{"id":11022,"date":"2015-10-01T06:56:22","date_gmt":"2015-10-01T13:56:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=11022"},"modified":"2015-10-05T11:50:49","modified_gmt":"2015-10-05T18:50:49","slug":"open-space-anti-choice-shames-women-into-motherhood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2015\/10\/01\/open-space-anti-choice-shames-women-into-motherhood\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Space<\/em>: Anti-choice shames women into motherhood"},"content":{"rendered":"

I hovered over an ominous white stick last weekend: something so small and simple; something that could change the course of my life in a moment. As I watched a faded pink line appear, I wondered if I had the strength to walk past protestors shaming my choices over my own body. (By the way, my test turned out to be negative… or positive, depending on how you see it.)<\/p>\n

A Christian, anti-choice organization called 40 Days for Life are returning to the island to set up for over five weeks across the street from the local Vancouver Island Women\u2019s Clinic. Their goal is to end abortion, and they aim to do it through prayer and fasting.<\/p>\n

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People who use the Bible as an excuse to be anti-choice do so with the belief that an embryo, a fleck of a being, is still human. Abortion is murder, they say; murder is sin. Perhaps they forget that not everyone believes in the idea of sin, or that not everyone believes that a fetus is the same as a child. Their beliefs do not rule my bodily autonomy, and my choice is none of their business.<\/p>\n

I get it: they\u2019re doing what they see as saving people and children. But this group\u2019s antics are far from Christian. I counter-protested with the group Pro-Choice Victoria in the spring, when 40 Days for Life were protesting here, and I can tell you that being prayed at and told to \u201csave my soul\u201d while a man videotapes us from across the street just doesn\u2019t convey the compassion I think religion is supposed to promote.<\/p>\n

Sex only for the production of children turns people with uteri into machines and shames us for experiencing pleasure: patriarchy at its best.<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s clinics provide more than just abortions: they offer contraception, support, sex education, and other necessities unique to women\u2019s health\u0143actual concrete services that reduce unexpected pregnancies. Pray all you want, but it\u2019s not going to teach a teenager how to use a condom.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong: I love children and think motherhood is a beautiful role. I just don\u2019t want to bring children into this world that I cannot care for. The foster-care systems are over-worked, and unless babies can live off Mr. Noodles, my student budget can\u2019t afford it.<\/p>\n

What anti-choicers don\u2019t seem to understand is that sometimes abortion is the only choice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I hovered over an ominous white stick last weekend: something so small and simple; something that could change the course of my life in a moment. As I watched a faded pink line appear, I wondered if I had the strength to walk past protestors shaming my choices over my own body. (By the way, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11018,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,151],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-views","category-september-23-2015"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t