Why It is Important to Keep Abortion Legal: From a Facebook post

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/12/02/this-amazing-facebook-status-perfectly-summarizes-why-we-should-fight-to-keep-abortion-legal/

The argument that’s so far missing from the discourse following the Christian extremist attack against Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs is that in reality, abortion is a safe and legal medical procedure provided as a right to any woman who chooses it. Naturally, it’s easy to lose site of the forest for the trees given how the GOP has effectively skewed the abortion issue into the fringes, forcing pro-choice activists to address whether abortion should be legal in the most extreme circumstances, such as rape and incest.

While activists are understandably distracted by conservatives calling for abortion bans even in cases of rape, Republicans at the state level have been passing all varieties of abortion restrictions, from forced ultrasounds to abortion clinic closures.

The following Facebook status, apparently written by a feminist named Amanda Duarte, has been circulating through social media again this week. It’s mandatory reading for everyone, especially those of us who are interested in protecting a woman’s right to a constitutionally-protected healthcare service.

I don’t care if Planned Parenthood provides nothing BUT abortion services. I don’t care if it’s a million-story abortion superpark with abortion waterslides and an abortion electrical parade. Abortion is legal. ABORTION IS LEGAL. If I read one more “defense” of Planned Parenthood that says “it’s not JUST abortions!” or “only 5% of what they do is abortion! And abortions aren’t federally funded!” I’m going to abort myself. Abortion is legal, culturally necessary, and good for humanity. It has been and will be practiced for millennia. It is essential. It is a fact. By minimizing, denying or apologizing for this fact, you are allowing these venal anti-woman Nazis to frame this debate and continue to chip away at this essential right. Abortion is not tragic. It is not painful. It is a fact. It is a right. Demand it, fight for it, and for the sake of the women who have given their lives to defend it, stop apologizing for it.