No Uterus, No Say!

                As Rachel Green said in Friends to the doctor who claimed she was having “mild” Braxton Hicks, “No Uterus, no say!” That has become a popular saying among myself when it comes to reproductive rights or pretty much anything to do with the female reproductive system.

                Abortion is a huge issue in America, and congress apparently won’t shut up about it. We have old men claiming females are murdering babies when in fact, they are terminating a pregnancy. A baby is not equal to an unborn fetus. What is crazy is that these lawmakers seem to care more about these unborn fetuses then a child who is actually alive. They will fight to protect the fetus and keep a woman pregnant, even one who cannot afford to take care of a child and know that adoption will most likely end up with the baby being in foster care, and who thinks her best option is terminating the pregnancy. The fight to protect the fetus and then when the woman has to work two jobs to afford food and shelter for the baby and sometimes needs government assistant, they want to tell her she should not have had a child she couldn’t afford and then claiming she is mooching off the government and is very lazy and she should have a better job, one that she couldn’t get because she got pregnant at that early age and couldn’t go to or finish college. Of course that is not all stories of a woman who wants or gets an abortion and all single moms, but it seems to be a very recurring theme. Since it is a very recurring theme, maybe the men who keep trying to make it illegal for a woman to have an abortion should focus on feeding the hungry children who are actually born.

                I will not say abortion is a totally black and white subject. I personally used to only be okay with it in the case of rape and the woman could die because of a health condition. Now, after an extremely vivid dream where I was a pregnant teenager, who got knocked up by a guy I was dating only for a week, and wanted an abortion. (that is obviously very out of character for me, not abortion wise, being pregnant by a guy I dated only a week) I had my whole life ahead of me. College, a career, a future. I could not have been a teen mom in that dream. Waking up that day, my opinion on the issue changed. It wasn’t black or white. Killing or not killing. It is not only about the fetus, but the woman carrying it.

                Another thing anti-abortion leaders in America don’t understand is what it’s like to be pregnant. 77% of anti-abortion leaders are men, and 100% of those men cannot get pregnant. They cannot possibly understand what it is like to be pregnant or why a woman would want an abortion in the first place. It is not to “murder” a fetus. It is because they are too young, don’t have a support system, cannot physically handle a pregnancy, or even don’t want to pass down a hereditary illness. When you don’t have a uterus, you don’t have the equipment to get pregnant. If you can’t get pregnant, how can you fully understand the issue?

                If you are female and are pro-life, then good for you. You have a uterus, therefore most likely are able to get pregnant. Although I believe it is none of my business the decisions a woman makes with her doctor, and does with her body, if a woman is pro-life because of her personal beliefs or maybe she had an abortion earlier in her life and really regrets it, she can fully understand that issue.

                An argument recently brought to my attention that is decent is that although a man can’t get pregnant, he can get someone pregnant. That is a great argument, and yes, according to biology a man can get a woman pregnant, which is why a man should not have the option of abandoning the woman he got pregnant and never coming back. If you want to be a father, then yes, you have a say and try to convince her you will be there and she won’t be doing this alone, she will have a support system and not become a stereotype of single moms in America. But if you are saying you want to be a father, are there, and then either decided after the baby is born (and is in fact a baby, not a fetus) that you cannot possibly be a father and then ditch or you are just claiming you will be there so she won’t get an abortion because apparently you are a pro-life activist, but then don’t care what happens to the child you helped create, that is not okay, and you are the scum of the earth.

                Another thing that would help prevent abortion is if people would stop fighting to have make birth control hard to get for people who can’t afford it or the copay's. So if congress decided to not launch an attack on contraceptives that work 95 to 99% of the time when used right, less woman would want or need to get abortions because they wouldn't be able to get pregnant. It is even showed that a lot of catholic women whose religious leaders are strictly against birth control pills still take it.

                Why is it that we live in a nation where congress would much rather regulate vaginas instead of deadly assault weapons? Why are they so adamant about regulating a female’s body and telling her what she can and can’t do with it? Maybe if they stopped trying to ban something that even though if it was illegal, would definitely still happen? Maybe congress and lawmakers should focus more on stuff that benefit the nation, not them and their personal and most likely religious beliefs.