The Weapon of Choice

There is nothing finer than the right to choose.
To me, holding oneself accountable for one's own decisions is a part of gaining independence and the trust of those around you as well as trust in yourself.
Take for example the choice of whether I make myself a grilled chicken salad or walk across the road to one of the many takeaways that line the streets of my neighbourhood. You can see the 'right' decision here, but what I put into my body is my decision.
Likewise, the BBC tells me that the amount of men having breast reduction surgery has risen by 44% since 2007. It is their right to control what comes out of their bodies.
Whether you personally believe that cosmetic surgery is gross vanity or fast food is the devil incarnate, would you think to picket a plastic surgeons or place an advert on television proclaiming that grilled chicken salad instead of kebabs made you slim, and therefore EVERYONE must be subject to an law where there is no evaluation of your options required- you MUST have the salad.
No. Because we have to trust people to make their own decisions and not babysit them.

Tim Tebow is the most successful college football player in the USA. His mother Pam was advised to abort him due to medication she was taking posing a potential threat to the fetus. Clearly, she chose not to and mother and perfectly healthy son will appear in a pro life advert for Christian group Focus on the Family during the Superbowl.
Having not seen this advertisement that the blogosphere is currently clenching in their jaws and slamming into walls, I don't know if the Tebows are advocating the banning of abortion, or simply attempting to encourage pregnant women that it doesn't have to be the answer.

Pam Tebow, I respect that there was no way you were going to abort your child, and I am thrilled that your choice worked out to such amazing ends.
Ah. There's that little word again.
She had the choice of what her course of action was going to be. I'm pleased she had that choice, I'm not so pleased that she seems to want to take that choice from other women. One size does not fit all. Making it compulsory to continue with a pregnancy is irresponsible, and I'd say the same if it was the opposite and the abortion was compulsory. (As stated before, having not seen the advert, I'm merely speculating on Pam Tebow's motives and beliefs).

I live in England, where abortion is legal. This makes me feel safe. I'm not going to become pregnant any time soon, but I love the sense of security that knowing I am in a situation where I can have an abortion if I so choose, and don't need a note saying carrying this baby to term will kill me or damage my mental health, or worse seek out a back alley termination. I appreciate being treated like an independent variable, not a constant. I appreciate being trusted with knowing my own mind.
So when I think about the idea of having that freedom removed, I get scared. There is no talk of making abortion illegal here, but just that mere thought of having nowhere to turn, of having people who probably never have been and never will be in my situation rubber stamp my right to choose with an indelible 'Fuck you' is terrifying.

The late Doctor Tiller, murdered in 2009 for his work as an abortionist held the motto 'Trust Women'.
I utterly and wholeheartedly believe in this motto.
Holding other people to our own ideological or moral standards whether they be left or right, religious or secular can create horrible situations, no matter how right you think you are.
I doubt that this advertisement will be anything groundbreaking. The pro lifers will nod and say "yes!" and the pro choicers will grumble and roll their eyes.
In fact, if I know the etiquette of watching sports on the TV, everyone will be in the kitchen getting more crisps and beer.

But the point still stands. The act of banning abortion shows at best a desire to please one's God by controlling the freedoms of others (and when that's the best thing you know it's bad) and at worst a lack of trust in women to make decisions and thereby a void where the respect for women as autonomous beings should be.

OK rant over.
This is pretty badly written in my opinion, but I'm writing this blog to brush up on my writing skills, so maybe next time I write we'll see an improvement.
Toodles.