{"id":128304,"date":"2016-10-13T10:35:45","date_gmt":"2016-10-13T14:35:45","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=128304"},"modified":"2016-10-13T10:42:08","modified_gmt":"2016-10-13T14:42:08","slug":"dear-younger-wont-need-abortion-succeed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/dear-younger-wont-need-abortion-succeed\/","title":{"rendered":"Dear younger me, you won’t need abortion to succeed"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When I found out that Cecile Richards\u00a0recorded a video for teen girls – a letter to her 18-year-old self – I knew I needed to watch it. Richards is the president of Planned Parenthood, the organization that “terminated” the lives of 323,999 babies last year<\/a>. What would Richards say to her teen self about being a woman, about having relationships, about being a mother (she is one), about success in life?<\/p>\n

Interestingly enough, Richards makes it clear how grateful she is for her own mother and her own chance at living “the only life you have.” With emotion, she reveals\u00a0that her mother left her “with so many gifts,” and that in this life, there are “no-do overs.” Sadly,\u00a0Richards seems to forget that abortion takes the mother-daughter relationship away from countless women. It strips little women of the many gifts their own mothers might impart to them if they were given the chance to live their one earthly life.<\/p>\n

Every woman should agree with Richards that\u00a0“your body is yours.” She said that, from her own experience, fighting to control your body is “super empowering.” Tragically, however, Richards has spent her life extending women’s right to control their own bodies to the “right” to control the bodies of their children. Humanity is connected, and often, we must be willing to experience a little inconvenience (or maybe a lot) to let another person live in harmony beside us. We don’t have the right to take their life because their life touches or even infringes on ours. This is a basic concept we’ve accepted in every sphere of life and law…except when it comes to abortion.<\/p>\n

Through her decades of life, Richards has missed an essential truth women must realize: we do not need to climb the ladder of success by treading on the bodies of our children. There is no human being on earth who\u00a0deserves to die so we can have an education, a career, or so we can more easily reach our goals. What kind of success is it, really, if someone lost their life so we could have it?<\/p>\n

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