Blog for Choice Day 2013

today is the 40th anniversary of roe v. wade.  once again NARAL has asked supporters to blog for choice.  i participated last year and the year before.  i think it is important to have discussions about choice because it has once again become a hot topic in our country.  it is important to me to protect the right to choose for future generations.

below is the prompt from NARAL and my response.

It’s our personal stories that change hearts and minds about the importance of always protecting a woman’s right to choose. That’s why this year we’re asking you to share your story about why you’re pro-choice.

when i first saw what this year's topic was i stressed a little about what i would write.  share my story about why i'm pro-choice?  i don't have a "story".  i have been pro-choice for as long as i can remember.  there isn't an event that made me pro-choice.  i just am.

then i started to think.  why am i pro-choice?

a lot of people tend to confuse pro-choice with pro-abortion.  pro-choice is about more than wanting to be able to choose abortion when faced with an unplanned pregnancy.  it is about being able to choose healthcare and birth control.  it's about women having options.

i've listened to people (mostly old, white men) debating over the last couple of years about birth control and abortion.  some don't think insurance should cover birth control.  some think that women who are raped should have the baby that occurs because of that (except for the in case where the body shuts down and conception doesn't happen, but that is another blog).  why are these men so concerned about what i am doing with my body?  why does it have to be a discussion?

i am pro-choice because i want to make decisions about what i do with my body.  i want to take birth control because i choose not to have a baby right now.  i want to go to planned parenthood because i choose them to provide my healthcare.  i want abortion to be an option if i am in a position where i need to make that choice.  doesn't mean that is what i'll choose, but i want to have the option.  theses are all personal issues related to my body.  they don't have anything to do with anyone else.  i want to get to a point (esp since this is the 21st century and roe v. wade is 40 years old) that these issues are no longer debated in congress or the media.  every woman should have the right to choose what she does with her body in regards to healthcare and family planning.  that is why i'm pro-choice.   
   

things to worry about this week...

optimism does not come easy to me.  i'm trying really hard to find the positives, but sometimes it gets tough.  tonight a lot weighs on my heart.

here is what i'm worrying about this week:

* my grandpa

* when J will call and what he'll say

* writing my "blog for choice" blog for next monday.  the topic this year is "why are you prochoice?"

* juggling the things i HAVE to do with the things i WANT to do

* my writing.  the ideas are there, but i am having trouble making them a good story

* keeping up with my 2013 notebook.  i'm already falling behind

Blog for Choice Day 2012

today is the 39th anniversary of roe v. wade.  NARAL has asked supporters to blog about choice today. i participated last year and decided to participate again.  below is the question posed by NARAL and my response.  i wish i could have come up with something more profound, but it's all i've got right now.  hey--it's better than nothing!

what will you do to help elect pro-choice candidates in 2012?

i would love to say that i am going to volunteer at every pro-choice candidate’s office in the area and pound the pavement for them every day, but i am way too overwhelmed with my own life right now to do that.  instead i think that education is important.  

first i need to educate myself about the candidates and where they stand in response to women’s reproductive issues.  then it is up to me to let friends, family, and co-workers know about these candidates.  i need to explain why we want pro-choice candidates elected to office.  most people think that being pro-choice only deals with abortion.  there are so many other women’s health issues under attack these days, and it seems to me that only the pro-choice officials in government are on the side of the woman.  

as a woman, i believe that it is up to me to maintain my reproductive/health rights.  it is my body.  if i want to take birth control, then it should be available to me.  if i am low-income and need to go to planned parenthood for my well woman exams, then that too should be available to me.  too many pro-life officials want to make birth control difficult to access.  why? what's the deal with that?  birth control prevents unexpected pregnancies, which in turn can prevent abortions.  you would think these people would be all for birth control.

then there is the subject of planned parenthood.  so many people think that all planned parenthood is about is abortions.  that's only about 3% of what they do.  they help low-income women (like myself) by providing FREE exams, STD testing, and birth control.  they also educate and provide other services to women and families.  some people want to close down planned parenthood.  some people want to stop funding them.  where would that leave people like me? 

so, it is important to elect pro-choice candidates.  they are on the side of the woman and not trying to enact legislation that would take away a woman's reproductive/health rights.  education--that's what i'm all about this election season!

Blog for Choice Day (a day late)

i'm a day late with this post. i had computer issues yesterday. but i'm not too late because today is the 38th anniversary of roe v. wade. so it is a good day to blog for choice.

NARAL pro-choice america gave participants the following prompt: Given the anti-choice gains in the states and Congress, are you concerned about choice in 2011?

Here is my response:

it is the year 2011 and abortion was made legal in 1973. women living today should not have to worry about their right to choose being taken away. the scary thing is, we may have to worry. there are a lot of people out there who are against a woman's right to choose. they believe in the right to life. i usually consider these people fanatics. they are extreme. they protest planned parenthood clinics with hateful signs and disturbing pictures. they say hateful/hurtful thing to women entering these clinics (who, by the way, may be going in for just a routine well woman exam). there are also the wackos who have bombed clinics and killed doctors, believing that they were saving lives by taking others.

what gives them the right to decide who lives and who dies? they may ask me the same thing? why should i get to choose if an unborn baby lives or dies when i have become pregnant? simple. the pregnancy is happening to me. it is my body. therefore it should be my choice what happens to it (my body). when these extremists go out and kill doctors they are taking a life that has nothing to do with their body. what that doctor does or doesn't do is not affecting their body. it is america and they have the right to choose what happens to their body. they have the right to choose to bring a baby into this world if they become pregnant. so if they have this right, then i too should have a right to decide what happens to my body. again, it is mine. no one else's.

so as i think about it, i am a little concerned with my right to choose in the year 2011. the pro-lifers have a strong voice in the government right now (house/senate). they want to make changes. so many states have tried to and some have successfully passed anti-choice legislation. i think this is terrible! not because i believe that woman should have abortions. i am not pro-abortion and some people fail to distinguish between pro-choice and pro-abortion. i am about the right to choose. i should have a choice. any woman in this country should have a choice. maybe your choice is to never have an abortion. i am okay with that. at least you had that choice. if roe v. wade is overturned then the choice is taken away. what does that say about our society?

before 1973 abortions were performed. a lot of them were not safe. some women were left sterile. some women were killed. they were not given a choice. they were being forced to have a baby. they were desperate and sought out terrible doctors who would do anything for money. sure adoption is an option. there are many wonderful people out there who cannot conceive on their own. but for some women/couples adoption isn't for them. and that too is ok. no one should be forced to do something that isn't right for them. we cannot go back in time and have illegal abortions performed. we can't take a way a woman's right to choose.

i am not sure if i have totally addressed the question posed by NARAL. i have said a lot about how i feel. but since i feel this way and believe in a woman's right to choose, then with all this anti-choice stuff out there it is easy to say i'm worried. i shouldn't be, but i am. i had to make a very difficult decision in the summer of 2009. i have grieved over the baby i chose not to have for over a year and a half now. but i am beginning to believe that it was the right thing to do. i wasn't meant to have a baby at that time with that person. it would not have been a good situation for me. it would not have been a good situation for the baby. i am just glad that i was able to choose. what if i wasn't? where would i be now? please do not take away my right to choose!