Sometimes I wonder why one couldn't be both pro-choice and pro-life. I guess I see this issue in many different shades of grey rather than black and white. When I read about a Brazilian woman who was brutally raped by her estranged husband the day before their divorce was final, and became pregnant, and yet she couldn't get an abortion legally because although abortions are legal in cases of rape, spousal rape isn't considered true "rape" in Brazil, I was incensed that she didn't have a choice. That her only alternative, according to the choice she wanted to make, was to have an illegal abortion which would put her life at risk. When I read about an African woman who was raped by a group of men and yet chose to keep the baby girl she gave birth to nine months later, I wanted to applaud her brave decision. I'm not sure I would have had that strength. In either case, I felt nothing but compassion and support for these women who were faced with unbelievably difficult decisions.
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Sometimes I wonder why one couldn't be both pro-choice and pro-life. I guess I see this issue in many different shades of grey rather than black and white. When I read about a Brazilian woman who was brutally raped by her estranged husband the day before their divorce was final, and became pregnant, and yet she couldn't get an abortion legally because although abortions are legal in cases of rape, spousal rape isn't considered true "rape" in Brazil, I was incensed that she didn't have a choice. That her only alternative, according to the choice she wanted to make, was to have an illegal abortion which would put her life at risk. When I read about an African woman who was raped by a group of men and yet chose to keep the baby girl she gave birth to nine months later, I wanted to applaud her brave decision. I'm not sure I would have had that strength. In either case, I felt nothing but compassion and support for these women who were faced with unbelievably difficult decisions.
March 14, 2009 - 10:26pmThis Comment
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