So, after dropping my son off at school today, I was traveling down 41 and there was a dump truck stalled in the intersection. Everybody was slowing down and what happens? I have a flashback of my friend Amy.
Amy was a really, really close friend of mind in high school. We had a lot of fun and many deep conversations; so many good memories. One of the things that always stands out in the forefront of my memories with Amy is that she was supposed to be aborted. Her mom got knocked up and chose to have an abortion. However it happened, she ended up having Amy, but she knew this her whole life - she knew that she was literally the product of the abortion debate. And for whatever reason, Amy was still pro-choice. She told me, "you know, I would never have known the difference".
And, as you would suspect, her life was tough. The reason a stalled out dump truck reminds me of Amy is because, as she was traveling down 41 in Alachua County FL, she drove right into the side of a tractor trailer doing a three point turn. Amy was on her way to class at the local community college, t-boned the trailer which was doing an illegal turn, and was decapitated.
Snap - the end of it.
Ever see that movie "Final Destination"? It makes me wonder... was she ever meant to grow old? She had already cheated death once when her mom chose not to abort. And then at 20, maybe 21, everything was taken away from her.
Almost every time I think of Amy, I think of the abortion issue. Being pro-life vs. being pro-choice and what does it really mean?
If you're pro-life, does it NECESSARILY mean that other women shouldn't have the choice to have an abortion?
I am politically pro-choice. Every woman ought to have the choice to carry the baby to full term and deliver it. Government has no business in our reproductive rights. I believe that a fetus is not a baby until it can survive outside the womb without intervention. And any family that going to lobby for taking away abortion rights should to adopt or foster a child every year that they lobby.
A baby is not a baby until it's outside of the womb, living, breathing, swallowing, pumping blood on it's own. It's part of nature that mother feeds the baby. I've heard the argument "well, if you feel that way, and if you intervene by feeding the baby, you're proving yourself wrong..." Note: feeding our young is a part of nature. Breathing for them is not. When the lungs are collapsed or the heart is malformed or the brain is swollen, should the baby live? Should we listen to nature and avoid excessive intervention? Or should we follow our human instincts and do everything possible to keep a non-viable baby alive? These are tough, heart-wrenching questions.
Personally, I'm pro-life. For my person, my body and my family, if I unexpectedly got pregnant, I would carry, deliver and love that baby with all my heart. Would I have made the same decision 10 years ago? I have no clue! Thankfully I wasn't faced with it, yet I want other people to be able to make that personal choice. It's not MY decision for them or their body or the fetus.
Even though Amy had a great time for so much of her life, she also had it tough due to the circumstances she was born into. Her mom got knocked up very young and thankfully, she had grandparents who stepped in to take that parental role.
Not every child who is born is born wanted. It's a shame, but it's how it is.
Love you, Amy. Always on my mind...
Amy & Kristina - way back in the day.
Gosh, what a story. I'll be thinking about this one tonight. I feel much the same as you--I believe in women having the right to do with their bodies as they see fit. Could I ever abort a child myself? I don't think I could--but I was never faced with that decision when I was young, so I really can't say. Thanks for sharing this.
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