That movie makes me cry so hard.
» Arwen is a 25-year-old New York native. Originally hailing from Long Island, she likes to spend most of her time in New York City. She's loud, quirky, and has a short attention span. Some of the things she enjoys are sushi, video games, cosmetics, and all things Japanese. More?

Abortion

It seems that everyone these days has an opinion about abortion. These opinions are usually emotionally charged and sometimes backed by religious or liberal beliefs. The Christian groups claim that abortion is murder because a fetus is considered a living entity. But at what point is a fetus considered a human being? At the point of conception? At the point of birth? Or is it that gray area in between when it reaches a point where if removed from the womb it could survive? No two people will ever agree on this point.

I don’t label myself as pro-choice or pro-life, because I don’t feel that my views are completely to either side, but if I had to pick one, I am more pro-choice than pro-life. In fact, I think that the term pro-life is a little oxymoronic. These people usually believe that the fetus should be saved at any cost, even if the cost is the mother’s own life or we’ll-being.

I stand firm by the belief that it is ultimately a mother’s right to choose. It is her body that is hosting this parasite that will one day become a child, and if she does not want it, she shouldn’t be forced to.

However, this belief should only apply to those who are pregnant by no choice of their own (rape) or if there are risks to the mother or child that would endanger the lives or well-being of either (birth defects, sickness). Girls who become impregnated due to bad life choices (having sex at a young age) should be forced to deal with the consequences of their mistakes. This article now crosses over into my opinion on sex and ages of consent, which in short is: if you’re not ready to have kids, don’t do it. Birth control always has a chance of failure and not all methods prevent communicable disease.

Back to abortion. Many religious groups are fighting to have abortion outlawed because it is “murder.” What they fail to realize is that if abortions become illegal, many women seeking the practice will either try to perform it themselves or seek underground facilities in which the environment may not be safe nor healthy. Outlawing abortion would put many more women at risk for injury, disease, even death. So while I don’t completely agree with the ideals of abortion, I feel that it should continue to be legal and regulated for the sake of young women everywhere.

© Arwen M. Guerra