Choices

I’ve been thinking about writing this for a long time, it’s taken me ages to figure out how I would put it into words, how I would write without my wonderful editor to make those words say exactly what I want them to say, because sometimes I ramble, but most of all I’ve thought about how I could put all my anger aside and just say what I want need you to hear.

Tomorrow our friends to the South will go to the polls and they will make a choice – democracy is fun that way, all full of choices and such.

This election has been about a lot of things the economy, gay marriage, foreign policy and most recently abortion – there has been A LOT of talk about abortion. It even seeped into Canada for a while, this dirty abortion talk; minister of state for the status of women Rona Ambrose voted in favour of a private member’s motion that would have reopened the abortion debate in Canada.

Between Rona Ambrose, Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock I have heard enough from the anti-choice side, I’ve heard so much garbage it makes me want to rip my ears off – but I won’t because I have cute ears and I’d be very sad if I never got to hear a Beatles song again.

Taking away the sex selection, “legitimate” rape and gift from God arguments can we address the ridiculousness at the very core of the abortion debate, just for a second?

There is no such thing as pro-life, only anti-choice. I can promise you this anti-choicers; I will never, ever, ever force you to get an abortion and neither will any other pro-choice guy or gal out there. The whole point of being pro-choice is that the decision of whether or not to have a child should be left up to the mother… you know the one who is carrying the fetus. But you, anti-choicers, for some reason believe that you have the right to tell me what to do with MY body. How the fuck does that make sense? I mean really. Why is it that you can make decisions for me but I can’t make decisions for you? Maybe I don’t think you’re ready to have a baby or maybe I just think the world has enough people – if I tried to force you to have an abortion you would take up arms and fight for your rights. And rightfully so. Why then is it OK for you to try and force me to carry a child, that I don’t want, to term? Why?

Why is it that your beliefs and desires supersede my own?

Thankfully I was born free, I was born in a country where my right to choose is protected and even covered by universal healthcare; I didn’t have to give birth to the child I didn’t want, I didn’t have to spend hundreds of dollars to get a safe and legal procedure, I didn’t have to listen to people telling me that I was making the wrong choice or that I might get cancer because of my decision. I was treated with kindness and understanding because I was exercising my right to choose and that was OK.

Am I happy I got an abortion? Yes, not jumping up and down singing sea shanties happy, but I’m happy that I didn’t bring a child into this world only to resent it and I am so incredibly thankful that I was able to make the choice to do so on my own, knowing that I would be treated like a woman making a tough call in a bad situation rather than a baby killer.

I respect your right to be anti-choice but how about you keep it to yourself, huh? At the very least you can rest easy knowing that I won’t be bringing any liberal babies into the world any time soon.

So tomorrow I hope that our friends to the South vote for Obama – here’s to four more years of respecting women AND their right to do with their own bodies as they choose.