The “what if my mom had an abortion” [argument] applies to more people than those whose mothers were raped. It applies to people born in the mixed up days before Roe v. Wade when abortion was legal in some places and not others. It applies to everyone who’s ever been adopted. Of course, it really applies to EVERYONE, but some of us have more cause to dwell on it than others.
And I think the reason that we freak out the pro-choice movement so much is . . . that we fly in the face of the narrative about how awful life is for unwanted children. We give lie to the claim that a fetus is just a clump of tissue. We offer painfully real evidence of what happens if you don’t have an abortion. It’s very easy to say “but what about all the times that you have sex and don’t get pregnant?” Duh. But once something has been done, it can’t simply be undone. An aborted fetus had a heartbeat, and a brain, and, depending on the gestational age, tiny arms and legs and maybe even fingers and toes. It was human.
I don’t know if the world itself is a better place because I’m in it. . . . But my life is precious to me. It’s funny—many people are pro-life because of their religious convictions. I am pro-life at least in part because I’m not religious. I don’t believe in fate, or that God has some purpose for me. My being here is accidental and miraculous and I value every second of it. Slate
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