Sunday, May 8, 2011

Happy Mother's Day.

Mother's Day is the day we celebrate women who brought us into their families, cared for us, and have supported us through our ups and downs.

This is also a great day to celebrate choice. I celebrate the people who chose to be moms, but I also celebrate the people who didn't choose to be moms or become a mom again. I celebrate the women who took on the challenge and those that knew they could not. As About A Girl has said, parenthood is hard work even when it was deeply desired -- imagine how much harder when it wasn't -- and deserves to happen with all the readiness and support it can. Motherhood should be voluntary, freely and happily chosen, not forced.

At the time of their appointment, 61% of abortion patients have one or more children; so the majority are mothers, and the vast majority of the others will also become mothers at some later time in their lives. And many of the people who care for them or advocate for them (at clinics and local funds, and at policy organizations) are also moms. When you know this, it's hard to think that abortion is about "hating children," either for patients or for abortioneers; abortion is just one possible part of making a responsible choice about being a mom.

Being a mom is one of the most amazing, and I think sacred, things a woman can do, and she shouldn't take it lightly or be forced to do it. Society, too, shouldn't take motherhood lightly by implying that it is the obvious choice for all women who find themselves pregnant. I celebrate all of the moms out there and their ability to CHOOSE to be moms -- may you be celebrated all year 'round -- and may we work to make it a truly free choice for all.

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for making it possible for us to have that choice! You are literally changing the course of the lives of women for the better.

    ReplyDelete

This is not a debate forum -- there are hundreds of other sites for that. This is a safe space for abortion care providers and one that respects the full spectrum of reproductive choices; comments that are not in that spirit will either wind up in the spam filter or languish in the moderation queue.