I appreciate The Signal for taking opinions from many differing ideas. I believe we should respect and listen to opinions other than our own. Many good people hold opinions different than I do. They deserve my respect.
I have been troubled by many statements I have seen regarding abortion, but particularly the statement we hear repeatedly that “it’s a woman’s body and she can do anything she wants with it.” I have had seven children and I have never felt that the baby I was carrying and nurturing was only my own body. It was not like an appendix that could be removed for my health. Unlike an appendix, a baby is an entirely separate living being, a combination of me and their father and their own distinct personality, one with potential to grow and thrive and do amazing and wonderful things. When you feel that little person kick and move, it is amazing.
To those of you who have children, you know that those children are not clones of you. They are not little pieces of your body. Because these unborn babies have not fulfilled their potential, because they are only in the embryonic initial stage of their development, does not make their life of no value. This seems to me to be at the heart of the difference in this abortion debate. Yes, it is a woman’s body, but when she conceives a child, it is no longer ONLY her body, it is now two distinct lives. We, as a society, should protect and care for our most innocent and vulnerable, and that should include the unborn. I know many women face difficult circumstances with unwanted pregnancy, but there are alternatives other than abortion. I have friends and family who have been adopted, who have adopted, or who would love to adopt.
Carolyn Hill
Santa Clarita
