I'm pro-choice, always have been. But I've been admitedly tepid in my support. After all, the law wouldn't affect ME personally if it were to change.
After all, I've got two kids, and I'm married. Although I don't plan on having any more children, if I were to get pregnant it certainly wouldn't be the end of the world, right?
Well, all of that changed this week...
So, it dawned on me today that when it comes to abortion, I have been commiting the same sin that so many women commit everyday; I was unable to see how this law really affects my life. I always backed it, but you'd never have seen me on the front lines of this fight. I always counted myself grateful that I never found myself in a position to have to make that choice. And maybe, I patted myself on the back a little too much for never getting "in trouble." I always said things like "if I were 16 and pregnant, I would have gotten an abortion."
Of course I never went so far as to make the ultimate dissconnect and vote against my best interests, but really, my apapthy level when it came to the abortion debate was increasing. I was willing to offer my verbal support, backed up by my vote, but little else.
Then, a few months ago, my husband and I seperated. And a week ago, I found myself having to do something I hadn't done in over a decade: insure that I wasn't going to get pregnant by insisting on birth control. Yep, I got back in the game and made a choice to spend the night with someone. <gasp> That's right; I had casual sex. And yes, of course I used protection.
BUT....
My mind has swirled with "what if's" today as I listen to to the Alito confirmation hearings. What if I suddenly found myself pregnant? The scenario that didn't seem too terribly tragic as a married woman now took on a whole new meaning.
Well, I have to say, my first instict was one of sheer panic. Then thankfullness. Thanks to timing, abortion would still be an accessable choice for me. And because I'm just posing a paranoid hypothetical here, I'm lucky that I won't really have to make that choice....
But the point is, women who are like I was are all over the country, not even paying attention to the Alito hearings, because they can't see how it affects thier own life. Never mind the fact that I have TWO young daughters, it really took this new PERSONAL situation for me to reconnect with the issue and it's importance for all women.
I simply can't imagine and America where my choice would be taken away. Where I, a single-mother of two would be FORCED to have an illegal aborition or have a child that I don't want. <Shudder> And in Alito's world, I would have to track down the father of this child and ASK HIS PERMISSION first!
Front lines.....I hope there's room for one more in your ranks, even if I'm a little late to the fight.