How Planned Parenthood Made Me Pro-Life.

PolitiChicks.com“Are you pro-life or pro-choice?” It was a question I would frequently get when a political discussion would erupt.

“Both?” I would say, semi-reluctantly. This was the one question I hated answering. I had to explain myself, which caused a greater discussion. It wasn’t a simple answer. It was more complicated than a one word answer.

Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?

I would get looks of confusion, and in some cases, amazement. No one understood me. I had to explain myself.

“I’m pro-choice for everyone but pro-life for myself. I don’t think I could ever go through with an abortion but who am I to tell someone else what they can and cannot do?”

Most of the time, my response shocked people. I’ve been told that most people haven’t heard of this stance before. Abortion is such a divisive issue that it’s always assumed that a hardline stance has to be taken. You’re either fully in favor of abortions, with no exceptions or you’re fully against abortions.

Over the last week, I’ve reevaluated how I felt about abortion. I’ve seen the graphic posters and pictures that depict an aborted baby. Different groups held protests on my college campus. And most of the time, I would stand back and watch. I wanted to take in both sides’ argument and understand why the felt so passionate about the issue. I was curious.

Yes, the pictures grossed me out. Yes, it made me think, but more than anything, those pictures made me angry. I felt like those things were being shoved in my face and here I was being forced to take a stance on an issue that I didn’t feel impacted me. I can honestly say that I’ve never thought, “I need to protect abortion rights in case I need an abortion down the road.”

The Left frequently uses the argument that women who are victims of rape should have the decision to have an abortion. As someone who has been the victim of sexual assault, I can say that making a decision to have an abortion would add additional emotional trauma to an already traumatic experience. You’re already full of shame and guilt. The last thing you need is knowing that you killed an innocent life.

Last week’s Planned Parenthood video was more graphic to me than any of the pictures I had seen of aborted babies. Knowing that Planned Parenthood is not only aborting babies, but selling their organs and tissue for profit, upset me. Hearing the graphic detail about how baby’s skulls are crushed during an abortion sent chills down my spine. Hearing about baby’s legs being broken to protect vital organs caused my jaw to drop. How could a doctor – someone who took the Hippocratic Oath – kill an innocent child and make money off that killing? If someone did this and they weren’t a doctor, it would be considered murder, but in our society, it’s looked at as another day at the office.

These chilling stories made me come to a conclusion: innocent life needs to be protected. Even though I believe in limited government, we have a duty to protect those who can’t protect themselves. That’s why I’m now a member of the pro-life community.

Beth Baumann

Beth Baumann is a California native, who grew up with an interest in politics from a young age. Beth attended Northern Arizona University, where she was a member of the NAU Conservatives, an activist organization dedicating to spreading conservative ideals. She also founded the NAU chapter of Young Americans for Liberty, took part in the Flagstaff Smart Girl Politics chapter and helped a local conservative run for Flagstaff City Council. Beth has received national attention due to the First Amendment restrictions on her college campus. She defended her Freedom of Speech when she was ridiculed for handing out flags in remembrance of 9/11. Although she faced misconduct charges, up to and including expulsion, she stood by her Constitutional rights and beliefs. With the help of the Leadership Institute and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), she was eventually exonerated of all charges. During her tenure, she was copy editor for the newspaper, marketing director and film festival director for the campus TV station, and news correspondent for political talk radio. Beth was the Communications Assistant at The American Conservative Union, where she helped with planning and executing different aspects of CPAC 2014, including social media, media strategy and crisis management. Beth works at a well established public relations firm in Southern California. Her work has been featured in The Daily Caller, The Washington Times, World Net Daily and Human Events. Follow Beth on Twitter: @eb454

Related Articles

Back to top button
Close
Close

Please disable ad blocker.

We work hard to write our articles and provide you with the content you enjoy. The ads on the site allow us to continue our work while feeding our families. If you'd please whitelist our site in your ad blocker or remove your ad blocker altogether, we'd greatly appreciate it. Thank you!