*Disclaimer: These are the views of the author and not of Her Campus.
Now, before you start patting me on the back for being pro-choice, or scolding me for not being pro-life, hear me out. I am a Catholic woman who is pro-choice—not because I don’t have respect for human life, but because I respect women and their right to make their own decisions. You see, as a young woman who attended Catholic school for twelve years, I’ve basically been conditioned to be pro-life. And I was at first, but then I realized that it’s not my place to decide what my fellow woman decides to do with her body.
I believe that everyone has a right to their own body; and what they want to do with it is solely up to them. If I ever got pregnant, I would want to have options— whether it be abortion, adoption, or keeping a baby. I want women, like myself, to also have those options available to them if they ever become pregnant. Now, I’m not endorsing abortions as the best solution to people’s problems, but what I am suggesting is that women should be able to choose for themselves.
Being Catholic and choosing to take on a pro-choice stance may seem conflicting, but when I remember that God gave people freewill, it becomes clear that being pro-choice isn’t so conflicting at all. By being pro-choice, you allow women to choose—to use their freewill as God designed it. I don’t think it’s anyone’s place to try to tell a woman what God would see fit. A woman’s relationship with God, if she has one, is none of my business. I shouldn’t be judging someone based on the decisions they make or try to make decisions for them.
Does the Catholic Church look favorably upon abortion? No, it never has. But do I think that every woman should be able to decide how she handles a pregnancy, and decide whether that affects her relationship with God? Yes, I do.
Being pro-choice does not mean I am pro-abortion or believe that abortion is the answer; but it does mean that I am pro-freewill, meaning that I believe every woman has a choice that’s up to her to make, (and God to judge if they’re religious), not me or anyone else.