I am a walking contradiction…

Today began like a typical Wednesday morning. I said goodbye to Hubster and Babylicious, left my apartment, stopped at the Local Huddle House for the morning elixir of the Gods, and then headed to school.

Let’s not forget that my school is located in one of the most conservative countines in Virginia. We’re not quite part of the Bible Belt in the south, but damn skippy, we are awfully close.

So I walk into school and the CLS (Christian Legal Society, for those of you not in the know) is hosting “Pro-Life Day” with free coffe and hot chocolate.

*sigh

I have so many issues with this, I’m not sure where to start. This may ramble a bit.

I am pro-choice. However, this does not mean that I condone abortion.  I was in a situation that would cause many women to make that choice. That was not a choice for me, however, and 9 months later I gave birth to my beautiful babylicious. I also have a problem with abortions performed for no other reason than the mother does not want to carry a child to term. I have HUGE issues with this. HUGE. However, that is the mother’s choice. Who am I to take that choice away from her? Where do I get off saying what is best for her and her family?

I know what you’re thinking. Enact legislation that will only allow for an abortion when it is for the safety of the mother. But that is not always the case. Abortions are performed for many legitimate reasons, those of which include the mother’s health, AS WELL AS the health of the fetus, and the quality of life that that fetus will have once born. I don’t agree with women bringing children into the world, to have them die in pain and agony a few hours later. How is that humane? How is that any better than making the choice to save the baby from a life of misery?

I am a firm believer in the “slippery-slope” theory. Once legislation is passed to prohibit late term abortions with a clause that states “only for the health of the mother”, it is only a matter of time before there is legislation meant to prohibit ALL manner of abortion. And I can not stand for that.

Because I classify myself as “Pro-Choice” I am automatically lumped into the group of “baby-killers”, “anti-God”, and “anti-American”, by the right-wing Pro-lifers (by the way, I hate Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice, as if those of us who are “Pro-Choice” are anti-life). I’m not saying that all Pro-lifers bad mouth us Pro-Choice people, and I am certainly not saying that Pro-Choicers never speak out against the Pro-Life side, because we all know they do. However, in my own personal experience, the Pro-Life side has always been the more aggressive of the two. I try to sit back and take the position that everyone is entitled to their own beliefs, and again, who am I to decide what is best for people. But I have more than once taken personal offense at the attacks by the Pro-Lifers.

Now, getting back to the CLS and the celebration of “Pro-Life Day”. I don’t have a problem with “Pro-Life Day”, I truly don’t. However, in the area where I live it’s not an equal playing field. For the Pro-Choice crowd we have to deal with “Pro-Life Day”, but cannot celebrate “Pro-Choice Day” (if there even is such a day). It would be a travesty here in this area to celebrate “Abortions” (which is the spin that a day like that would inevitably take). The Pro-Life campaign gets to put pictures of babies up on the walls, in various stages of development and tote the statements “Look what you will be killing if you make that LEGAL choice”. What kind of pictures could the Pro-Choicers put up?

Let’s just think about that for a minute.

I know, I KNOW, this is probably an issue everywhere in the country. It’s just harder to deal with since I’m in the minority in this county. I’ll bet there are places in the country where the roles are reversed and the Pro-Lifers feel as if they are unable to campaign, and I would just like to tell them, that it’s ok, you can campaign all you want. But don’t shove it down my throat, and when I want to make a production about my views, let me.

That’s the problem here. You have to be careful with what you say and how you act. As far as this town has come over the past 10 years or so, most of the natives, and many of the faculty, staff, and student body, are still very backwards in their thinking, and most of them are not afraid to get vocal about it.

Ok, totally did not mean to make this into a political blog. Tomorrow (or the next day) more stories about babylicious and the terrors of law school.

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