I understand that it takes every kind of people to make the world go round (thank you, Robert Palmer), and I also understand that disagreements on emotionally-charged issues are bound to happen between said people. I can also always see both sides of arguments, and can usually control my feelings of rage.
However, when I read this article, and saw that 3 Conservative MPs from my area and one former Liberal MP (all men, of course) were present at this particular rally, I was fuming mad.
First of all, I must attempt at correcting something... "Pro-life" is an inaccurate moniker for those who think abortion should be illegal. As a rational human being, I can guarantee you that no woman WANTS to have an abortion (if they do, there is some strange, separate problem going on in her brain that has zero to do with legal abortions). No female in this world wakes up in the morning and thinks "Today feels like an excellent day to get an abortion!". Pretending that any woman or man who believes in the right to choose is a murderer is ridiculous and incorrect. So really, the two sides are pro-choice and anti-choice. That's what it boils down to.
Okay, so... I am not a sexist person, but in this particular debate, I am utterly at a loss for an explanation as to why men are involved at all. I understand that they help sow the seeds that reside in the wombs of women that are key in this particular debate, but if those seeds were correctly planted every time - respectfully, lovingly and purposefully - ABORTIONS WOULD NEVER EVEN HAVE TO BE CONSIDERED.
This wouldn't be a question or a debate if men had even the slightest chance of mistakenly becoming impregnated. Seriously, it wouldn't. Luckily for those of you who are not penile-challenged, you do not have to worry about whether you want to carry the result of a rape/assault/molestation in you for 9 months, completely altering your already altered life. Once adulthood is reached, becoming the victim of sexual assault/rape/molestation doesn't even have to cross the mind of males (children are a whole other separate subset of victims).
I also understand that women get abortions simply due to an ill-timed/unwanted pregnancy. This screams of irresponsibility in my opinion, but it's her body, and it's her life - I'm not going to an anti-choice rally to make abortions illegal because she made choices I might not necessarily make.
This is also a simple matter of healthcare. If abortions are illegal, they become unregulated, unchecked procedures outside of the realm of safety. Women die as a result.
It is never an easy choice for any woman, but it should always be a choice. You can never anticipate the countless scenarios in which an abortion of a pregnancy may be an option or a necessity.
I plan on spending part of my afternoon writing to each MP that was present at the rally. They have no right pointing fingers and wagging tongues at an issue that they cannot even begin to comprehend.
No quote on this one. I just want you all to think about the wombs in your life, be they your own or belonging to those you love. Back alley hack jobs with coat hangers have no business near the wombs of desperate women.
