I am Pro-"Less Government Intervention"...especially when it comes to my body.

I don't want to live in a world where the word abortion regularly occupies space in my brain. I don't want to live in a place where people debate precisely when a life actually becomes a life, because that distinction will have catastrophic consequences. I don't want to live in a place where women who are raped are forced to give birth to their rapists children. And I don't want my heart to understand that abortions, simply put, end innocent lives. I don't want to acknowledge that so much human suffering is happening all around me. And I most certainly don't want anyone to tell me how I should feel about it, and what I will be mandated to do, should I ever be put in a position to fathom the possibility of aborting a child.

But it's not about the reality that I want.

The reality is that we already live in that world. The reality is that there is no simple answer, no checklist to complete to determine if you are pro-life or pro-choice. You can be both, and that's ok. If you are pro-choice, does that mean you accept late term abortions? If you are pro-choice, do you condone the practice of using abortions as birth control? If you are pro-life, does that mean that you think a woman who is raped should have to give birth to her rapists baby? If you are pro-life, does that mean that you disagree with aborting a fetus that is medically incapable of any quality of life outside the womb? Or are you like so many people whose hearts and minds are in turmoil because you know that it is not a "one size fits all" issue? It is the most devastating of gray areas.

I have pretty strong convictions about the choices I would make regarding an unplanned pregnancy, many women do. But until we are actually faced with that decision, none of us know exactly how we would feel, and what factors might influence our decision. It's not black and white, very few things are these days.

If we are prepared to say that abortions are illegal, then are we prepared to live with the consequences of neglected babies, discarded babies, unloved babies? Are we prepared to support foster families and adoptive families and victims of rape and incest? Are we prepared to acknowledge the fact that many women will die trying to abort their babies on their own?

If we are prepared to say that abortions are legal, are we prepared to acknowledge that many babies will die, simply because birth control did not prevent their existence? Simply because aborting  pregnancies seemed like the only option to many scared women? Are we prepared to acknowledge the fact that some babies who may have lived to become amazing humans were aborted because of fear, because of uncertainty, because of financial hardships?

At what point do we stop and say NO. This is not a political issue. This is a humanitarian issue and should be treated as such. It should not be a platform to divide parties, it should not be a government issue at all. It should be an individual decision and it should be made without fear of repercussions and judgment and scorn.

I am Pro Life and I am Pro Choice. I support the lives of humans already living outside the womb and I support the ability of women to have the right to choose if an abortion is their necessary evil.