[BECCALICIOUS!]

I am pro-choice.

I used to be heavily pro-life. I've been on the March for Life twice. Off topic, but it's a VERY interesting atmosphere. Members of the pro-choice community would peacefully protest as well, and I saw even my fellow classmates attack them blatantly for standing up for their beliefs, just as we were ours. The cardinal who presided over the Catholic Youth Mass one year said that everyone is pro-choice... but the choice we should be making is LIFE. It makes sense with Catholic ideology, but it may not for many others.

I used to think that I'd be strong enough. That if I were raped and got pregnant, I'd keep the baby because I couldn't bear to have it killed. When I was actually raped and had a pregnancy scare? I knew I wouldn't be able to do anything BUT have an abortion. I knew I couldn't keep the child, not because I thought it was disgusting, not because I didn't think it was life, I just knew that I was incapable of doing it.

I believe that life does begin at conception. But when does the life of that child matter more than the life of a mother? Pregnancy is still risky, not as risky as in the past when it was fairly common for women to die from it, but still burdensome on the mother. Abortion should be a choice between a woman and her doctor. The woman is the one who should have the right to decide if she wants to put her body through that.

I'm not saying abortion should be a common form of birth control. I also am not saying that abortion should just be limited to situations such as rape, incest, medically necessary, et cetera. It should be a choice that women should be allowed to make irregardless of her circumstances. Those are personal to her.

I realize now that I could NEVER choose to be pro-life in today's society, as (enter slight feminism here) prohibiting women from getting an abortion is just another way the patriarchal society tries to control women's lives.