Why I'm pro-life
According to the dictionary, pro-life is opposing abortion and euthanasia. I am pro-life. Now that does not go to say that my opinion is right and yours is wrong, or that my opinion is the only one that matters.
Also, according to National Right to Life, “We are for the proposition that human life is good, that it is worth living, that it deserves respect and protection. We are for the proposition that every human being has an equal worth and dignity—that every human being has a right to live.”
Bringing a life into this world is something that some are unfortunately, unable to do. I truly believe that a life is valuable and should never be taken away from anyway. Life is so sacred; if it weren’t then nobody would be for or against it.
Now again, I’m not saying that one should keep a child if they are not ready to take on that kind of responsibility because that’s not right. However, there are tons of adoption places and tons of moms who can’t have kids that are willing to take your child and give them a beautiful life. There is nothing wrong with not being ready, or giving your child up for adoption.
Now here is where it gets tricky -- rape. While the majority of pregnancies are the result of consensual sex, pregnancies that come from rape present a whole new dilemma. Some people ask one another, “If a woman did not choose to engage in sexual activity to begin with, why should she have to carry the child?"
I look at it this way -- suppose you found out your sibling, mother, father, or friend was conceived by rape, would you view them differently than before you knew the truth? If your answer is no, than that’s a wrongful double standard - a child conceived by rape has a right to live once he or she is born which should be the same before birth.
Don’t get me wrong, rape and sexual assault is a horrifying thing and I have done numerous presentations/speeches on this topic, which resulted in numerous hours of research. But if one thinks of it as taking a negative and turning it into a positive, that’s the advantage. The woman doesn’t need to keep the child; she can give a family the most beautiful and most treasured gift. The emotional effects of rape on a woman are horrible and so upsetting but aborting the child cannot ‘unrape’ her. It’s hard for some to face this truth, and I’m by no means saying I don’t feel sorry for her because believe me, I never want to hear about anyone being sexually assaulted. It’s horrible.
Tragic scenarios like illnesses (cancer) are also a different approach. If a soon to be mother has an illness and needs treatment and that treatment may harm the baby, she is not choosing to abort her child, she is simply accepting the medical procedure that may or may not abort her child, the answer isn’t a hard death--she is not killing anyone directly.
My point is, my pro-life opinion doesn’t mean I don’t have sympathy and mercy for the difficult cases, or that I simply think a women who has unfortunately been raped and chooses to abort the baby will go to hell and that she is a terrible person. I believe everybody has a right to his or her own opinion, different or not. Finally, I think when it comes down to it; I haven’t been in this situation so my opinion is based off what I feel right now.
Being pro-life doesn’t just mean being against abortions, it means loving others, loving the vulnerable; loving friends, neighbors, and that love is a responsibility.
