With the election on the forefront of every American’s mind, a woman voter may have more to think about than the average “Joe Sixpack” (a phrase recently coined by vice-presidential candidate, Sarah Palin). For instance, some political discussion has taken place regarding positions of each candidate with regard to the Roe v. Wade ruling and its standing in allowing a woman the right to choose abortion.
As a woman, having the right to decide whether to carry a baby has been an entitlement to me. Although I have not personally had to apply such right in my own life, knowing the right is mine is critical to my sense of security and safety, particularly in a society with high crime rates. Additionally, the medical community today pushes pharmaceuticals to every patient without fully understanding the potential side effects to an unborn fetus. These uncertainties are concerning and reinforce my opinion that a woman should have a right to decide.
Just recently, I watched the struggles of a friend trying to get pregnant in her 30’s. To explain in detail, this friend had tried for several years to get pregnant, to no avail. However, on this particular month, she did all the right things. She charted her ovulation and every single detail to make sure that nothing was overlooked. Too afraid to excite her husband unnecessarily, she carried this burden alone, with the exception to a few trusted friends. Suddenly, she started to possess pregnancy symptoms. However, an early blood test suggested she wasn’t pregnant. At this point she was relieved for not having excited her husband about something that did not exist. The only problem was, my friend was convinced she was pregnant. She recognized changes in her body which were unexplainable. Another week passed and my friend performed another blood pregnancy test that provided another negative test result. Although she had missed her cycle, there was no accurate explanation to the cause and the physician’s solution was for my friend to take medication to restart her cycle. She couldn’t help but question whether she was indeed pregnant but too recent for the tests to detect. The physician’s nurse couldn’t offer a solid answer. The point is, there was no guarantee she wasn’t pregnant. A woman knows her body and physicians know their tests, but sometimes one or the other is wrong.
I’ve mentioned my friend’s struggles to point out that even today, in America where land is “free” and your destiny is whatever you make it…, modern medicine continues to be puzzled by many unanswered questions. If the nurse couldn’t tell my friend with certainty that she wasn’t pregnant, how could she make the decision to “restart” her cycle? Likewise, my friend ultimately had the right to make that decision. Flipping the coin, what if my friend WAS pregnant and learned of a pending deformity of the baby. Shouldn’t she have the right to make that choice?
With the election nearing, it’s only appropriate that American’s should consider all things pending. Women voters especially have more factors to consider than whether our candidates are “soccer moms” and dress well, but rather, “will they truly represent ALL of a woman’s best interests?” If you are a woman, you have a RIGHT TO CHOOSE…on November 4th.
