***A friend randomly shares this article in a Facebook message. What followed was an extremely long back and forth on the ethics of abortion, the effects of defunding Planned Parenthood, and me trying to subtly disengage on many occasions. Here are a few of my responses. You may be able to imagine what was said on the other side. Please, excuse the grammatical errors***

• My first thought was "Ben Carson uses/acknowledges race in interesting ways" and then I was confused how they argued against the Guttmacher institute with a pro-life group's data, which could be equally biased. Then I did a quick check on the writer and he's a White male. And then there's a Black male Reverend on the front page of the pro-life site. I'd be interested to hear a Black woman's perspective in this discussion. From what I've seen, though, If PP are located mostly in minority communities it would make sense because they are financially pressed and disproportionately impacted by STIs and STDs. These weren't mentioned at all in the article. *le sigh*. But I appreciate the read, thank you!
• I don't like the idea of abortions, but I believe they're necessary along with a major look at how we discuss sexual health, etc.
• Overcrowding/lack of resources is why I think they're necessary. The cases I've seen this summer only cement that. We just don't have an appropriate system/society(?) in place to support all the children if they're born into unfortunate circumstances
• I suppose if there were mechanisms in place to adequately take care of all children and their families (especially mothers postpartum) then I would be more against abortions. I am, however, fully against forced sterilization and [forced] abortion.
• I'm pretty sure I'm going to adopt, though.
• I think I'd be a good parent and could provide the right resources to support a child. And it would leave more resources for kids already in foster care. Obviously me adopting won't make a huge difference in the system, but it'll make a difference.
• I don't recall the figure/source. But I did find this about the 94%: http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2015/aug/04/sandra-smith/fox-business-reporter-95-planned-parenthoods-pregn/
• And then to what extent do we, as men, have a say in abortion policy since we can't give birth and are, inherently, less directly affected?
• But wouldn't stricter guidelines be more efficient in not disrupting infrastructure (I guess you could call it that). By simply redlining funds from the federal government to exclude abortions instead of completely defunding, reallocating, and, thus, risking having to spend more money and possibly less effectively?
• Also, the article that I shared mentions that Planned Parenthood does not track the prenatal referrals, which could skew the 94/95% calculation. But it basically says by how much is unknown.
• I would think that if a woman walking in to consider her options and decided on abortion, then she would go to another clinic to get the service anyway.
• But abortion aside, I think it would take a crazy amount of time and resources/money to locate and organize all of those clinics to ensure that they are subsidized/reallocate to provide the additional free services. I'd think redlining the funds would just be simpler.
• But I do hope that pro-life organizations also focus on issues that impact mothers after they give birth to children in less that ideal situations. And I also hope that they advocate for children in foster care as well as adoption.
• But wait, I don't want to erase the fact that religion was used to dominate entire swaths of land and people. “Convert or be raped and pillaged” did happen.
• The point is, I can't give birth and I'm not pregnant. So I'll support a woman's decision to do what is right for her and her child. Not trying to be rude, but I'm not reading more literature on the topic.
• Not saying it is. I'm saying that I will support an expectant mother's informed decision.
• I had a conference call. But, really, I'm going to be supportive of the informed decision of expectant mothers. I'm, honestly, not the one to convince since I'll never be pregnant. It would be more helpful to brainstorm alternatives and effective ways of supporting/encouraging women and young girls to think independently and critically about their bodies, futures, and the concepts of motherhood/fertility.
• In other words, tackling the reasons a mother would be hesitant/fearful of bringing a child into this world. I don't mean to cut the discussion, but I usually make bad decisions on whether to keep talking or get sleep. I don't want to oversleep for work tomorrow. And my stance probably won't change in the near future. If there's a development in circumstances, perhaps. But not at this point in my life.
• Feel free to find it illogical. I hope that more people support expectant mothers and adopt kids, offering them stable homes. I hope for less violence and more love. And I'm, respectfully, going to have to disengage this conversation. By chance, I wasn't born with the ability to give birth.

Now, if you’ve made it through all of that to the end, you should understand my stance: I am a man, unable to bear children, who will do his best to listen and tend to the needs of expectant mothers as I try to assist them with their decisions. I plan to adopt in order to give love to a child in an already overcrowded foster care system. I am a human being with compassion. Should I go to hell for my decisions, then so be it. And yes, I, a Black man, know who Margaret Sanger is.