In “My Body My Employer, My Abortion,” published July 8 in the Chicago Tribune, Ms. Loren Clark-Moe laments that, as a single 29 year old woman working for the federal government, she had to deal with the “restriction” of paying for her own abortion.
I sincerely wish Ms. Clark-Moe and all women in her similar situation love, peace, and healing. Yet, Ms. Clark-Moe leaves out the other part of her abortion story: the people she wanted to pay for her abortion.
Let’s talk about them.
Let’s talk about the father who works two jobs to ensure there is enough food on the table for his children—should his money go to pay for your abortion instead of helping put food on the table?
Let’s talk about the family who can’t make ends meet because they’ve spent every dime assisting a loved one’s battle against cancer— should their money go to pay for your abortion instead of cancer research?
Let’s talk about the couple who has been painstakingly trying to conceive for the past two years, nursing their broken hearts following miscarriage after miscarriage. Should that couple’s money go towards aborting your “unwanted” child?
What makes your abortion more important?
Let’s talk about the doctor who understands the science of how a 9-week-old unborn child’s heart beats about 100 times per minute. The baby’s hair color, eye color, and sex has already been determined, and his or her fingers and toes are formed. That’s not opinion or even religion—that’s science. Should this doctor pay for your abortion?
Finally, let’s talk about single women and men in their twenties like me. The young women and men who understand that with the beautiful bliss of sexual intimacy comes natural consequences. The science behind sexual intimacy is that a child can be created and therefore we allow that science to influence our decision as we choose to refrain from sexual intimacy until we are prepared and able to care for a child. Should we pay for your abortion?
The government may seem like an abstract entity but remember these are people you are demanding money from and they too have faces and stories. We are your neighbors, your sister, the single mother behind you in the grocery line, and the family sitting next to you at the baseball game.
Which one of us, exactly, should pay for your abortion?
Your body, Your employer, Your abortion but Our money?