Why I am Pro-Choice
As an adoptive mother, there was nothing else I wanted for the longest time than a child to love. I was thrilled when I finally was matched with my daughter.
Not all women have the same feelings.
You might wonder why I would be pro-choice if I am also an adoptive parent.
It is because in addition to being an adoptive parent, I am also a sexual abuse survivor.
Sexual abuse is extremely common in our society. Estimates are that one in four women will experience some sort of sexual abuse. One in four.
I am one of the lucky abuse survivors. There are some that are not so lucky. They end up carrying the child of their abuser.
Many people will make an exception for abortions only in the case of rape or incest. The problem with that is that abortion needs to be available. It needs to be safe and a woman needs to be able to do it easily. If we lock it down to just rape and incest survivors, then it will become extremely hard for those women to get abortions. How do you prove that the baby you are carrying is a result of abuse? How do you prove it when you are 12 years old?
I know for a fact that if I had, God forbid, gotten pregnant as a result of my abuse than I would have gotten an abortion.
Would I do it if I got pregnant now? No. Do I think women sometimes take advantage of the availability of abortions? Yes.
But if there is one women in one circumstance who would benefit then I have to be pro-choice.
Technorati Tags: Blog for Choice, pro-choice, abortion
January 22nd, 2007 at 4:34 pm
Bravo!
Now if my dad had knocked me up, would that be my sibling, or child, or both? Thankfully I never had to find out.
I am proud to be pro-woman, pro-family and pro-choice.
January 22nd, 2007 at 4:53 pm
Yes! Too many people only equate pro-choice with pro-abortion. Not that I’m anti-abortion - I’m not - but it’s only one choice of many now available to women. *hugs* Thanks for writing this!
January 22nd, 2007 at 6:08 pm
Very well said!
January 22nd, 2007 at 6:49 pm
You inspired me to do a little political blogging of my own today. Thanks for the kick start!
January 22nd, 2007 at 8:41 pm
Thank you, thank you, thank you…amazing post.
January 22nd, 2007 at 10:13 pm
New here, hello! I love your blog & someday I hope to adopt. Both my husbands parents were orphans, we now run a children’s home out in CA.
My mother is a labor/delivery nurse in Chicago, she sees a lot…I am pro-choice. Incest/rape are good reasons for abortion, but there are also a TON of others. Abortion is not a good thing, but sometimes it is necessary.
January 22nd, 2007 at 11:38 pm
For the longest time I’ve tried to decide what stand I would take. I am pro-choice, because of sexual abuse, but I am also pro-life, because I believe that a fetus/baby deserves life. I’ve decided that I am PRO-CHOICE, because I can’t decide for every women, in every kind of circumstance what they should do, it should be their choice to make. But I hope that women will choose adoption over abortion in any other case.
January 23rd, 2007 at 2:06 am
Great post. I think “pro-choice” says it all. We are for people having the freedom to choose. yup. There are enough unwanted children in the world.
January 23rd, 2007 at 5:07 am
I was completely unaware of this Blog For Choice Day today, but I ended up blogging about the subject anyways. It was because of what I saw over the weekend that made me write this particular blog but it seems it turned out on the right day.
January 23rd, 2007 at 2:29 pm
Its Funny, I never even thought that because your an adoptive parent it would make you pro life or pro choice. I guess its because to me, the two things are kind of exclusive. Mrs Duck says she would never volunteer for an abortion (you know if carrying the child would not be healthy for her or something is one thing) but she is pro choice because she doesnt want the government to decide what she can or cant do with her body since its been something she could have done before. Does that make sense?
January 23rd, 2007 at 3:09 pm
Well said!
I have a question, though, that has nothing to do with the post (sorry), I was wondering whether, if you are ever short on topics to blog on, you could tell us when you first felt like a mother with Bug? You said recently that you always felt a feeling of responsibility towards her - but was there ever a point where it kind of hit you like ‘wow - okay, I’m *actually* a mother’?
You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to (it’s mostly me being nosy), but I’d be interested to hear about that if you do want to tell us.
January 23rd, 2007 at 3:33 pm
You go.
For what it’s worth, you wouldn’t have had to prove rape if you were 12. It would have been rape automatically because of your age.
I was fortunate to come from a family full of love, money and support. Had I gotten knocked up at any point it wouldn’t have been okay with me, personally, to get an abortion. Ever.
There are millions of women out there who are not fortunate enough to be in my situation and I would never, ever presume to decide for them what they should and shouldn’t do. Ever.
Pro Choice all the way.
January 23rd, 2007 at 5:13 pm
Say it loud, sister. Abortion should be safe, legal and rare. That is my hope.
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