No Freedom without Reproductive Freedom

bfcd-2013I have always been prochoice. But I had never really critically examined my own position on abortion until this past semester. I sometimes wondered if I, personally, would feel comfortable having an abortion if I were to get pregnant. I questioned the morality of abortion even as I supported a woman’s legal right to have one. There was, perhaps, some cognitive dissonance as I tried to artificially separate my personal views from my politics (you really can’t). But through my coursework and self-reflection (see my blog post “What does an abortion look like?” and my final paper on the visual (mis)representations of abortion online) I came to resolve this internal struggle, and solidified my prochoice position.

This is not to say that the individual choice to have, or not have, an abortion is an easy one. Every woman, and every circumstance, surrounding that decision is unique. But while the individual choice may be hard, our government, laws and society should make access to this choice easy. There is no freedom without reproductive freedom.

About Kaitlyn O'Hagan

Kaitlyn is a Macaulay Honors student at Hunter College, where she studies History and Public Policy.