Get your bloody politics out of my womb, and keep them there.

Yes, I’m pro-choice (no, I don’t kill babies). I have no issues with abortion, and I believe that every woman should have complete bodily autonomy and should be able to have a procedural abortion if she chooses to. This does not mean that I support abortion due to sex selection/discrimination. 

Motherhood is a powerful institution, and should only be entered into if and when the woman is willing to. I do not understand why politics, as well as religion are considered, when a woman has made a very personal decision to have an abortion? These backward laws are not stopping abortions; they are just making these medical procedures unsafe. If a girl wants to have an abortion, trust me, she will. 

And what about rape victims? Victims of incest? Teenagers who are pregnant with no fault of their own? Odds are that 1 in 3 women will be victims of sexual violence in her lifetime. Does this mean that 33% of all women should be forced to carry out a pregnancy from this violation? Should we allow this further risk to be endured on top of what has already been done? Why should a girl be forced to carry out a pregnancy that is only going to remind her of an extremely disturbing and traumatising event? Where is the humanity in that?

Now many of you would argue that these women could endure the pregnancy, spending nearly a year of her life basically re-living the rape and its psychological and physical effects over and over again, to give up a baby at the end of it for adoption. However, we all are aware of the fact that there are millions of unwanted children awaiting adoption as you read this, who remain unclaimed; in fact, UNICEF estimates that there are 210 million orphans in the world right now. If they have no one willing to be their parent or custodian, why would another baby have a better chance?