Generally, I consider myself a fair and tolerant human being. I think it advisable that if you have nothing intelligent to offer to a conversation, it is best that you remain silent. Subsequently, I must take serious issue with the tactless and tasteless propaganda of the Bama Students for Life Association.
The Alabama State motto is “We dare defend our rights;” however, many Alabamians, especially Pro-Life activists, feel this only encompasses rights that we accept or condone. By referring to the extremely personal, difficult and controversial choice to have an abortion as “womb lynching” or paralleling this choice to pop music ballads, you are dehumanizing any woman who must face this choice.
Not all women who seek abortions are lazy, entitled and irresponsible. Many are unexpected mothers who will face extreme health risks from pregnancy. Many are teenagers with no education or familial support. There are others who understand that the choice to raise a child is not to be taken lightly and cannot be generalized by slogans about the right to life.
Whether or not the students in BSL condone the act of abortion, this is not a simple matter of abortion vs. pro-life. This is an issue of women’s reproductive health and their rights to their own bodies.
Pregnancy remains one of the most dangerous and vulnerable states that a woman can enter. This risk increases when you are poor and do not have access to prenatal care or when you have existing health complications such as diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, etc.
If you want to callously paint all women who seek abortions with the same brush as murderers, it would be advisable to look up the health risks that come with pregnancy and seriously examine infant mortality rates among the poor and those with existing health conditions.
This choice you seem to think is so simple is something you could possibly face. You should exhibit more caution before, between the ages of 18-24, you plaster your ignorance to sidewalks for the world to see.
Moreover, neither BSL nor the government has any right to tell a woman what to do with her body. This is not a matter of debate for me, as there is no agreement in the fields of medicine, philosophy or theology at which point a fetus has the right to life. This is why laws concerning abortion are cumbersome and difficult to draft. The only thing that is clear is this: You have no right or say in the situation; it is not your body. To the students in BSL: Consider your own situation in life.
You are in college. This puts you in the top 35% percent of Alabama income earners and far above many of the people who will face the decision to attain an abortion. You may have health insurance and access to birth control.
Secondly, you clearly have no knowledge or understanding of the medical field or policy concerning reproductive health. Otherwise, you would understand that there are very serious health factors that come with having a child.
Thirdly, if you had any understanding of or respect for history, you would not think that it is acceptable to parallel the civil rights movement with a fetus which no medical professional can precisely agree is conscious or alive. The civil rights movement was a dynamic struggle designed to actualize the rights of oppressed citizens living in the United States. The last time I checked, I don’t remember being in the womb, much less fighting for my rights within it. Your dangerously asinine assumption and brazen ignorance in making this comparison astounds me.
Finally, know this. If you must have compassion, show some for the brave women who must face the difficult and controversial choice to have an abortion. If you must argue your opinion, temper that opinion with fact and knowledge – not assumption.
And to Ms. Fennell, whether or not your opinions have anything to do with religion is irrelevant. You hold every right to shout your ignorance from each corner of campus. However, I will vigorously exercise my right to condemn you to idiocy, as you decided it was acceptable to trivialize this difficult choice to pop music and blindly compare the “struggle” for pro-life activists to civil rights.
Johnathan Speer is a graduate student studying secondary education. His column runs weekly on Wednesdays.
