3 Reasons Why I'm Pro-Choice

Being pro-choice or pro-life is something that most people feel very strongly about. My opinion may differ from yours, readers, but I urge you to at least try to consider my perspective. We all have the right to our own opinions, and here is mine: I am pro-choice, and this is why.

Reason #1:

A woman should have the right to make decisions about her own body. We’re in 2017, and people (mostly men, it seems) are still debating about whether or not a woman should be allowed to make the choice to have an abortion.

Why is a man telling me what I can and can’t do with my body? What does he know about being pregnant? Why is someone with no uterus trying to take control of my uterus? Regardless of whether or not you view abortion as a crime, you have to admit, ladies, that having a man try to tell you what you can and can’t do is the worst. Men, please leave the majority of this discussion to us, thank you very much.

Reason #2:

A pregnancy is a huge responsibility; one that not everybody can - or should - take on. A child has basic needs - food, shelter, water, and health care. On top of these things, a child also needs attention, love, and support.

Some people are barely able to take care of themselves, let alone a child. Kids are adorable, and teach us many things about life. They are also the reason that many adults are forced to let go of their prior goals and dreams. Now, let’s say that a 22-year old woman who is planning on going to law school is a full-time student, works part-time, and is making just enough money to support herself. She’s responsible, ambitious, and hard-working, but, alas, the girl and her boyfriend slip up during sex, and she becomes pregnant. The boyfriend decides that he doesn’t want to take on the responsibility of raising a child, so he bails. The girl is now left on her own, with a difficult decision - to give up on her dreams and take on another low to mid-paying job to provide for a child, or to have an abortion and continue on the best path for her?

Reason #3:

Now, some of you may be saying, “Why not just put the baby up for adoption?” It’s a good point - except for the fact that we already have a problem with the adoption process in this country. There are already so many children who have to deal with the adoption and foster care system. There are many unfit parents out there who have abused and/or neglected their children. When Social Services discovers these situations, they send those children to foster care. In foster care, a child may live with multiple families throughout their lifetime. Being passed around from family to family can damage a child’s sense of safety and security. Oftentimes, a foster child will encounter an unfit family, and undergo a traumatic experience, such as physical or sexual abuse. An experience like this can ravage a child’s life, and lead them to unhealthy habits in adulthood, like drug use. Many inmates in prisons around the country are products of the foster care system, and were forced to fend for themselves when they aged out of the system at 18 years old. There are success stories that come from the foster care system, but, sadly, it can be an emotionally scarring experience for many of the children who went through it.

Birth control is forgotten and condoms break. Forcing a woman who is not ready to be pregnant, who is not ready to raise a child, should never be a requirement when mistakes happen.