I am not writing this to convince you to become a staunch pro-choice supporter or to simply stir up a political debate. I am writing this solely to explain to you what the pro-life stance means to me and to explain why I continue to choose to support this stance.

I identify as pro-choice and have identified as so for about two years now. I am pro-choice, NOT pro-abortion. I am pro-choice, NOTa baby killer. I am pro-choice, NOT anti-women. Being pro-choice doesn’t diminish my support of women’s rights nor does it diminish my support of human life, it solely reveals my belief that as a human being and more especially as a woman, I deserve the right to choose my own path.

I believe that everyone deserves the ability to make decisions for themselves regardless of the consequences at hand; the key here is the sole ability to CHOOSE. My pro-choice stance refers more to the presence of a choice rather than any direct correlation to the actual procedure of abortion.

As an alive, able-bodied young adult, I pride myself in my ability to make decisions for myself. Such decisions include choosing to go to a four-year university, choosing to go to a university in the nation’s capital, choosing to study my current major, etc…

As an eighteen year old pro-choice woman, I am a staunch supporter of my ability to make choices regarding my access contraception, access to proper sex education, access to proper testing & treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, and if felt necessary, my ability to access safe abortion procedures, not the ability of my legislators, representatives, and politicians, to make such reproductive health care decisions for me. They neither have the right nor the ability to make broad life changing decisions for women nationally, especially when our access to proper reproductive health care varies across the board.

Reproductive health care is essential to the mission of the pro-choice stance. Reproductive health care is a rather broad term and does not limit itself to just the procedure of abortion but also includes access to contraception, pregnancy testing, testing & treatments for sexually transmitted diseases, general sex education, etc…

As a pro-choice supporter, I do not support the efforts of our government to create legislation that would impede on women’s right to make choices regarding their reproductive health care

I do not support the efforts of our fellow representatives and legislators to defund Planned Parenthood, which is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to providing national and global reproductive health care for not only women but also for men. A majority of the services provided by Planned Parenthood fall under the actions stated above within this article such as general sex education, testing & treatments for sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy testing, clinical breast examinations, cervical cancer screening, abortion, etc…

Planned Parenthood is a less cost-draining and even sometimes free healthcare option for many human beings. For many, Planned Parenthood remains the only opportunity for them to live happy, healthy, and strong lives.

I support any efforts made to provide safe environments for everyone to receive the reproductive health care (access to proper sex education, access to contraception, access to proper pregnancy testing, etc…) that is necessary to live healthy, stable, and long lives

Evidently, my pro-choice stance solely supports the freedom to make my own choices. Regardless of whether or not my consequences deem beneficial or detrimental to me, my right to choose is essential. The goal here is to always have my ability to choose an available choice.