Lots of people are surprised that I am pro-choice. Mostly because I was so adamantly pro-life just a couple of years ago. But the new people I meet, that only know me as pro-choice, seem surprised that I can support abortion rights, and still be compassionate to the babies being aborted. As a mother, how could I not be?
There are plenty of women (mothers, included) who see an unborn baby as nothing more than an embryo, or a fetus. I don't feel that way. I feel that an unborn baby is just that-an unborn BABY. However, I also see abortion as a sad thing. Sometimes necessary, but always sad. Regardless of why a woman needs an abortion, the situation is always unfortunate. For example, if a young girl is raped and gets pregnant as a result...that is awful. It's particularly nightmarish if the girl is say, 9 or 10 years old. The pregnancy alone could seriously damage her body. If a married couple conceives a much wanted baby and they find out that their baby has some horrible, painful, incurable disease and they decide to terminate...there is nothing about that situation that is good. If a teenage girl's birth control fails and she becomes pregnant, sure...she has the right to seek an abortion. But that doesn't make it any less sad that an unborn baby is being aborted.
While of course we know that a 10 week old baby cannot survive outside of his or her mother's womb, it doesn't erase the fact that this is the POTENTIAL for life. And it's a sad thing when that potential is terminated, for whatever reason. I have said over and over, I do not particularly support abortions just because the mother decides she doesn't want a baby. I certainly do not support late term abortions because a woman takes 24 weeks to decide she doesn't want to be a mother. Personally, I think late term abortions should be for medical reasons ONLY. But I do support abortions for other reasons. I can understand a woman in a bad relationship getting one. I can understand a rape and/or incest victim getting one...especially a very young girl. I can understand terminating a pregnancy because your baby is suffering for one reason or another. And because of that, I don't feel like I have the right to be a bitch about abortions for any other reason. If they're legal for these reasons, they need to be legal for any reason (up to a certain point). Because let's be honest...if abortions are made illegal, the only thing that will change is that more women will die. We will go to back alley abortions. A mother who already has 5 kids at home to take care of is at a higher risk of leaving those kids motherless by going to a strange, unlicensed person for an abortion. And I just can't justify that in my mind. I feel that God gave us the benefit of science for a reason. I really do. I think that the choice to have an abortion takes a lot of soul searching.
Can you be a compassionate pro-choicer? I believe so. Can you be a compassionate pro-lifer? I think so. I also believe there can be mindless idiots on both sides of the fence. But the truth is, none of us are anyone to judge. If you are pro-life because of your religious beliefs, you should know this more than anyone. But regardless of where you stand or why, I am grateful that I am compassionate to both sides. I'm grateful that I've been on both sides of the fence (being pro-life and now pro-choice). I'm grateful for the open mind and the understanding.
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