My Choice: Why VP Harris gets my vote

A couple decades ago I had an abortion. To this day, it's still one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make. I wanted the baby – I really did, and I realize that it wasn't a baby when I swallowed the pill, that it was a cluster of cells, tissue, membranes – it wasn’t a baby, not this early on in the pregnancy, but it was potential. That’s what I mourn – the potential of that life – what it could have been. It’s been decades and I still feel hollow when I think about that potential, it's because something is missing from my life. I would give almost anything to be able to go back and alter my choice, but the decision I made then would still be the decision I made today because not much has changed for single mothers in America since the Bush era. I didn’t have an abortion because I didn’t want to have a baby – I had an abortion because I lived in a society in which I couldn’t afford to have the baby. I was in college, single, barely getting by. I didn’t have a supportive family that would be willing to help me financially, or even with babysitting.

The costs involved with starting a family are immense. Babies need a lot of equipment - cribs, highchairs, and car seats. They also need diapers, health care, clothes, and, the beast of it all, childcare. The expenses are daunting when you are already struggling to make ends meet. Presidential candidate, Kamala Harris is offering a sizable child tax credit for first time parents. If a measure like this had existed when I made my choice, it might have been different. In my opinion, this credit will undoubtedly reduce the number of abortions. It gives single mothers and financially struggling families a fighting chance. An opportunity to be able to pay for childcare, to buy essentials to keep the baby protected and comfortable, to have a safety net. Donald Trump couldn't possibly understand the very real fear of running out of diapers before you get your next paycheck – they’re expensive and babies go through a lot of them, and for some families running out is a persistent, nagging worry. Harris is demonstrating how reproductive rights should be approached in America – by reducing the need for abortions and not by demonizing the medical procedure that causes one. Furthermore, It’s also not by wasting tax-payer dollars on legislation that does absolutely nothing to curtail problems faced by reproductive females and families in America. The fact of the matter is, it's ridiculous to keep trying. Stop reengaging in this battle that will never be won. To continue wasting precious time and energy on a topic that isn't up for discussion is foolish and stubborn. Abortion will always be a personal choice, a private event to be kept between a patient and their medical team, but by reducing the staggering financial hurdles that come along with starting a family we give people hope and a decline in the need for abortions will ensue.

There are many different, equally valid, reasons people have for getting an abortion, a lot of the stories I’ve heard are similar to mine – many of those women weren’t opposed to having a baby either - they just couldn’t afford it. The Republican party seems to ignorantly believe that women are wanton and promiscuous – that they just haphazardly sleep around and then pop on over to the clinic when they happen to get pregnant. That’s not my story, and it’s not the story of most people I've encountered. The true story is that, for a lot of us, it was a long, difficult process to arrive at a choice that would impact our lives and never feel resolved. A choice that was made as a result of economics that doesn't match my personal choice -a decision that could have been different in a more pro-family society. Pro-family, by all means, includes single mothers. The majority of abortions are performed on single women. Yet, in society, when we see mothers with a couple kids that are, maybe, acting a bit rambunctious, they're referred to as bad mothers, or shamed for not raising children that behave properly in public. If she' s on government assistance to support her family she may also be called a drain on society. These women stand in line at the supermarket getting dirty looks and side-eyes from people who act like they have it all figured out but wouldn’t dare lend a hand, or offer a kind word, to help a struggling human. Sometimes, you’re damned if you do and you're damned if you don’t.

I could easily be wrong, but I feel like the issue of reproductive rights could to be the metaphorical hill the Republican party dies upon – and it might take Christianity down with it. The Christian church should never have allowed themselves to become so entangled with a political organization. The partisan stance only serves to distance non-Republican’s from Christianity, and non-Christians from Republicanism. When the Republican party tries to legislate reproductive rights on behalf of the church – both groups are equally to blame and both come across as selfish, inhumane, invasive, and domineering. The restriction of reproductive rights is only supported by about one quarter of U.S. citizens – meaning that there are far more people against restriction than there are for restriction. Republicans can continue to ignore the numbers but denying the truth will only serve to hasten the demise of the progressively out-of-touch Republican party, and it could take Christianity with it - at least the version of Christianity that we've historically known. We should have fought harder to maintain separation of church and state because as polls and statistics are showing - the Republican party and the Christian Church are both declining in popularity, with women, in particular. This is something to really think about - is admitting defeat over legislating human bodies truly harder than watching the catastrophic, very publicized, demise of a political party that's been revered in America since the 19th century?

I was derailed from Christianity in my childhood and now, as an adult, I’m tentatively finding my way back. Although, the Christian church isn’t a group I'm too eager to join because they're obsessive about legislating human bodies and they often espouse negative opinions of humanity as a whole...or are those tenets of the Republican party? The lines are being muddied by the crossover of two, seemingly disparate, belief systems. Although, I may believe in the Christian God, and I may read the Bible, I can't call myself Christian, because what I see reflected in society, isn't anything I identify with. The church doesn't look like a welcoming and comforting community for believers to join and comingle. There’s a quote by Gandhi that says, “I like your Christ. But I do not like your Christianity.” The sentiment rings true for me too -particularly when I hear Trump referring to himself as a Christian. As I see it, he stands for division, inequality, and chaos in American society and if he possesses any Christian ideals, he keeps them hidden from view. Rather, he sits in judgement of everyone, blaspheming to the world that God spared him from being shot, dismissing anyone that doesn't cave to his gluttonous whims to obtain power, all while peddling . Whatever Trump is selling, I want the opposite. Why does the church embrace him as a leader when he speaks viciously and callously of so many, when he misleads voters regarding his true plans as president, when he intentionally lies about his past because the truth casts him in the corrupt shadow of his own making. This isn’t what I believe Christianity to look like. Maybe the Evangelical Christian sect has become so enrapt with gaining power and influence that they are blind to the true darkness the Republican party casts on Christian ideals. Ideals such as, not judging others, loving our neighbors, wanting to help those who needs help, accepting all people as human beings. The evangelical stance on human rights is abhorrent. Beyond abhorrent. All humans deserve autonomy over their own bodies. Whether this statement means reproductive rights or gender reassignment surgery doesn’t matter. These rights belong to individual humans and shouldn’t be influenced by the church, government, or society.

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