Anyone who has taken basic anatomy understands the reproductive system and how men and women have different ones. Women’s includes a uterus, some fallopian tubes, a vagina, ovaries, etc. As we learn later on in sex ed (hopefully), no two reproductive systems are the same. I don’t really want to go into the intricacies of it all, but just keep in mind, your body is not the same as your neighbors.

This being said, acknowledged, and understood, I would like to know why anyone thinks they have any right to decide what a woman does with her body? You don’t live with the consequences of the choices I make regarding my uterus, you don’t go to my OB-GYN appointments with me, why is it you think that you get to have a say in whether or not I keep a baby in there?

Just to clarify I am pro-life AND pro-choice. (Yes, mom, it’s a thing!) I would never get an abortion, in fact, I am blessed that the women who gave birth to my younger siblings didn’t get an abortion. Because she decided to hold on to her baby and let someone else give them the life they deserved, I got two bitchen siblings. Some of the two best people in my life, the brats responsible for a huge fraction of my happiest memories. (I’m not crying there is dust in my eye.) That being said, while I would never get an abortion (which is easy to say as someone who has never even had a pregnancy scare), I don’t knock your right to choose to get one. I might not agree with it, but guess what? Your uterus is your business.

My mom’s favorite saying is “Not my circus, not my monkeys.” I think this is a mantra that everyone should live by. You and your sexual choices do not affect me in the slightest. What you do after you make said sexual choices STILL do not affect me. And guess what, that cycle of not affecting me continues to repeat itself because MY uterus is not adjusted by what choices you make, it continues on, it’s a hellacious 28-day cycle of preparation for reproduction.

So here’s my real issue, WHY DOES THE MALE BASED GOVERNMENT THINK THEY NEED TO DECIDE WHAT HAPPENS WITH MY UTERUS?!?!?! I don’t see them trying to regulate how many times our male counterparts ejaculate, or whether or not they can get a vasectomy. Why isn’t there a law forbidding that? Anyone who has seen "Legally Blonde" knows that any sperm not seeking an egg could be considered reckless abandonment. So why does a primarily male comprised government think their opinion on what anyone with a uterus does with said uterus is their business?

If you don’t have a uterus, you have no right to discuss what does or doesn’t become illegal with a uterus. This is not to say you necessarily have to agree with abortion or late-term abortions. We as women can CIVILLY talk to our friends and family members about our opinions on abortion and we can still respect their right to make their own choice. Men who try and control childbearing or give an opinion on how a woman should go about it while never having to experience the dramatic changes your body goes through in that process are exasperating.

I will never forget the first time I had this discussion with my mother: we were in the car on the way to my middle school (7^th grade baby, the 2004 election was running rampant). We had just driven by a truck that had pictures of the results of abortions. And I remember my mom cringing, realizing the conversation was coming. I gave my opinion on the fact that it wasn’t up to anyone else to tell me what I could or couldn’t do. She then said, “alright playing devil’s advocate here” and started to get misty-eyed talking about when she went in for an ultrasound while pregnant with yours truly, and the tech said, “Ten fingers and ten toes. Your baby is developing perfectly.” And at that moment, it had never even occurred to her that I would have anything wrong with me. And she already loved me so much that it wouldn’t have mattered. She said that being a mom was the best thing that could have happened to her and she was so lucky to have us as her children, and she couldn’t imagine ending the pregnancy because there was a little person in there. I will always respect my mom and her opinion and the way she has raised me to respect my body, to make my own decisions and to respect life. But that doesn’t mean I agree with her political affiliation on this subject, and we both respect that while our opinions are different, we can’t make the choice for one another (well technically she could until I was 18 but we never really ran into that issue).

The point of this has been to remind everyone that pregnancies don’t belong in political debates. It’s a trigger button issue that has become something people love to throw on their platform, but man or woman, it’s frankly not up to them. I don’t see any politicians sitting in the room while my feet are in stirrups having the doctor explain to me that it might be a little cold and I don’t see any politicians in the delivery room when their constituents are giving birth. I don’t see a politician being the one to break the news to expectant mothers that their pregnancy is no longer viable and I don’t see a politician in the room during an abortion. So if the politician isn’t present for all of those moments, why do they think it’s okay to decide whether or not and how they happen?