in-danger-of-being-revoked "Right to Choose."

Abolition of a woman's right to abortion, when and if she wants it, amounts to compulsory maternity: a form of rape by the State.

Edward Abbey
Having choices is part of being human, free will, and all that. And with a woman's right of choice related to her own body, there are consequences, but they are individual consequences, not collective consequences that affect society. Therefore, society should not have the right to impose manmade morality on the individual.

Now this particular post was motivated by a comment made by a woman named Kristen on a Facebook wall. There's a group called Lady Liberals, and they were brave enough to put this poster on their wall yesterday which, of course, incited conversation and debate, not all of it respectful. It varied from the logical to the irrational, emotional responses of those whose opinions are colored by what they claim are religious beliefs.

I am always amazed by these religious people who are ready to cast stones and cite biblical references to support their position, but their use of the bible is selective. They pick and choose a concept that suits their purpose. In this case, a woman wrote an inflammatory comment that people who have abortions will go to hell and abortion is murder.

This same woman forgets that her book of choice says, "Judge not lest ye be judged." Even when you've walked in a cheaper version of someone else's shoes, you never really know what they're going through, and it's wrong to assume that women who have abortions are gleeful about it.

There's a lot of self-recrimination, regret, and wondering how one's life may have turned out another way were it not for that choice made out of necessity or desperation or fear or self-preservation or whatever.

There is this myth that women who have abortions somehow got pregnant by being irresponsible with birth control. While this may be true in some instances, it it not always true. In addition to women who got pregnant as a result of rape or incest, there are many women who are on birth control but fate steps in and they become a statistic.

Did you know that the pill is not 100% effective? Sure you claim to know that, but how good are you at math and statistics? Do you really understand what that means?

http://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/unintendedpregnancy/contraception.htm

"The pill is 91–99% effective at preventing pregnancy."

Absorb that sentence please. That means out of 100 women, at least 1 will get pregnant, even on the pill. And up to 9 out of 100 could get pregnant.

"Male condoms are 82–98% effective at preventing pregnancy." Of course, condoms will help prevent STDs, but they're not foolproof either.

Combining the pill and a condom may improve the odds against you, but it still won't give you a 100% guarantee that you won't get pregnant. Only abstinence will guarantee that. So every woman, even the ones who are responsible with birth control, run the risk of getting pregnant when they have sex. I'll say it again. Every woman runs the risk of getting pregnant when they have sex, even when they use birth control responsibly.

Think an unwanted pregnancy can't happen to you? Think again.

"No woman has an abortion for fun."
Elizabeth Joan Smith

http://mypage.direct.ca/w/writer/anti-tales.html