Why Pro-Choice is the Right Choice

As a feminist, I believe in the freedom and rights of anyone and everyone in the world, regardless of gender, sexuality, religion, race, etc. As long as your choices don’t harm another person physically, emotionally, or mentally, you should have the freedom to choose. And that’s why, when the discussion of abortion arises, I’m pro-choice.

Some may say that my beliefs are contradicting: abortion harms another life. However, it’s my belief that as a fetus, the baby isn’t alive. A fetus is fully dependent on its mother and it has no “rights to life”. Many people argue that abortion is threatening the life of a human but isn’t that what childbirth is? By giving birth, the mother is put at risk and has potential to lose her life. By denying her choice to “cancel” the pregnancy, you are forcing the mother to take that life threatening risk. So aren’t those beliefs contradicting?

Another common argument made by anti-abortionists is the accusation towards the mother for not taking responsibility of her own child. “If a woman consensually has sex and ends up pregnant, it was her choice to risk that outcome and therefore, must take responsibility for the child”. But who says that having a child is always the responsible answer? Women do not have a "responsibility" to have the child and they don’t bear the burden of such a responsibility by deciding to have sex. If a woman is not financially prepared to take proper care of a child and she knows she’s in no position to be a good parent, who’s to say that abortion isn’t the best option? Rather than bringing an unwanted child into the world, leave the choice up to the one who has to raise the kid for 18 years. And if someone makes a comment about abortion only being justified if the woman is raped, ask yourself why they’re fighting to save children but are so willing to abort children of rape? If they’re truly fighting for the innocent life of a child, what makes a child of rape any less worthy of life than another child? It wasn’t their fault.

One of the reasons I became so adamant about being pro-choice is when I was told that there shouldn’t be any reason to have an abortion if you always had the option of adoption. While adoption is seen as the best solution to an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy, millions of kids are being abused by the system. To simply put it, the foster system can be hell for those who are stuck in it. Whether they get put in abusive homes, separated from family, or just feel worthless from the countless families who gave up on them. It isn’t like this for every child but more often than not, children are suffering. Next time the idea for adoption is brought up to fight abortion, remember the millions of kids that are flooding the foster system and ask if adding another life to that is really the best solution.

It cannot be stressed enough how necessary the access to abortion is. Roughly 68,000 women die every year from illegal abortions when that option has been taken from them. Forcing women to give up the option of abortion can cause emotional, mental, and physical problems, another safety issue during a pregnancy.

As a human being and as a woman, I understand that more than anything, equality and freedom concerning one’s body are some of the most important rights in life. Refusing a woman’s choice could potentially ruin her or the baby’s life. Rather than shaming a woman for her choice, we should celebrate her bravery and support her through what is sure to be an emotional experience. Assuming that by reading this, you identify yourself as a feminist, I hope you’ll give other women their right to choose.

For any additional information on why abortion should be legalized everywhere and all the arguments made against it, I encourage you to research the topic and form your opinion. Here’s a link to get you started: http://www.bustle.com/articles/17141-how-to-argue-pro-choice-11-arguments-against-abortion-access-debunked

And for anyone who is thinking of an abortion or has anyone in their life that needs help getting through that choice, we’re here to help in any way and to start, here’s a link that helps find all the nearest abortion clinics in the U.S.: http://www.abortion.com/