I am pro-life. This means I believe a life becomes a life at conception. I believe that a pre-born person has the same natural rights as I do. I believe that everyone has the right to life whether or not that life is wanted by the people who created it. There are countless people in the United States alone who want to adopt infants as I mentioned last week. Being pro-life means I will fight for the rights of millions of babies who never got a voice.
Being pro-life does not, however, make me anti-choice. I hear everywhere that those who are pro-life should be pro-adoption, pro birth control accessibility, pro sex education in public schools, pro benefits for women and children. And I 100% agree. I believe it should be every woman's choice whether or not they raise a child. I don't believe that everyone who conceives a child is fit to be or wants to be a parent, and I don't believe she should ever feel obligated to.
I am pro-adoption. There are hundreds of thousands of people in the United States waiting to adopt babies. If you are pregnant and you don't want to keep your child, you can find parents who want to help. In many cases, the adoption agency and adoptive parents will help the birth mother cover the costs of doctors appointments, medical bills, and hospital expenses.
Birth control is not difficult to come by in America. In fact, most women are viable candidates for some type of oral contraceptives, IUDs are a simple, one-time procedure for a very reliable method of birth control, and condoms can be purchased almost anywhere in the country. With insurance, most oral contraceptives and IUDs are free. Out of pocket expenses for both still come out to less than $20 a month on average. These are a few of many options available to the American public. There's no reason why someone who doesn't want to have a baby can't gain access to contraceptives.
I believe that sex education should be an essential part of our school curriculum. Regardless of your stance on whether or not teenagers should be engaging in such activities, you cannot expect someone to understand that they have a choice in whether or not they conceive and raise a child if they aren't educated on their options for adoption and birth control.
I believe that we should have more programs supporting women who find themselves in unplanned pregnancies. Insurance programs and other financial programs that can be established in each state, support groups, more flexible maternity leave programs. So many women in our country feel cornered into abortions, feel that it's their only option. We have a responsibility to change the conversation. There are other options, there are choices a woman can make about her life if she conceives a child.
