Last week marked the 29th anniversary of the controversial Roe vs. Wade ruling that legalized abortion in the United States. To this day, the very topic sparks passionate debates on both sides of the fence.
I like listening to pro-lifers. Their naive outlook on the world makes me laugh, mainly because I used to be one.
The belief, to quote Mary J. Blige, that love is all you need in order to raise a child, smacks of middle-class America idealism in a way that brings a rare smile to my face.
These people aren’t exactly crusaders, and with the exception of contributing to America’s overpopulation problem, they have no real point for existing.
Rather, they get their kicks from slinging out words like “murderer” and “baby killer” and quoting from the Bible (like that’s going to make a confused young woman feel better.)
Personally, I think that if anti-abortionalists are so into preserving lives, they’d stop waving pictures of dead fetuses around while people are driving.
Two years ago, my dad got an eyeful while driving with my mother and me and nearly killed us all.
If you want to knock a pro-lifer off his soapbox, though, just ask: If a woman chooses not to have an abortion, will you take in her child? You’ll never see a person get a dumber look on his or her face. It’s downright classic.
A pro-lifer can only advise one of two things. One, shove the kid off to an adoption agency and let him float around in the system until he turns 18, resenting his birth mother all the while.
Or – and this one is my favorite – just raise the child. We all know how easy that is, especially if we’re talking about a young woman with no financial or emotional support.
News flash: love has never, ever fed a child, good intentions don’t keep on the lights, and struggling for the sake of struggling – although it may ease some poor girl’s sinning soul – will not make a sick child well.
Someone asked me what would I do if I were pregnant. If it were me, I’d run to my nearest cathedral, announce the coming of the second Immaculate Conception and demand early sainthood. Seriously though, I can honestly say that would be the most agonizing decision of my life.
On one hand, I’m on a full scholarship that requires I stay in good physical health. Conscience be damned – the thought of throwing away my college education to raise a child on minimum wage is not only terrifying, it’s a stupid idea.
On the other hand, I don’t think I could live with myself knowing that I had an abortion over such a selfish reason as obtaining a college degree.
I would probably live my days out being ashamed of myself for running from my responsibilities. From women I’ve spoken to, abortion isn’t the easy way out. It’s the hardest decision a woman can come to, I’m sure.
I never want to wind up in that type of situation, which is pretty much why I avoid sex like the bubonic plague.
But I am grateful that I live in a country that allows me to choose.
With abstinence, birth control and the morning-after pill, only the village idiot could accidentally get pregnant in the 21st century.
But the argument “She shouldn’t have gotten pregnant in the first place” is no more an answer than abstinence I don’t believe in taking a woman’s right to an abortion away.
It’s not anyone’s place to judge anyone else by theirs
The woman who chooses to terminate her pregnancy will answer to her Maker on Judgment Day, just like we all will.
J. Danielle Daniels, 20, is a sophomore political science student from Dallas. She can be reached at rattlerbrat@hotmail.com. She serves as the Deputy Opinions Editor.