My views on this issue do NOT apply to anyone underage/unable to consent/sexual assault victims/life or death medical issues. I am referring to legal, consenting, healthy individuals in this article.

I am a 22-year-old woman with views that many would consider to be fairly liberal. For that, many would assume that I would be pro-choice. Well, here I am saying no, abortion is not okay. I strongly believe that we should not have such easy access to abortion.

Yes, I believe in us women having control over our bodies and healthcare. I believe that we should be able to talk about our sex lives and have access to birth control and sex education. I strongly believe that the last people that should be making any of these decisions for us should be the old, conservative men too afraid to say the words “vagina” or talk about menstruation.

But, I do not believe we should have the easily accessible right to abortion and here’s why.

Abortion is not birth control.

Abortion is essentially used to “fix” the “mistake” of another human’s. A pregnancy is not a typo in a paper you can just delete. It is a life. Through abortion, a life is terminated because it is inconvenient. If we “terminated” everything that was an annoyance, inconvenience, or struggle in our life, I can guarantee all of us would be dead at this point.

Sex is a responsibility.

If you are having consensual sex (assuming you are old enough to) than you are well aware of what that result may be- a pregnancy. Whether you use birth control methods or not, the only way to guarantee there is no chance of becoming pregnant/ fathering a baby is to abstain. If you are not abstaining, than you are 100 percent responsible for any life that may be created from any intercourse you engage in. Many might think that if they mess up, they can just get an abortion. Just terminate the pregnancy, just end a life. No big deal, right? Wrong. Think about that- over, and over, and over. Think about whether a few minutes of pleasure is worth more than a life.

It is traumatic.

The psychological effects after abortion can be great. No one talks about the constant regret, the constant wondering that comes along with abortion. The truth of the matter is, you just don’t know how much of an emotional effect it will have on you until you do it. I know several people who have had an abortion for a wide range of reasons and ALL of them have said that they regretted it. ALL of them have said that they wonder about their child, every damn day. The saddest part about this is that most abortions are occurring before people’s brains are even fully developed. Their decision-making skills are still immature. They are not physically equipped to fathom the decision they are making yet. Even those who are older truly do not know the psychological effect it will have on them until it is just too late.

It can be a terrifying medical procedure.

It is a painful, invasive experience. You don’t get to go to sleep and wake up magically no longer pregnant. You are awake the entire time. You experience everything. I will save you the gory details, but I urge everyone to read about the procedure if they are still adamant about abortion being an option that is so easily accessible.

Here is my solution: We need to prevent these situations that lead to unwanted pregnancies through accurate and effective sex education. We need to drill it into teens and young adult's heads from the start about preventative care, how great the responsibility engaging in sex is, and how precious and important a pregnancy- a life- is. Many of my fellow "liberal" peeps preach about respecting all walks of life, but that somehow does not include a human fetus. This needs to change. We need to stop making this about men, about religion, about the conservative party, about pro-life vs. pro choice. This is about us as women having respect and control over own bodies and being capable of making educated decisions. With having control over our own bodies and the right to healthcare comes great responsibility as it may come down to life or death. I urge you all to reconsider what it really means to be "pro-choice"...