I have always wondered, why is it so often that pro-lifers are anti-birth control and pro-choicers are the ones trying to keep women from getting pregnant in the first place? Now I have said before that my views on abortion come from my faith, and that is true. I am no advocate of baby killing, but I also believe that our Maker gives us freewill - plus, who am I to judge? I do not know what I would do in that predicament. But while I feel one must weigh the consequences of both life and choice, I think the solution starts earlier, before conception.
So if we want to decrease the number of abortions, what should we do? The answer to this debacle is downright obvious to me - provide contraception so the chances of conception are minimal. After all, some kids are going to have sex regardless, they might as well have protection.
But there are politicians and religious leaders (cough, rich white men, cough) that are trying to take that option out of the hands of women who need it, along with other things like EC, emergency contraception.
The religious right is planting misconceptions about this all the time, preaching it is the morning after "abortion" pill. Without getting into too much detail, EC keeps the eggs from leaving the ovaries so they never meet the sperm. That does not sound like an abortion to me.
I also do not understand the paradox of the pro-lifers' argument. If a woman gets pregnant and keeps the baby, she is a whore and made a public spectacle. If she gets pregnant and aborts and someone finds out, she is a selfish murderer, and yes, still a whore. Which would you rather be?
And the best part is, the women are the ones at fault. Correct me if I am wrong, but I think I remember hearing in Sex-Ed that it takes a sperm, thus a male, to create a human being. So let's make sure we blame the women who would not have had an abortion had the man not been present. Too often women are stigmatized by their sexual and reproductive choices when men are just viewed as players that lack liability.
In high school I was a T.G.I.F, Teens Getting Involved for the Future, at the local middle school. We taught abstinence and nothing else. At that time I thought that it was a great idea, and I still think abstinence is the safest form of birth control. But if we teach adolescents alternative methods of protection for when they do engage in certain activities, perhaps we can save a few lives and a few heartaches. If we continue to stick our heads in the sand and pretend that kids as young as fourteen and below aren't having sex, we will continue to have underage mothers and abortions. Nobody wants that.
All I ask is one thing - please realize that teens and young adults are going to have sex whether or not contraception is readily available. They will in turn try less conventional, and frankly less scientific, methods of protection. Many young women will get pregnant and will seek abortion, whether leal or not and safe or not.
If you are pro-life; right on; that's your opinion. But people who lack ovaries shouldn't be able to govern me. Please refrain from applying your opinion to my body and realize that initial protection will prevent what you are protesting.
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