Disclaimer: This article is based solely on my opinion. It was not written to be objective. Although it is not my desire to be offensive, I will not apologize for how I feel.
In case you’ve been living under a rock and/or have been completely absent from social media:
The states of Georgia and Alabama just passed a very restrictive anti-abortion law that makes abortion past six (GA) and eight (AL) weeks a crime punishable by life in prison for both the women terminating the pregnancy and the doctors that perform the procedure. Ohio and Mississippi have already passed similar laws. You can research the laws for each state for the specific details, but the bottom line is that these laws are not only restrictive, but they also take away a pregnant woman’s right to decide what is best for her body and her life.
Okay. Now that we got that out the way—
Wtf?
Let me start by saying that one of my most fundamental beliefs is that we all have a right and a responsibility to make our own choices. I know that there are some circumstances that are completely outside of our control, but what happens to your body should be your decision alone. No person has the right to violate your person in any way, and the greatest violation of your person is to be stripped of your right to make your own decisions.
This also means that since we are only responsive for our own bodies, we shouldn’t be worried about what other people do with theirs. We have too many opinions what other people do with their bodies, because if it doesn’t affect you, it shouldn’t concern you. This is why I think the anti-abortion laws being passed are a violation of that fundamental belief: the right to choose.
For me, it’s simple.
- Why/Whether a woman decides to terminate or keep a pregnancy is nobody’s business but hers.
- See #1.
- That’s it.
I am not pro-abortion. I am pro-decision. I am pro-your life is your business. I am pro-choice. I am pro- make your own choices and let other people make theirs.
This unsightly bunch was responsible for passing the new law in Alabama. They are all men. Newsflash: Men don’t get pregnant. Men should not be making choices about pregnancy.
Also. According to Twitter, most men don’t even wash their legs in the shower, so can we really trust that they’re taking care of their man parts? We can’t possibly believe that they are capable of making decisions about anything as sophisticated as the female body if they won’t even lean over to wash their funky ass legs when (if) they bathe. But I digress.
To me, there is one bottom line. Mind your business.
We should all have the right to live and choose as we see fit. People who are fundamentally against abortion can choose not to have abortions. The idea that they get to choose but other women shouldn’t be able to is trash.
Men can oppose abortion. But since they can’t have them, they should have no say in whether or not they happen. That goes for all men. Even the father of the unborn child? Yep. Why? Because even in households where both parents are present and involved in the child’s life, the mother is the one who gets up at night with a crying or wet baby or a sick child. The mother is the one who nurtures and does most of the verbalizing and teaching. Mothers are self-sacrificing. They often put their kids’ needs before their own. This includes their needs to bathe, to sleep, to have personal space and time of their own. Being a mother is entirely encompassing, even when daddy is present and accounted for. I’m not minimizing the role or responsibility of dads. I’m just saying it ain’t the same. The obligation lies with the mother. So, then, should the decision.
Imagine this.
A woman discovers that she is pregnant and does not want the baby, but the laws in her state make terminating her pregnancy illegal. The woman carries the baby to term because she has no other options. She does not receive prenatal care or make decisions that are in the best interest in the baby she is carrying because she feels no emotional connection to the child growing inside of her that she does not want. When the baby is born and as the child grows, the mother makes sure that his/her needs are met, but she is not affectionate, encouraging, or nurturing to the child in any way. The mother is impatient, often ignoring or neglecting the child, sometimes even being verbally or physically abusive. Do you know what happens to that child? He or she grows up imitating what he or she has learned from a mother that resented his/her existence. Maybe the kid will beat the odds and be an amazing parent. It is far more likely, however, that he or she will be the parent he or she had, like many of us are. Ever heard of a generational curse? No? Well, now you have.
Why? Why would we want that for any child? Why does any child deserve to be abused or neglected, or hungry or cold or disadvantaged because their mother was financially, physically, or emotionally unable to provide for the kid? Raising children is more than money and responsibility. It’s sacrifice. It’s nurturing and caring and loving. It’s patience. It’s burdensome. Parenting is too damn hard to not be a choice. Know what else? All women aren’t good mothers. Some women should not be mothers. Any woman with the ability to have a child can have a child. Not every woman with the ability to have a child can be a mother. Kids don’t get to choose. We do. We have the right to make the decisions that are best for the kids we carry, including the right to decide not to carry them at all. If a woman knows she isn’t gonna do it well, she shouldn’t have to.
Nobody would ever take away your right to have kids. Why would you wanna take away someone else’s right not to?
When I was around 10 years old, my goddaddy said something to me that I will remember for the rest of my life: “The greatest business in the line of business is to mind your business, so if you have no business to mind of your own, then make it your business to leave mine alone.”
It applied then, and it applies now.
Namaste.
