There are many reasons why women may choose to terminate a pregnancy.  They may be too young, too old, too sick, too poor, or already have all the children they can manage.  They may be in an abusive relationship.  Especially if they’re a teen, they might be shamed or humiliated by being pregnant or being an unwed mom.

Whatever the circumstances, it’s their body, and their life that’s at stake, and any decent respect for human liberty and autonomy means that it must be their choice.

If you choose abortion, it’s okay – the only emotion you need feel is relief.  It’s not murder.  An embryo or a fetus is part of your body, and the ultimate decision is yours.  It becomes a baby – a full human person – when it’s born – not before.

And remember – abortion is medical care.  It’s many times safer than carrying to term and giving birth.

People who are opposed to abortion are almost always motivated by a religious dogma that the embryo is “ensouled” at the moment that the sperm cell meets the egg cell.  They’re entitled to their beliefs – but not to force them on the rest of us.  And this is a very strange belief, considering that about half of all fertilized eggs fail to implant and are simply flushed out with your next period.  Don’t believe it?  Read about it at the University of California website.

And people who are opposed to abortion are almost always opposed to contraception, to divorce, to comprehensive sex education for our kids, to sex outside marriage, to full equality of women with men.  They say they’re “pro life”, but really they’re anti-women.  Their policies and actions cause real lasting harm to women and girls.  There are many stories of women who died because they were denied an abortion.  Check out the story of Savita Halappanavar, a woman in Ireland who died because she was denied a lifesaving abortion.

The right to choose abortion is a simple matter of human rights, of being able to exercise autonomy over your own body, of being a full human person.  We will never give up and we will never give in until this right has been safeguarded.