Forgive us...

It is impossible for anyone invested in the right to choose to be in a confident state of mind right now. Over and over we hear stories of how evil Planned Parenthood is and how horrible women feel after they have had abortions; time and again women who choose to denounce abortion paint the portrait of a culture of ignorance and regret.

There are women who choose to have abortions who come to regret their decisions. Why is that a valid reason to prevent other women from making the decision to have abortion? I have said it before, you got to make a choice and if that choice was wrong for you then that is your mistake. People make choices everyday that they later regret, should we prevent individuals from living their own lives for fear that they will regret it? I am horrified by every testimonial out there where women stand up and tell other women that they know what's best for them better than they know themselves.

Take the Silent No More Awareness Campaign here

There mission statement reads, "Silent No More Awareness is a Campaign whereby Christians make the public aware of the devastation abortion brings to women and men. The campaign seeks to expose and heal the secrecy and silence surrounding the emotional and physical pain of abortion."

SNM openly promotes that you are in need forgiveness if you have had an abortion, and they are the ones to give it to you. Is abortion something that you need to recover from? Of course it is. Recovering from something and needing forgiveness for something are two different things though. No one says that abortion is a great thing. No one says abortion is an easy and pleasurable experience, it isn't. However, the stigma surrounded by abortion is not one that comes from a lack of forgiveness it is one that comes from a lack of equality and respect for women. If women didn't feel like they had to be ashamed of having an abortion than they wouldn't be silent or feel guilty about choosing to have one.

Let me say this, I am in no way saying that every women in every circumstance chooses freely and on her own to terminate a pregnancy. Outside influence obviously come into play and it is sickening to me to think that women undergo the procedure for the purpose of satisfying someone else.

I know a women who ended up in an abortion clinic because she got back together with her ex while she and her current boyfriend were having trouble. The women and her boyfriend made up and she discovered that she was pregnant from her encounter with the ex. The current boyfriend leaves town for a week and on the way out encourages her to "take care of it." Now this women, who is less than three months pregnant, is upset for several reasons. One being that she doesn't think her boyfriend would approve of an abortion, another being that she can't afford another child and yet another being that she feels like she will lose the boyfriend (and father to her other children) if she doesn't abort the fetus.

No one wins in this situation. She goes through with the abortion.

Now, in that same waiting room there is a young women who is two months pregnant. She is 18 years old and lives at home with her parents. She goes to school part-time and works part-time to help pay for her education. The pregnancy has made her violently ill and she is on several anti-depressants and anxiety medication as well as tranquilizers, pain medication and a dependency on recreational drugs to deal with bi-polar disorder. No one encourages or coerces her to abort the fetus and no one encourages her not to.

Is there a winner in this situation? She goes through with the abortion.

If abortion isn't legal and safe for anyone seeking it, women will continue to have abortions regardless. Ask Mike Pence if he can say that abortion should be illegal and anyone seeking one should risk there lives if they would choose to not bear the fetus to term. Ask Mike Pence if your moral objections to war in Afghanistan and Iran should prevent your tax dollars from going to anything related to "national defense".

You don't get to have it both ways. You cannot support choice some of the time and in some circumstances. You cannot take away the choice for some women because other women regret the choice that they made.

Our bodies, our decision, our consequences.