Liberty on display
One in three women will have an abortion in their lifetime. Their story might be complex, or it might be simple. She might grieve, or she might celebrate.
There are many who see abortion as a complicated issue, a gray area on our moral compass. However, when it comes down to it, the question is: Who has more rights? An unborn human being that depends on the mother’s body to live, or the mother?
The right to life is the central sentiment to human rights, but when that right interferes with another’s right to liberty and bodily autonomy, a right to life cannot be established. Pro-life philosophies argue to “love them both,” meaning the woman and the fetus. But when the interests of the fetus and the woman collide, there is no way to grant both life to the fetus and liberty to the mother.
Annually, 47,000 women die from unsafe abortion practices worldwide. This is a crisis. Most of these women have an established family, and many are completing their procedure for this reason: they want to be better mothers.
Last week, Students for Life brought to campus the Planned Parenthood Project to “expose” the supposed atrocities of Planned Parenthood and its “abortion agenda.”
But they neglect to realize that abortion doesn’t exist because Planned Parenthood exists. Planned Parenthood exists because abortion exists, and women will have abortions no matter the law.
It’s time to stop being ashamed of the word “abortion.” It’s time to celebrate the right to terminate pregnancies, and it is time to be unapologetic about it.
Each individual who has an abortion has a story to tell. Some share stories of regret, and others share stories about how their abortion let them continue their life in the direction of their dreams.
The government has no right to tell human beings what they can and cannot do with their bodies. The pro-life campaign likes to tell you that Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers are murderers. In reality, abortion providers are heroes, there to help women make difficult choices in their lives and carry out those choices when decided upon.
Abortion is unapologetically a human right, and no display can ever steal it from us.
