Gender Equality Crusaders

I'm pro-abortion. You might not guess that, or you might. I'll admit to feeling uneasy about it, and I don't know if I could go through with one myself, but damned if I'm going to tell someone else what to do with her life.

This brief article exists to talk about a specific argument I've run into with pro-life people. They'll bring up the sanctity of life. They'll bring up that no one should kill babies. But there's another thing they like to say. That the woman should deal with the consequences of her actions.

They'll say that if the woman was raped, of course it's not her fault. They'll say if she was drunk, maybe she can get some leeway. But if she was sober and consented to sex, she should deal with the consequences.

Here's a question for you: Since when are children consequences? Why would you ever, in your life, refer to a child as a "consequence," a punishment, a sentence? And why would you ever, ever, give a child to a woman who considers it a punishment? What kind of life could that child possibly live? There are too many unwanted children as it is, and some of them are fortunate enough to be up for adoption. The unlucky ones are the ones who live with their birth mothers who never wanted them. Their birth mothers who thought of them as consequences.

Children should be loved and hugged and spoiled and disciplined and enjoyed. They should be the center of a parent's world. They should be beautiful and funny and sincere and happy and sad, even if only to you. They should be treasured. They should be precious. They should not be "consequences."

Some women are not ready for children. Some women will never be ready for children. And those women-- and, perhaps more importantly, their potential children-- should not have to base their lives around the results of one action. If you can't think of the women, the ones who deserve to have a life and a career and children when they're ready, at least think of the potential children. (You always claim to.)

So yes, I do support abortion. Because a woman should be able to have children when she's ready.

And because the children should never be consequences.