I had a dream the other night that I was going to blog about my views on abortion and what the crazies are doing to Planned Parenthood. I think this is because my lovely friend Amy wrote about it here. I will touch on some PP matters later. First, I want to vent.
I've refrained from discussing this extensively because I don't want to offend anyone's beliefs. However, lately my own beliefs are being offended by those who think they know what's best for a complete stranger. I will state that I have never had an abortion and at this point in my life, wouldn't consider one. However....
A few weeks ago (maybe months, the thought has been festering for a while) I was stuck behind a shiny Cadillac. They had a "pro-choice" license plate, frame and a bumper sticker that read "U can't B both Catholic and pro-choice." I am not Catholic, so I can't fully argue with this. However, as a logical person that has been of a "childbearing" age for at least 14 years, I can say that I was a bit put off. Upon passing said vehicle, I can't say I was entirely surprised that a man NO YOUNGER than 70 and a woman I assumed was his wife were driving this car. Seriously? Who are you to say that I can't be pro-choice? Get off your soap box and listen to the generation that can still procreate.
I am going to make a potentially astonishing statement here (well, at least to people that thought higher of me. I apologize in advance for not being the person you thought I was. Oh wait, no I don't-deal with it), and I will try to do it as classy as possible. I participated in pre-marital sex. I was never stupid about it and thankfully, I never had to make the decision to have an abortion, because in high school I was not in any way prepared to have children. Having been pregnant at this point in my life, I don't think that there was anyway that I could have gone through a pregnancy and given my child up for adoption. However, I appreciate that I had the means to obtain a morning after pill, early abortion, whatever, if the need had risen.
The whole pro-life, pro-choice debate is peaking at heights that are too far to come down from. It's becoming a label and it's not healthy. Being pro-choice doesn't mean that one is pro-abortion or a murderer. It simple means that women ABSOLUTELY should have a choice whether they carry and deliver a child. I think it's awful that some states are redefining "rape"--this is the worst possible thing to happen to women everywhere. Of all the things that are wrong in this world, do we really need to focus on redefining rape or cutting funding to Planned Parenthood. (also, is gay marriage really an issue that needs to go through congress....Click Me!!) Does it matter if I'm pro-choice? It's not a black and white situation. I am pro-choice because I don't think it's any of my business if someone decides to terminate a pregnancy. Making abortion illegal will result in back alley clinics providing abortions in unsafe conditions and women using hangers to end their pregnancies. If only people would realize the complete ramifications of making them completely illegal. How is it, that at 26, I can think more logically than the people that we chose to put in Congress?
Now that we're onto PP, I want to inform those of you that haven't needed to use their services don't judge them--they offer medical services outside of abortions. They offer birth control, yearly exams, STD testing, prenatal care and so many other services to low income families. They work on a sliding scale, allowing the patient to set the price that they can afford. They don't try to talk you into abortion. They provide you with counseling and share with you all of your options. They provide accurate information and some clinics even offer basic healthcare.
It's so late, I don't know if I'm following myself anymore. I will get off my soapbox now and go to sleep. Maybe more interesting dreams will spawn into blog posts. Like the dream I had about the awesome house we were going to buy.
No comments:
Post a Comment