I am pro-choice

I am pro-choice. I believe women have the right to make a decision/choice for their own bodies that is fundamentally beneficial to themselves, and themselves only. My definition of "what a choice is" is broad and an abortion is only one of the choices women might have to make for themselves. You are the lucky ones if you never have to make a choice like that.

Now, I am married and pregnant. My thinking is slightly different. I am still pro-choice. And when it comes to pregnancy and decision-making during pregnancy, I believe women have to right and the obligation to make the best choice for not just themselves, but their closest family.

Today I read this article on Slate.com which came at such a perfect time. As I am observing myself as a pregnant woman, I think even more so than before, about women's right, especially women's right to choose.

At first, this article touched upon a subject that I am telling everyone every day - pregnancy is expensive. Mails in my mailbox have been piles and piles of medical bills - one time I got bills from 5 different labs just on one doctor's visit and one blood test. And I have done countless blood tests and all kinds of tests that doctor asked me to do. Some of them I don't even know if they are necessary.

I strongly encourage people to be financially stable before they start the pregnancy process. Of course, in this article, it looked at single moms and their partners who get them conceived. I do think the partners should support not just emotionally but financially because it does take two! Even though they are not connected through marriage or might not be at all in the future, their bond lies on the fetus that's growing in the women's body. And, the term "preglimony" is kindda brilliant.

The person who started using the term "preglimony" apparently is very careful with not comparing it to a child support because it's debatable whether a fetus can be considered as a child. A child implies that this thing is a life.

It is a life, whether you call it embryo, fetus, and other medical terms to describe this thing. It's a living cell. It grows. Even though I don't feel it at all in week 15 and I am always worried it's not there anymore....

I ask myself: what would I do if I have to? My decion-making process is simple - how would it affect my life and my husband's life, realistically and fiancially. And realistically and financially, we do not want to carry something that we know will have negative imapcts on our lives and lifestyle. The answer is obvious.

Being pregnant and a mom-to-be do not have to change a person's rational thinking. I feel more and more attached to the thing growing inside of me each day, and it only means I have to make a decision that's the best for this thing and myself.

A lot of the rhetoric that both pro-choice and anti-choice camps use are just to justify their arguments or make them legally sound. I understand that and I somewhat agree. But arguing whether it's a life or not does not change the fact it's still inside of a woman's body and the woman has the right to her own body. Thus if an abortion is necessary and the right thing to do, it should be done.

It is a life. However, regardless how much it is a life to you, just, don't photoshop the sonogram to the photo of your belly.


#imforabortion
DearJulie


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Workout of the day: Cycling, 45 minutes high intensity (about 15 miles)
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