Recently, there was a document leaked stating that the US Supreme Court planned to overturn Roe v. Wade. This is a critical piece of legislation that has saved lives. To overturn Roe v. Wade is to overturn any possible future I may have that I want. I am 23 years old. The words I’ve been told growing up and now say that I have the world ahead of me. That I can do anything I put my mind to. That I can have whatever future I want.
The actions of every lawmaker working to overturn Roe v. Wade say otherwise. Those preaching about protecting the unborn say otherwise. The protesters outside of Planned Parenthood telling me there’s other option as I’m walking in for a pap smear, to get tested for STDs, to get birth control, say otherwise.
I know that I’m not currently at place in my life where I can provide the quality of life a child deserves. Being forced to carry and then care for a child that I’m not ready for isn’t going to make me ready any faster either. At this point in my life, I don’t know if or when I’ll be ready.
“If you’re not ready, you can put it up for adoption.” That’s true, and I’ve considered the “what ifs.” There are good things that are because of adoption. But forcing someone to carry a pregnancy that they weren’t ready for or didn’t want will absolutely destroy their mental, emotional, and physical health. I’m not sure how forcing someone to endure that is “pro-life.” Pregnancy very greatly impacts an individual’s health. There’s some pretty major physical and horomonal changes that happen. There’s also some pretty severe risks that can occur too. Ectopic pregnancy, preeclampsia, eclampsia. Those are just a few. Did you know severe hemorrhaging can occur when giving birth? Hemorrhage means loss of blood. The medical term for a miscarriage is “spontaneous abortion.” If the tissues don’t entirely expel from the uterus on their own, the medical procedure of an abortion is necessary to prevent an infection, that typically would lead to septic shock, from developing. Any of those complications can lead to death. How is forcing someone through that “pro-life?”
“Those are the sacrifices a mother knows she has to make.” I’ve thought long and hard about what sacrifices I’m willing to make in my life now and what sacrifices I might be willing to make in the future. I’m a volunteer firefighter/EMT. I literally run into burning buildings. A motto we live by in the fire service is “risk a lot for a lot, risk a little for a little, and risk nothing for nothing.” I’m not scared of sacrificing my life for the causes I see are just. It would absolutely destroy me if I lost someone to complications from a pregnancy they didn’t want to begin with though. And this is still only about the quality of life of the individual carrying the pregnancy.
Let’s talk about the quality of life of the unborn child. If you knew about the potential suffering that child would go through and you were given the option to prevent it, would you? We’ve had many incredible advancements in technology throughout the last century. Science is honestly pretty amazing. To be able to learn what we have about the world around us is pretty incredible. Because of the technological advancements we’ve made, we can identify when the foetus is developing in a way that’s incompatible with life before any suffering has to occur.
When I bought my horse at the age of 13, I knew there would be a day wen I would have to eventually make a decision. Because of that, I’ve always said that I could make the decision to pull the trigger, I just couldn’t pull it myself. And now, I’m at a point in my life where I could pull the trigger myself if I had to. The day to make that decision came when I was 20. That was the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make. It destroyed me. But it wasn’t fair to him to have to continue suffering because I didn’t want to say “goodbye.” That night is something I’ll never forget. He was in so much pain. I didn’t want to say “goodbye,” even now it still hurts that I had to say that “goodbye,” but he was suffering. It would’ve been selfish to let him continue suffering because I didn’t want to say “goodbye,” and that wouldn’t have been fair to him.
I remember reading the story of a woman who had learned the child she was carrying wasn’t likely to develop in a way that was compatible with liofe. I don’t remember why she ended up continuing with the pregnancy and giving birth. I do remember that the child was born with a brain stem but no brain. The child lived longer than anyone expected, but it didn’t live longer than two years. The woman and her family loved that child very much, I have no doubt in my mind about that. In the article, I remember the woman talking about how much it hurt to see the child suffer. The child had respiratory issues and endured many, many seizures. I don’t remember the other things they had to endure, but they, the whole family, certainly did suffer.
That article, my horse, and many other things that we can dive into another time, are what ultimately made me the incredibly strong believer that safe and legal access to abortion, regardless of the reason the abortion is being sought, is a critical part of healthcare.
I believe that all living beings have the right to a quality life. No being should have to suffer. There’s too much suffering in the world right now. There’s a pandemic. There’s the conflict in Ukraine. There’s infringements on Human Rights here in the US everyday. Just two years ago we were watching lynchings, police brutality, and many other horrific things rooted in racism happen in the news everyday.
And just because it’s not in the news everyday right now doesn’t mean it’s not happening.
Earlier, I briefly brought up adoption. Before you can force somneone to carry a pregnancy that they can’t or don’t want and preach giving that child up for adoption, take a look at the foster care system. While I don’t know all of the specifics, I do remember learning individuals’ personal experiences in the system as youth. A Child Call It is an autobiography that a teacher recommended to me in middle school. The things that individual endured both before going into the system and once they were in the system are horrendous and heartbreaking. Unfortunately, that’s the reality for many individuals who get placed into the foster care system here in the US.
There are so many systemic issues and injustices that need to be addressed in order to fix things like the foster care system. For all individuals to receive their constitutional rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, the systemic issues and injustices need to be addressed, fixed, and prevented from occuring again in the future. Dealing with the systemic issues and injustices are how you can provide the quality of life everyone in this world is entitled to. Until I know for sure that I can provide that quality of life for someone who will be dependent on my for several years, I refuse to personally bring new life into this world. That’s my choice. My decision to make.
That doesn’t mean I won’t love and support those who choose differently than myself. That’s simply my personal choice. It is not my place to tell you what you can and can’t do with your body. Just as it is not your place to tell me what I can and can’t do with mine. In my careers as an educator and as a firefighter/EMT it is my job to make sure you are okay, safe, and have opportunities and access for whatever support and education are both necessary and applicable to your life. It is not my job to judge or make decisions for you. Every belief I have in regards to current events and contorversial topices, not just my beliefs about abortion access, are guided by those same principles.
Abortions are going to happen whether you like it or not. They’re going to happen with or without safe and legal access. It wasn’t that long ago when many people were losing their lives because of not having safe and legal access to abortions. The sooner you realize that, the sooner you’ll realize just how anti-life the “pro-life” movement actually is. Overturning Roe v. Wade is anti-life. It’s anti-my life and anti-life of anyone born with a female reproductive system, any foetus developing in a way incompatible with life, any individual at risk of life-threatening complications from pregnancy, and so many more.
And for the states seeking to make abortions a capital offense, is the death penalty really “pro-life?”
Sorting Through the Shit 