Kelly & James

America was founded on religious freedom, and the right to choose the best life for oneself. Many people who call themselves 'good' and/or 'decent' Americans seem to have forgotten this.

I have been Pro-Choice my entire life, and it is one issue that gets me riled up quite often. The bottom line is this: No one else gets to decide what a woman does when it comes to whether she is ready to become a mother. America is not a theocracy. America is about freedom to make the best life one can. The freedom to chart one's own course, and follow one's own dreams. The freedom to choose without government interference in one's personal life, how to live day to day, happily and healthily, without being a burden on the system. It's this simple freedom: HER body, HER choice.

Period.

Anyway, last night I couldn't sleep (so much for trying to fall asleep before midnight), so I turned the light back on, and wrote the rough draft for the story "Kelly & James", a tale of two high school kids who despite all the best intentions and taking all reasonable precautions, accidentally find themselves pregnant. The choice these two young people (children who can't even drive, vote, or serve their country, let alone raise a child responsibly and financially securely) make, is the best one for them at this place in their lives, which is to not have the child.

Who do the people, who presume that they know better than others how to live their lives, think they are? What gives them the arrogance to dictate the personal lives of others, and try to pass laws governing a personal choice? Some of the worst offenders on this issue are the same people who decry Big Government. I guess that only applies when one's wallet is at stake, a sorry commentary on the current state of affairs in this (once) proud country that used to stand for common sense and dignity.

The bottom line is this: whether or not one chooses to carry a pregnancy to full term, it is a choice, either way. One chooses to become a mother and put all other things on hold. One chooses to continue one's dreams and plans uninterrupted by an issue that has a solution. If it's not your particular solution, it matters not, as it is not your body. A person chooses his/her own religion. If that particular religion forbids a choice in the matter under discussion, then one has already made his/her choice. But it's still a choice.

This is America. MY body, MY choice. Period. Let freedom ring.

This is America. YOUR religion has no place making decisions for MY life. Let freedom ring.