1. "The baby is the only one that matters - not the mother."

The first misconception I encounter several times, shout out to Students For Life, is that regardless of what happens to the baby the mother doesn't matter. That is a giant lie. I had the pleasure of meeting a wonderful woman that specializes in helping women that are still in college who get pregnant. The goal is to keep them going in their education, to support them, not just tell them to keep their baby and walk away. There is an entire initiative dedicated to helping women in high school and college.

There is a really good article here written by Sade Patterson, a Students For Life correspondent that recently graduated and juggled an unexpected pregnancy. Her story is very helpful and more importantly, real.

Taking that further - is the "my body, my choice" philosophy by the pro-choice movement. This is factually incorrect. The fetus is inside the mother's body but it is not part of her body. It is a completely separate person with a different set of DNA, immune system, potentially different blood type, race, gender, etc. It is possible for a fetus to die while the mother lives, and it is possible for the mother to die while the fetus lives. This could not be true if the mother and child were simply one person. All separate from the mother.

Randy Alcorn, author of Pro-life Answers to Pro-Choice Arguments wrote: "A Chinese zygote implanted in a Swedish woman will always be Chinese. Not Swedish. Because his identity is based on his genetic code, not on that of the body in which he resides."

Take an extra step - out of 92 countries with the death penalty, 83 of them do not allow pregnant women to be killed. In fact, 38 states have laws on fetal homicide - meaning, for example:

Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. § 750.322 defines the willful killing of an unborn child by any injury to the mother of the child as manslaughter.
Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. § 750.323 declares that any person who administers medicines, drugs or substances to any woman pregnant with a child or uses an instrument or other means to destroy the child, unless the same shall have been necessary to preserve the life of the mother, is guilty of manslaughter.
Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. § 750.90a et seq. define penalties and punishments if any of the crimes defined by § 750.81 et seq. (including assault and battery; felonious assault; torture; and assault with intent to murder, do great bodily harm, maim, or rob and steal), are committed against a pregnant woman and were intended to cause or result in a miscarriage or stillbirth or death to the embryo or fetus, great bodily harm to the embryo or fetus, serious or aggravated physical injury to the embryo or fetus, or physical injury to the embryo or fetus.

Common references to such laws include the Fetal Protection Act, the Preborn Victims of Violence Act and the Unborn Victim of Violence Act.

2. "It is not a baby. It's a clump of cells."

It's absolutely not. What a way to demean everything that is the miracle of life and procreation. Stop teaching that life is cheap and disposable. Frankly, I would like to know when you consider it to be a human then? A month after it's born when it can no longer be disposed of? What is the point of any other right if we are not even guaranteed the right to life? You can't pick and choose when it's convenient because you're gambling with a life you're now responsible for.

This question sparks a lot of debate, especially from my dear friend Barack Obama. But there is no debate because it has already been proven by facts. Don't believe me? At three weeks, their heart begins to beat. At five weeks the head, hands and feet begin to form. At the end of the FIRST TRIMESTER (12 weeks), the child is fully formed, complete with a working liver and the ability to move.

Ana Maria Dumitru studies bioethics and mentioned in an article she wrote: "The truth is that science already has answered this question, loud and clear. It's really pretty simple. You take an egg from a female and a sperm cell from a male. The sperm penetrates the egg. And now you have one cell with the complete amount of genetic material needed for everything a human could ever want to do.

In the lab where I work, we study cell division. As scientists, my colleagues must concede that embryos are made up of living cells, but they don't accept the embryo as a living organism. If the early embryo is "just a clump of cells," then you can justify abortion. By this logic, it's not an autonomous being, and it's definitely not a human person yet. It's just a few cells growing in the mother's body, and so the mother can choose to get rid of those cells if she wants to.

But when does that new cell become an autonomous organism? If the embryo is really just a clump of cells, then those cells must rely on external guidance in order to survive, right? If it's really just a clump of cells, then those cells have no control and no autonomy. A simple clump of unimportant, disorganized cells would be akin to some random collection of differentiated cells grown on a plastic plate—they can divide if you make them, but there isn't any internal structure or organization present."

This is a fantastic article to reference what I'm talking about - she elaborates further so check it out if you want further info.

3. "X, Y, & Z justifies abortion"

There are several reasons that come to mind when I think of this - the main ones involving rape and adoption. I have personally heard the argument of abortions due to rape and incest very often thrown around. As a criminal justice major hoping to help women suffering in situations of domestic and sexual violence, there is no bigger advocate for victim's rights. Especially one that has experienced something as intrusive as this crime.

I fully acknowledge I don't know what this is like and I don't pretend to think that it would be an easy situation, by any means. But calling on previous points, the baby is a separate being from the mother. It is a separate being from the rapist and the rape itself. It is a whole other equation - again, which does not at all negate the associations. So obviously my primary interest is not in downplaying the victim and their trauma for the sake of popping out another kid into foster care.

But, it was not the baby choosing either. It is innocent in this situation and it wouldn't be any easier for that child. You can allow it the chance at life though. Everything that child could be could contradict that scar. It could be a beautiful thing out of that situation, one that diminishes any sort of power that person would place on you. The one beautiful thing that diminishes the evil.

More importantly, this is not an excuse to allow Planned Parenthood to do what they do. Yes, it's heinous, but abortions due to rape or incest only make up 1.5% in the US, according to the 2014 CDC report.

Also, there are plenty of people who can't have babies and would kill for one. They will take your child if you don't want it. I have friends who struggle with fertility and it breaks their heart. They adore babies and will never be able to have that opportunity. So don't treat it so disrespectfully. There are people that will love the child you want to kill. If you dare not want it, give it a chance to be loved by someone who would believe it to be an honor. Give it a chance at life.