'Arguing with my mom about abortion rights is like walking through a Scooby-Doo mystery house of emotional booby traps — one trip wire or trick bookcase and I’m trapped in a secret room, going in circles explaining why I’m still glad I was born'
Photo: Courtesy of the Subject. Abortion is a part of my origin story. Or rather, it was my mother’s choice to not get an abortion that informs the pro-life ethos she posits as the reason for my existence.
We’ve had this argument many, many times over the years, and it only ever seems to get heavier. The last time, she happened to call just hours after Texas’s SB:8 went into effect, and she warned me to “get all the facts” before I wrote about it. I had to hang up before I said something actually cruel.
Kathleen: It would never have been six weeks, first of all, because six weeks is actually two weeks past your first missed period. And most doctors will send you away, because it won’t show up on the ultrasound then.Kathleen: Like, they won’t be able to positively confirm it yet. It’s too early. Kathleen: No, it’s not imaginary. It’s a physical being, but it’s a theoretical life. It’s a “maybe,” “what might be.” And it doesn’t matter as much as the actual life.
Kathleen: Okay. If I got pregnant right now, and I wanted to get an abortion, whose life do you value more?Mom: Okay. In my mind, that’s not the question. I value your life more. Because I know you. I value every person I know more than people I don’t know. That doesn’t mean that the people don’t exist.
Mom: I agree with that. That happened to A* [a relative]. Um, and I guess maybe a lot of people, because A was raped. So a lot of people said she should have aborted that pregnancy. But I don’t think B* was … I’m glad that she didn’t, because we have B. And I’m glad she didn’t because B’s all A has ever had.Mom: Yeah. But I just don’t think you can say, “Oh, it would always be horrible.” I don’t want it to be illegal, Katie.
Kathleen: I have also met a lot of pregnant people and a lot of mothers and a lot of people who have had abortions. I have met a lot of mothers who have had abortions. Kathleen: If someone accidentally gets pregnant, they get an abortion at, say, 18 weeks [Mom gasps], you think that’s murder.Mom: They don’t know how I feel because I don’t broadcast it. I don’t tell anybody. I do not tell people. You know because you’re my kid.
Mom: That’s not what I’m trying to say. I’m trying to be like, “I’m so glad.” I feel like that was the best decision I ever made.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
A New Cast of Marvel Superheroes Wearing Balmain, Louis Vuitton and Gucci Debuts on the 'Eternals' Red CarpetPlus, Zahara Jolie-Pitt wearing her mom's 2014 Oscars look by Elie Saab Couture.
Read more »
Salma Hayek's 14-year-old daughter makes rare red carpet appearance with momThe actor brought her daughter, Valentina, along for the premiere of her latest film.
Read more »
Mother and son play sports at same California collegeBrandi Mitchell, 45, and her son, Maverick, 18, are in a league of their own.
Read more »