"...they are endowed...with certain unalienable rights...life, liberty, and the pursuit of..."...abortion? Maybe not.
While abortion may not be an "unalienable right" of American women, the right to choose should be.
I am fully aware of what all the pro-lifers are thinking. So go ahead and send any hate-mail here. I understand the pro-life perspective. It's murder, it's no better than killing an adult, you're taking away a chance for life, etc.
But.
I am pro-choice. A pro-lifer once vehemently accused me of not understanding the implications of being "pro-choice." She pointed a finger and said I was too young to see how wrong my un-Godly decision was. I did not argue; who really wants to fight with a 50 year old Southern Baptist? I was 14 at the time. 2 years later, I look back with the exact same opinion (if not a little firmer), knowing that I understood, as I do now, what being pro-choice means.
I support a woman's right to choose how she handles her body. Why do we stand for it when fat, old men in stuffy suits get up and debate the legality of something that only women can undergo? What right does a man, father or not, have to tell a woman that she can or cannot have an abortion?
What kills me is the people who bring their children along to abortion clinic protests. Yes, we all see you chose to have your child. But can they not let their children decide on their own, based on beliefs the child holds to? I am blessed with parents who have always allowed me my own beliefs and opinions without forming them for me. What kind of person would I be if I believed everything my parents did, without deciding for myself first? It's a terrible waste when parents reiase their children to be closed-minded, whether it be about people of different sexual orientations, race, or religion. But I digress.
The one major problem I have is with violent pro-lifers. How are they any better than those so-called "baby killers" if they go around bombing clinics and killing innocent people? I don't understand what is achieved by this, other than making all pro-lifers appear to be ignorant, hypocritical right-wing extremists.
And I do know what I'm talking about; I do watch 60 Minutes from time to time (the look at targetting doctors for death was chilling) and I always catch the news. I don't need any more proof than that that these killings do happen.
I have never been pregnant, nor do I intend to be for many, many years. Because of this, I cannot say exactly what I would do in the situation. But the beauty of that is that I would be able to choose. If you're that violently opposed to abortion, don't get one. Don't let your daughters have one. Ostracize those people you know who have had an abortion. But don't take away everyone's right.
Every day in this country, doctors risk their personal safety to perform abortions. These people may or may not believe in a God. But do not presume to tell me that these people will burn in Hell, because that is the biggest load of *@$! I have ever heard. I believe in God. He helps me out, so to speak. I strongly believe that if I got pregnant and had an abortion, God would love me regardless. Would I wonder if I made the right decision? Probably not. It's all relative.
I don't have the answers to this. Thankfully though, the debates on the most dried-up subject since Zippergate have subsided due to "alien Elian," school violence, and Ricky Martin, but they will no doubt resurface with renewed vigor before the next millenium. I hope the day will come when women are the ones debating the issue, doctors no longer have to live in fear, and, just maybe, we'll all have the definite right to choose.