Letters to the Editor
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To anonymous titled "pro-choice?"
You said: "'I am as pro-choice as a pro-choice person can possibly be...', that is, unless you get pregnant through your own damn fault. Then I'm, uh, no-choice? Pro-life? It's just so confusing. The air up here is making me lightheaded."
To me pro-choice means you support a woman's right to choose. It does not necessarily mean you agree with another woman's choice in every instance. Pro-choice does not mean you rubber stamp their decisions.
Allow me to elaborate. I am for the legalization of marijuana use for adults. If marijuana use were legal for adults, I would never interfere with adults who made the choice to use it. Under some circumstances -- use to prevent nausea after chemo -- I would say that that person is looking after his or her health. Under other circumstances -- using until one cannot function at work -- I would say that that person is an utter fool.
I can still support a woman's right to choose and still make a personal judgment that a woman who was completely careless about birth control does not deserve my respect. I can still think that she should have cared enough about the CONCEPT of life to try diligently not to get pregnant in the first place.
I am of the strong opinion that women should not use abortion as a backup birth control method, although I do understand perfectly that accidents happen. I still support the right of completely careless women to get abortions because I really don't think they would make good mothers in the first place and, who knows, maybe there is actually a careless gene we don't want to see continued. I recognize that the consistent use of birth control can be sort of leaning curve and I really don't expect much in the way of consistent use from teenagers and the mentally retarded. Is it too much to ask mature women to use their brains?
You may be one of those people who believe we should never make judgments. I disagree. By judgments, we get through school, stay out of jail, avoid heroin, and keep our driver's licenses. By judgments, we can also sometimes avoid unwanted pregnancy.
To paraphrase Decartes: I think. Therefore, I judge.