1/22/06 Blogging for Choice

I am pro-choice.
and
I am anti-abortion.

The two stances are not mutually exclusive.

The fact of the matter is that no woman wants to be in a position where she must at least consider having an abortion. In an ideal world every pregnancy would be planned, welcomed and an occasion for joyous celebration. However, until we can create a world where rape never occurs; until we have made the great strides in health care that will prevent any woman from having to give birth to a severely deformed fetus or risk her own life if she carries to term -- a truly civilized society must never outlaw this medical procedure. Polls show that a majority of Americans would agree with me on this.

There are ways to drastically decrease the number of abortions performed for reasons other than the ones cited above, however, and that technology already exists. All we have to do is make sure all women of all ages, in all neighborhoods and all income brackets have unfettered access to family planning services, sex education and a wide variety of effective and affordable contraceptives.

If Roe v. Wade falls it will not be the end of abortion. Women will continue to use any and all resources at their disposal to end unwanted pregnancies -- while the resulting state-by-state battles will consume funds and energy that could be so much better spent on eliminating the failures in our society that lead to the real problem, which is unwanted pregnancies.

When you cut off funding for Planned Parenthood, you are showing that you are pro-abortion. When you prohibit distribution of condoms, you are showing you are pro-abortion. When you prevent a safe and effective form of contraception from reaching the hands of the women who want and need it, when you provide our youth with incomplete or even erroneous information about their own bodies and reproductive systems, you are showing you are pro-abortion.

I am anti-abortion.
and
I am pro-choice.

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