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A few days ago a smart & thoughtful friend asked me if I thought abortion was murder? We were having a discussion about supporting women candidates who support complete reproductive rights for women. My stance is that I will only support women candidates who support reproductive rights. It made me think & then I decided to reframe some of my thoughts about abortion.
I do not think abortion is murder. I believe that only a woman knows if she is ready or even wants to have a child & governments and/or other influences should play no role in making the most difficult & private decision a woman may have to make. It’s not my business in terms of any discussion about how many or few weeks until there is fetus viability. The weeks questions, fetus viability questions should not be part of any public discussion as I believe these mandates or judgements are a continued erosion of women’s autonomy, privacy & equality. We are all entitled to our opinions about abortion, but these opinions should have no bearing on the outcome of this decision. It’s private between a woman & her healthcare provider. It is also why I have been a loud voice about effective birth control & safe sex, so that this decision becomes less & less necessary in our contemporary world. But until birth control becomes easily accessible to all women in the world abortion will continue to be a solution.
I believe that the freedom of reproduction is no different than the freedom of speech. The fundamental equality of women continues to be threatened by any barriers to her & only her making the decision to have an abortion. What I find in these debates is that it often comes down to refusing a woman the same status of personhood that many insist on bestowing upon a fetus. Conservatism has propelled & politicized these discussions about abortion over the last 50 years making it a national referendum on a woman’s right to choose effective & safe abortion. It’s time for this to stop! Roe v Wade was the decided law for generations of women & now we must work with determination to make it the law of the land again. No discussion is necessary!
Patti Kasanow
9/11/2023