Tuesday, January 22, 2008

In Honor of "Blog for Choice 2008"

Blog for Choice Day

I cannot think of a time when I wasn't pro-choice. Even in the '60s, when I was first learning about sex and birth control and abortion was generally illegal, having the option of an abortion in a doctor's office made sense. I couldn't understand the fuss then.

While I understand the fuss now, I do not agree with it.

Abortion rights, like other rights for women (did you know women voted legally in some areas of America in the 18th century?) always seem more tenuous. We have to continue to fight for the right for legal abortion. We have to fight for the right to get birth control, given some people's opposition to that. We need to fight for the right to an accurate, science-based education on issues of biology, sexuality and birth control. We need to elect individuals to government who comprehend the difference between science and religious-based propaganda.

While I do not believe that abortion is murder, if it is murder, it is murder in self-defense. We generally don't condemn people who kill in self-defense; to preserve one's own life. If you do believe abortion is murder, the answer is simple - don't have one. But I do not believe I have the right to make that choice for you, any more than I believe a government should make such a choice for me.