I wouldn't consider myself a politically charged person or a self-acclaimed activist in any regard, but when it comes to women's rights, specifically, the pro-life pro-choice debate, I have always had a concrete and narrow-minded stance. It wasn't until recently that I understood the other side and why the argument exists in the first place.
The debate over women's reproductive rights and their right to voluntarily terminate a pregnancy has rapidly gained attention during the past few decades. The landmark Supreme Court case, Roe v. Wade, laid the foundation for states to create laws with respect to abortions and currently, abortion is legal, with each state having slightly different rules regarding insurance, parental consent, and the right for a health care provider to refuse to perform an abortion. While early termination is protected under law, the pro-life pro-choice debate is still relevant, with each side having their own views.
The most prominent argument for a pro-life woman is that abortion is viewed as the equivalent of murder because life begins at conception and unborn babies are considered to be human beings. In addition, many religions do not support abortion and a culture where human life is looked at as "disposable." On the other side, pro-choice women believe that abortion is a fundamental right and that every female should be able to exercise total autonomy over their own bodies. In their eyes, abortion is not murder because a fetus is not a viable human until it is able to survive outside the womb.
Every woman falls somewhere along the spectrum of pro-life pro-choice and I've always felt comfortable being pro-choice. In my perspective, as humans, we should be guaranteed the right to express total control over our own bodies and that includes deciding whether a pregnancy should be terminated. To be frank, I never understood the pro-life argument and how thousands of women supported limiting their reproductive freedom.
A few days ago, however, I got to observe my first ultrasound at a hospital. The expecting mother was in for her first-trimester screen, a routine procedure that happens between the 11th and 13th week of pregnancy. At this point, the fetus is about the size of a fig and almost fully developed. As I watched the sonographer begin the ultrasound, I wasn't expecting to have such an overly emotional reaction to the fetus. Even though the baby did not look like a fully formed human, I could distinctly see the heart beating in its chest and the baby's individual fingers and toes. As the ultrasound continued, the baby became more active, jumping around in the womb and covering its face with its arms.
It was in that moment when I finally understood how difficult the choice to terminate a pregnancy could be and why so many women were morally against abortions.
Even though that fetus was not independent or "viable," it was easy to get attached to it and consider it a true human being.
While I still actively support the pro-choice argument, I am eternally grateful to have had the experience to view an ultrasound and understand that this debate, as well as many others, is not distinctly black and white with a clear right and wrong view, but rather complicatedly gray.
