When do we stand up? When do we recognize the slide? When does “there” become “here?” Forests and trees are a problem in the application of theory.

We’re as free as the most restricted, which means we’re not free at all. We keep ignoring that at our peril. “The first time anyone’s freedom is trodden on, we’re all damaged.”

It would help if we understood freedom. It’s not yelling obscenities and epithets on social media. That’s a distraction. It’s unfortunate most people buy in.

---

“I'm not pro-murdering babies.

I'm pro-Becky who found out at her twenty-week anatomy scan that the infant she had been so excited to bring into this world had developed without life sustaining organs.

I'm pro-Susan who was sexually assaulted on her way home from work, only to come to the horrific realization that her assailant planted his seed in her when she got a positive pregnancy test result a month later.

I'm pro-Theresa who hemorrhaged due to a placental abruption, causing her parents, spouse, and children to have to make the impossible decision on whether to save her or her unborn child.

I'm pro-little Cathy who had her innocence ripped away from her by someone she should have been able to trust and her eleven-year-old body isn't mature enough to bear the consequence of that betrayal.

I'm pro-Melissa who's working two jobs just to make ends meet and has to choose between bringing another child into poverty or feeding the children she already has because her spouse walked out on her.

I'm pro-Brittany who realizes that she is in no way financially, emotionally, or physically able to raise a child.

I'm pro-Emily who went through IVF, ending up with SIX viable implanted eggs requiring selective reduction in order to ensure the safety of her and a SAFE number of fetuses.

I'm pro-Christina who doesn't want to be a mother, but birth control methods sometimes fail.

I'm pro-Jessica who is finally getting the strength to get away from her physically abusive spouse only to find out that she is carrying the monster's child.

I'm pro-Vanessa who went into her confirmation appointment after years of trying to conceive only to hear silence where there should be a heartbeat.

I'm pro-Lindsay who lost her virginity in her sophomore year with a broken condom and now has to choose whether to be a teenage mom or just a teenager.

I'm pro-Courtney who just found out she's already thirteen weeks along, but the egg never made it out of her fallopian tube so either she terminates the pregnancy or risks dying from internal bleeding.

You can argue and say that I'm pro-choice all you want, but the truth is, I'm pro-life. Their lives.
Women's lives.

You don't get to pick and choose which scenarios should be accepted.

Women's rights are meant to protect all women, regardless of their situation.”

Anonymous 

---

Women control their bodies.
End of line.

---