My body, my choice.

Every women should have the right to free abortions up until weelk 18 of pregnancy and after that if special circumstances apply. I will not rest until that right is guaranteed all over the United States.

It has been 40 years ago since Roe. v. Wade. The decision effectively legalized abortion in the United States, however, still today, 40 years later, women are struggling to get an abortion, unsafe abortions are still being done and women are dying because they do not have access to safe abortion methods.

In 2009, a 15-year old girl died in Michigan after an unsafe abortion. This young woman was too afraid to tell her parents about her pregnancy and the state requires minors to have parental consent to perform an abortion. This young girl was too afraid to tell her parents and therefore sought unsafe methods to end her pregnancy.

Because of this law and other restrictions, women in the United States are dying from unsafe procedures that could have been avoided if the laws regarding abortion would have been different. Some people may believe that Roe. v. Wade ended the problem but there is still a lot that needs to change and I will tell you why this is necssary.

People are still trying to introduce legislation limiting abortion in the United States and we need to continue fighting for the right to equality. Just this year, Texas introduced and after much controversy passed a bill which severely limits women's access to abortion in the state. Even though the Supreme court partially struck it down, this is a violation of women's right to privacy

Some people believe that banning abortion would make them stop, but the truth is that it would only lead to more illegal abortion clinics which are usually not safe and women may die or be harmed for life. According to the World Health Organization, 50 million abortions are performed each year. Of these, 20 million are illegal abortions.

This shows that banning abortion won't make it stop, it will continue but more women will die trying to take control over their own bodies. About 68000 women die every year from illegal abortion and an additional 5 million women have to seek hospital care after failed abortions. In some countries, as much as half of their health care budget on this, in these countries, abortions are illegal.

It is true that abortion should not be used as a contraception, but no one I have met who has gone through an abortion has taken the decision lightly. These are strong women who realise that they could not give a child a worthy life and they are not ready for parenthood. When this is the case, these women needs a way to end their pregnancy. Forcing these women to go through with the pregnancy to then – either raise the child or have it adopted is not fair to either one of them.

A common argument in the debate over abortion is that they can cause medical complications in the future – but first of all, so can going through with a pregnancy and the women going through with an abortion are aware of the risk. It' is their decision if the risk is worth it or not.

Some people say that many of the women who wants abortions are young and are not aware of what they are doing, well if they can't understand what an abortion entails, then they are certainly not ready to become mothers. Abortions are generally safe, if they are done by a medical professional who knows what he or she is doing that is. For abortions to be kept safe, they need to be easily accessible, and this is not always the case in the United States today.

Some people say that it is not fair that tax dollar money are being spent on abortions because it is not something that they support – but what about the consequences of smoking or obesity – all people don't support that or suffer from it but they are still paying for the prevention of that. I also wonder if these people are willing to pay for the needs of the child that the women are forced to have. The average cost of raising a child in the United States is 241.000 dollars, the cost of an abortion is between 350 and 1000 dollars.

Being pro-choice doesn't necessarily mean being pro-abortion, it simply means believing that every woman has the right to decide over her own body. Because in the end, it doesn't matter how many arguments we use, the simple truth is that every woman should have the right to make that decision for herself. If we lose that right, then we're losing rights that so many people have fought for before us. This isn't about religion, or money, it is about not letting all the women who have died from illegal abortions have died in vain. It is about fighting for the right to our own bodies, the fight for equality. If you're against abortion, then don't have one and let other people do what they want. 

Hypocrisy in the Republican camp

Liberal America has written a post about Arkansas state representative Josh Miller. Eleven years ago, he was in a car accident while drunk. However, it is not clear if he was driving or if his friend was driving. Because of this incident, he is paralyzed and his extensive hospital care bills were taken care of by Medicaid. He is now a state representative trying to abolish Medicaid, because he says the people receiving it are not deserving of it.

Liberal America is a blog which is devoted to liberal beliefs so its audience is mostly other liberals, making the post rather appropriate for the audience. The opinions found here are rather harsh but it is a blog and not a newspaper so it does not have the same need for objectivity. The fact that it is a blog which clearly advertise its liberal thoughts makes it even more appropriate. They are, however, putting words in his mouth by saying that the people he does not believe to be deserving of Medicaid are most likely Latinos or blacks. There are no references to Josh Miller ever saying this, but rather this seems to be an assumption which the writer is making.

This post links to the Arkansas Times to show the validity of the article's claims. This lends the story credibility. This is not just something that they have invented to make Republicans look bad. This event is true and it has happened and it shows the hypocrisy of many Republicans. Josh Miller obviously liked the Medicaid just fine when he needed it but at the same time he believes that he deserves it meanwhile other people do not.

I strongly believe that everyone deserves to be treated for illnesses and accidents, including Josh Miller. It would be easy to say that he does not deserve it because he brought it upon himself but that doesn't matter. Do I think that Josh Miller seem to be a good person? No, but that is beside the point. No one should have to be forced into lifelong debt because of the need for hospital care. No one should have to deny themselves access to health care because they can't afford it. It is unlikely that Josh Miller does not see the irony in the fact that he got basically free care for an accident which he brought upon himself, while at the same time accusing other recipients of Medicaid of being undeserving. It is not surprising to me, however. Taking a closer look at Republican policies shows that they seem to be mainly interested in helping themselves but not their fellow Americans.