The Importance of Choice: It’s Personal

In today’s political climate, it is very easy to reduce ideas or perspective to labels or to a quick quip. Growing up in an environment where political views were pretty uniform, nuance was limited. It was in this context that I learned about “pro-choice” and “pro-life.” I accepted “pro-choice” as my view without much question or education.

It wasn’t until I moved into my freshman dorm, and the people living all around me and in my classes directly challenged my views. I understood for the first time that political views are just as unique and complex as the people who held them. So what does this have to do with Roe v. Wade? Not that college was a long time ago for me (I graduated May 2013), but it was the first time I fully grasped the importance of my own self-determination in my choices, my body, my life. I realized how personal, complicated and sometimes difficult choices about sexuality and health are, from situations my friends and I were facing, usually for the first time. It was somewhere in my sophomore that I confirmed my “pro-choice-ness” to myself when I realized that decisions are hard enough, emotional enough, without additional barriers in place. Friends who couldn’t talk to their parents about their health care needs turned to local clinics or tried to pay out of pocket for medications and doctors’ visits. We were lucky to go to college in a state that is fairly unrestrictive when it comes to reproductive rights. I can’t imagine what it would have been like somewhere else. While none of us have yet faced the precise decision that Roe guarantees, the knowledge that in this country, my life and my health is in my own hands is not just a reassurance, but I recognize it as a basic freedom. Reproductive rights are not limited favors to give out to certain women in certain states, of certain socioeconomic backgrounds, religions, or races. 41 years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that the right to choose whether or not to have an abortion is housed under the right to privacy -- ultimately, a woman and whoever she decides to include makes the decision, not the government. While the Roe decision grounds reproductive rights in the so-called “choice frame,” I don’t think that is a problem. What is more fundamental than choice? Over your body? Over your health? Over your life? As a young Jewish woman -- who clearly very recently started to fully grapple with and advocate on this issue -- I am proud to belong to a tradition that recognizes the importance of access to abortion, and other crucial reproductive freedoms. I am also proud to represent the RAC and WRJ in Washington, D.C., organizations who have long been champions of this issue and many others in the fight for full equality in our country, in North America and around the world. This is part of a blog series called "Where have we come from? Where are we going?" as a commemoration of the 41st anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade. Be sure to check the blog the rest of this week for more posts! To view our post from yesterday, click here.