I don't think I've ever been more nervous to sit down and write an article. Even as I type, I can't help but feel that the majority of people who are reading this are doing so because they saw the very headline to be yet another blatant attack on women's rights.
It's not.
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The moment I committed to a liberal arts college in the middle of Los Angeles, I was also committing to having my shiny little "bubble" of a world be popped. Turns out, the 500 kids at my private high school did not accurately represent the demographic of the rest of the 7 billion people in the world. Shocker.
After the initial terror had worn off, things started to change. My view of the world became less of my parents and more of my own. Things that I had believed my whole life were shifted and shattered, while others stood firm in my mind. My view on abortion took the latter route.
It wasn't until a philosophy class at the end of my freshman year that I ran into a real roadblock. While answering a question posed by the teacher on Plato's Apology, I briefly mentioned being pro-life.
"You believe that a woman who was raped should have to carry that child?"
"You believe that a woman should have to have a child, even if she can't provide for it?"
Within minutes the class had gone from a boring 8 a.m. to a complete defense of everything I believed in. I felt actual guilt, like I had accidently stepped on someone's toe and they were convinced I had done it just to spite them. The worst part was that the professor refocused that class so quickly I never even got the chance to respond. Of course, I understand, and I'm sure he just wanted to avoid an all-out war.
Up to this point, I don't think I've uttered two words on the matter in fear of being completely shot down at the first syllable of my argument.
So this is my chance to respond, because six letters and a dash doesn't quite do it for me:
I am not uneducated in the ways of the world. I have the capacity to envision a future where abortion is illegal, and things would not be much better. People would use unsafe alternatives, and women who were raped and assaulted would feel enslaved to a fate they did not choose. I get that making abortion illegal will not really work.
What I do campaign for is a change in our country's mindset.
I envision, as crazy as it is, a world where we welcome new opportunities for life, and where life isn't a burden. I don't want people to not get abortions because they are illegal. I want people to choose life because they understand the value of it. A world where a woman has a choice, but the choice is simple: love. We are so caught up in our personal rights and liberties, so obsessed with controlling every part of our lives and planning every step in our future that we are blinding ourselves to the beauty of pure love. I do not want anyone to have their rights taken away. I want people to love their children so much that they cannot wait to give them the same freedom.
