I am pro-life and you are pro-choice. Whenever I encounter someone who is pro-choice the same thought always runs through my head, just because we don't agree doesn't mean we have to hate each other. I understand that there are some pro-life individuals who do hate you, who would commit acts of violence against you to get their point across. But that is not me. In fact, many of my friends are the same way, we wish no ill will against you. But I know that there are those of you who feel that my wish to ban abortions is wishing ill will against women.

You may also at this point be wondering why I am pro-life. I am pro-life because...

I believe that everyone, including a fetus in a woman's womb, and a five-year-old, and a 50-year-old all have an equal right to life.

I believe that the death penalty should be abolished.

I believe that euthanasia should be banned.

I believe that no matter your sexuality, gender identity, race, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status, health status, and no matter what stage of life you are at, I believe that your life has value.

Now I'm not trying to say that you don't value human life, but I am saying you don't believe that fetuses have value. Who are we to judge what a person's life is worth? Our value as a human being is incalculable.

I know that one of the fundamental differences between you and me is that you believe what's being aborted is just a collection of cells and tissues. But I am not capable of breaking a human being down and judging their value based on the number of cell's they possess or what functions their body can accomplish. Every single human being on this planet is composed of cells and tissues. If we are going to be objective about what a fetus is made up of than we need to be objective about what we are made up of. I see the collection of cell's and tissues as a person, a person that has the right to live, to laugh, to cry, to scream, to tell scary stories, to eat so much ice cream and cake for their birthday that they throw up. And they have a right to exist just as much as you and I do.

That collection of cells and tissues is a human being. It's not a monkey or a fish, or a horse. Just because we may look similar to other animals in the early stages of fetal development doesn't mean that we are those animals. The child's mother is human, and the father is human, two human's can only create another human.

One of the most touchy topics our groups discuss is the issue of children conceived through rape. I think we can all pretty much agree that rape is one of the most awful and cruel things that can happen to another person. I'd like to present you with a hypothetical situation: A man rapes a woman and afterward the woman discovers that she is pregnant. Now I have a question, should the man who raped her be killed? I know that some people believe the rapist should be killed but for those of you who would not kill the rapist let me ask you another question. Should we kill the woman who was raped? And now almost everyone would agree that no, we should absolutely not kill her. Now whether or not you said yes or no to the first question this next one is for all of you, should we kill the child? The child didn't do anything wrong like the rapist, and if the woman is at no fault for being raped then is the child at fault for being a product of rape? The woman had no say in whether or not she was raped, and if the child is aborted then the child will have no say in whether or not they get to live.

Or here's another hypothetical for you. I have a toddler standing next to me, and this toddler is a product of rape. Every day that her mother looks at her she is reminded of one of the worst days of her life. All of the pain, sorrow, and grief comes flooding back. Should I kill that toddler? Doing so will relieve her mother of all the pain and all the hurt she feels. So should I kill her child? Think of it this way, should we kill something just because it reminds us of something bad? My answer is no. Now I know some of you are also probably saying "But a toddler isn't the same as a fetus." But I believe that they are. The only difference between the toddler and the fetus is how old they are. In my eyes they both are equal.

When it comes to rights I have heard a majority of pro-choicer's say that they believe a woman has a right to decide what happens to her body, that she can do with it as she pleases. But I would like to remind you that there are two bodies we need to consider, not just the mother's, but the child's as well. That child has a right to their body, and a right to decide what happens to their body. Just because they do not have the ability to voice that right does not mean they should be denied their voice. As a pro-lifer, I aim to act as their voice.
I speak for the unborn.
I speak for the unwanted.
I speak for the unplanned.
I speak for the voiceless.

I've been using the technical name, fetus, but let's call that collection of cells and tissues what it really is, it's a child. By calling the child a fetus, or just some cells, we desensitize ourselves to what's really happening. We desensitize ourselves to the fact that the number of babies that have been aborted in the United States is more than the number of people killed by Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong combined.

Other individuals may argue that they don't want any more welfare babies. That the unwanted babies should not be dumped into the foster care system because our foster care system is a wreck. I agree with you that there are a large number of individuals on welfare in this country and that raising a child is expensive. And yes our foster care system does need some work. But aborting all of the potential babies that would become a part of these systems isn't going to fix the systems. So how about instead of putting all of our time, energy, and money into protesting against each other, let's invest it all in improving those systems. Let's create an America where any new parent won't have to worry about the cost of diapers, formula, and other childcare necessities. Let's take the nearly $500 million given to Planned Parenthood every year to improve the foster care system. Hire more qualified foster employees, invest in and train qualified individuals to run foster homes, and create more adoption agencies! Let's create an America where parents won't have to worry about dropping out of school, going on welfare, and affording child care. Why leave it up to the government to make America great again, we can do it ourselves! If we worked together instead of against each other we could get so much more done.

I think it's safe to assume that some people aren't very happy with me right now but that's okay. We don't agree on this issue and that's okay. It's been around for a long time and it sure isn't going anywhere. And if you want to talk more about this in the comments that's fine too. Just remember what I said at the beginning, just because we don't agree doesn't mean we have to hate each other.