American Terrorists

Any person who murders another in the name of their God, whether it be Allah, Jehovah, Krishna, Pan, whatever, is, in my opinion, a fanatic. The neo-cons spout off about Islamic radicals, and how endangered America is by these people. They say precious little about the terrorists in our midsts. The man who alledgedly murdered Dr Tiller yesterday did so in the name of his God. I see no difference in a terrorist who straps on a bomb and walks into a grocery store in Israel, and a man who bombs an abortion clinic.

As a member of a generation of women who have always been able to take our reproductive autonomy for granted, I am fearful for future generations. I see those hard-won rights being chipped away at, from so many sides. Obviously, the murder of a provider is a glaring example. But more subtle are the restrictions that have been put on access to not only abortion recently, but birth-control, and birth choices.

Why do I feel so strongly about reproductive choice, you may ask? Because I feel that is a fundamental right for every child to be wanted. My daughter was a totally unexpected pregnancy. And not for lack of birth control - her conception involved the failure of not one, not two, but THREE forms of birth control. And so I was confronted with the responsibility of deciding how to move forward. Ultimately, I decided that terminating the pregnancy was not an option for me. I am eternally grateful that in America, I had the CHOICE to have that child. I can look her in the face and tell her that I wanted to be her mother. It's a priceless gift.

Yes, I feel abortion is wrong for me. But I feel most strongly that the decision belongs only with the woman, her doctor, her God, and her partner. It in NO WAY should be in the hands of voters, or legislators. Attempts to 'define' life as begining at conception (sorry kids - the zygote must be implanted in the uterus for the body to recognize a pregnancy), or ban medical procedures, are all part of a slippery slope that we should fear. As much as we do Al Queda. Because there are terrorists in America - but they don't wear turbans. Operation Rescue condones the murder of Dr Tiller - what will they condone next? Flying a plane into a woman's clinic?