I grew up in the panhandle of Florida, an area not-so-fondly referred to as Lower Alabama. In school, we were taught to work hard, be patriotic Americans and love Jesus. We were not taught about teenage pregnancy. We were not told about birth control or how easy it was to get pregnant if we didn’t use it. I began having sex shortly after my fifteenth birthday, and within three months, I was pregnant. My first reaction was sheer terror. I can remember it all so clearly, thinking my parents would kill me if I told them. Later, when I pushed all the turmoil and thoughts of suicide out of my head, I realized there was one thing I was absolutely clear on: I did not want to be a teenage mother. Fortunately, I lived in a state that allowed young women to make choices on their own. I went to the clinic, paid my money and got an abortion. It was the hardest choice I have ever made, but I will be eternally grateful that I was allowed to make it. I know I made the right choice.
What makes me the angriest about the whole "abortion" issue is that men have any say in it. A wise someone once said, "If men got pregnant, abortions would not only be legal, they’d be free and available on every street corner." And I don’t know what he’s saying these days, but Dennis Miller once said that his take on the issue was "one dick, no vote." I couldn’t agree more.
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