Blog For Choice Day
It's that time of year again for Blog for Choice Day. Today marks the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade, which established the constitutional right for abortion in the U.S. This year's topic is why it's important to vote pro-choice.
I vote pro-choice because I know that laws can chip away at our constitutional rights by providing a narrower definition on what we can and cannot do. Currently, there are bills in Congress that will mandate the physician performing an abortion offer to do an ultrasound. Most of these laws are known as "informed consent" laws but in fact they are crafted by pro-life activists to change a woman's mind if she sees an image of the fetus. I did my honors thesis on the significance of the pro-life movement using ultrasound as a tool to prevent women from getting abortions.
I vote pro-choice because Congress needs to hear a woman's perspective on pregnancy. Too often we hear male pro-lifers decry women who have abortions as hateful murderers who deserve to rot in hell. This is not to say that there aren't pro-life women (some of the most powerful pro-life activists are women), but pregnancy is an experience that is sex-specific.
I vote pro-choice because I know women who have had abortions and go on to have good lives. They don't live regretful lives full of sorrow. Of course not all women feel this way but too often we hear about post-abortion syndrome but we don't hear much about women saying they made the right choice in the media. Take the Degrassi episode about a teenager who has an abortion and said it was the right choice - it's banned from airing in the U.S.
I vote pro-choice because it is my patriotic duty to protect the reproductive decisions of all women. While many may demonize us as murderers waving our coat hangers in triumph, we're women (and men) who want a say in whether we bring life into this world or not. Whether you want a child or not, your choice is protected by Roe v. Wade.