Pro choice

There's been some "interesting" comments in liberal circles about Sarah Palin and her decision to have a baby with a Down's Syndrome at her age. Some of the comments have been a little... well, they're the type of comments that give all of us pro-choicers a bad name. Those of you who know me know I'm very pro-choice, but that doesn't mean that I think that abortion is the answer or the right thing to do. Personally, I follow the Hillary school of thought, the one that got her ridiculed way back when, but abortion should be legal, safe, and most of all rare. There are ways to accomplish the last -- education, contraception, better access to health care and support systems, adoption, etc -- but there are times when there is no choice for any number of reasons and that's where I believe the option of legal and safe needs to come into play.

I don't think we can all quite have a looking glass into why women (and men and families) make the choices they make. We don't know individual circumstances or philosophies or issues. We have no idea what leads to the decision to abort a pregnancy. It's never quite so simple as opponents would like to think, and outlawing abortion, mho, isn't going to lead to the ultimate goal of a rare practice.

Sarah Palin made the right decision for her family, for herself. She walked the talk, and she made a choice. And that's really what pro-choice is all about. There shouldn't be any judgment about her decision, either positive or negative; it is what it is. It's key to remember what is right for one person isn't necessarily right for another and unless we're intimately involved in all aspects and are ready to shoulder whatever duty comes when we get our way, I think it's best to let people make the decisions that are best for them -- especially when that decision doesn't affect me or you personally. That's what being pro-choice is all about. It's not pro-abortion, like people would like to make one think, it's about letting people make decisions. And hopefully, as we become a more supportive and educated society, those decisions will start to fall on the rare side of the spectrum.