pax
ONE love, blood, life
I started a thread about abortion a while back, but I know it came from my trip to NYC, which was in October--so I suppose it's okay to start another one.
In response to a website called www.feministsforlife.org and a question raised by whenhiphop..., I'll try to state my views on this. I'm almost twenty-one years old and could finish college as early as this December (though I'll probably wait until May '04). I'm not sexually active, but I have been, and if I got a boyfriend I would probably be sexually active again. At this point in my life, it's easy for me to be pro-life; the guy I'm kind of seeing at the moment is a little older than me and has a good job, and I'm almost done with school and could conceivably get a decent job within a year or so.
But I have never been raped. I have never been faced with pregnancy while I was poor, in an abusive relationship, or living in an abusive home. I'm not a member of a religious sect that might disown me--or worse--were I to become pregant. And I realize that even in the United States, there are women who face such situations.
Am I pro-life? In theory, yes. I believe that life should be respected--who doesn't? I would love it if every child were a wanted child. It would be great if we as a society could guarantee to poor, frightened women that the children they were about to bear would be welcomed, fed, sheltered, and schooled. It would be even better if we could say those things and also guarantee that the woman would be employed, that decent, affordable child care would be provided, and that she would have opportunities to better herself. That is, unfortunately, not universally so, even in these great United States. But that is what would have to happen, I believe, to end or even noticeably reduce abortion.
So am I then pro-choice? In practice and for the moment, yes. Ultimately I believe that I do not know where life begins, and probably only God knows that. And while I've been fortunate in my life to have health insurance and thus have access to safe, affordable birth control, many women are not so fortunate. And women are raped, and women are abused, and women are poor. These are all reasons that abortion happens.
If we as a society want to end abortion, we must end rape, abuse, and poverty. And that is not going to happen. I strongly support birth control, emergency contraception, and adoption. But I also support Roe v. Wade, at least for now.
So that's where I am.
I predict that this thread will see at least 20 replied by tomorrow afternoon.
In response to a website called www.feministsforlife.org and a question raised by whenhiphop..., I'll try to state my views on this. I'm almost twenty-one years old and could finish college as early as this December (though I'll probably wait until May '04). I'm not sexually active, but I have been, and if I got a boyfriend I would probably be sexually active again. At this point in my life, it's easy for me to be pro-life; the guy I'm kind of seeing at the moment is a little older than me and has a good job, and I'm almost done with school and could conceivably get a decent job within a year or so.
But I have never been raped. I have never been faced with pregnancy while I was poor, in an abusive relationship, or living in an abusive home. I'm not a member of a religious sect that might disown me--or worse--were I to become pregant. And I realize that even in the United States, there are women who face such situations.
Am I pro-life? In theory, yes. I believe that life should be respected--who doesn't? I would love it if every child were a wanted child. It would be great if we as a society could guarantee to poor, frightened women that the children they were about to bear would be welcomed, fed, sheltered, and schooled. It would be even better if we could say those things and also guarantee that the woman would be employed, that decent, affordable child care would be provided, and that she would have opportunities to better herself. That is, unfortunately, not universally so, even in these great United States. But that is what would have to happen, I believe, to end or even noticeably reduce abortion.
So am I then pro-choice? In practice and for the moment, yes. Ultimately I believe that I do not know where life begins, and probably only God knows that. And while I've been fortunate in my life to have health insurance and thus have access to safe, affordable birth control, many women are not so fortunate. And women are raped, and women are abused, and women are poor. These are all reasons that abortion happens.
If we as a society want to end abortion, we must end rape, abuse, and poverty. And that is not going to happen. I strongly support birth control, emergency contraception, and adoption. But I also support Roe v. Wade, at least for now.
So that's where I am.
I predict that this thread will see at least 20 replied by tomorrow afternoon.