I’d like to give Jill Bryan, the RPI College Republicans, and other anti-choicers some facts about what abortion means to society.
The right to an abortion means that women control their own bodies. They cannot be forced to stay pregnant against their will. They cannot be forced to carry a pregnancy to term when their health is at stake. They cannot be forced to give a baby up for adoption. They cannot be forced to raise a child. Their bodies cannot be used as weapons against them. They can use their own personal values, morals, and religion, and not have others’ forced upon them. They will not die from back alley abortion procedures. Simply put, the right to an abortion means that society sees women as real, actual people capable of making complex, informed decisions, not just walking incubators.
I understand where the anti-choicers are coming from. I really do. I used to be anti-choice. I was vehement. For years, I debated and wrote essays and argued with anyone who would listen that abortion was wrong, wrong, wrong.
Then I grew up. I realized that women were in fact functional people existing in a complex world. I could not put myself in another woman’s shoes and make such a life-changing decision for her. I finally began to respect women. I respected the fact that they, and only they, could fully consider the implications of pregnancy, giving birth, childrearing, and adoption in their lives.
Anti-choicers often quote many facts that are simply untrue. One would hope that all Rensselaer students have a proper understanding of the scientific process, and of the fact that there are many misleading and biased studies out there that don’t prove a thing. I sincerely hope that students aren’t substituting articles in Glamour for honest to goodness research.
For example, a scientific panel appointed by the director of the National Cancer Institute found that there is no evidence that having an abortion increases the risk of breast cancer, a position agreed with by the World Health Organization, the American Cancer Society, and others. (As a pro-choicer and a breast cancer survivor, claims to the contrary strike me as misleading to women on many levels. And no, I have never had an abortion.) Another fact they may want to look into is that 54 percent of women seeking abortions experienced contraceptive failure.
I often wonder what anti-choice activists think pro-choice activists get out of women having abortions. What is this “political means” they speak of? It’s not like we throw a party and high-five each other for getting rid of another baby. We have nothing against pregnancy. We have nothing against babies. We have nothing against adoption. We do have a problem with people forcing these decisions upon women.
Don’t let my uterus fool you. I have a brain too. Trust women.
Colleen Carey ’01
