by Rachel Swartz, staff reporter

In the middle of my eighth grade year, I donned a navy blue shirt that displayed a growing baby inside its mother’s womb. The words inscribed on the shirt declared: “Destroy Misinformation; the body inside your body is NOT your body. Abolish Human Abortion.” Throughout the school day, I received nasty remarks from several students surrounding my shirt. “Actually, it is your body so you can do whatever you want with it,” one muttered, while another shouted “It’s just a bunch of cells, why would they matter?” Somebody even said that if their child was diagnosed with Down Syndrome, they would abort it immediately. If you are able to live your life, shouldn’t your child be able to live theirs?

I’ve been told to keep my mouth sewn shut about abortion. I knew nothing, I saw nothing. My opinion is often immediately shut down because my opposition screams over me. So I choose to remain silent. My opinions mean nothing to pro-choice advocates, while my same opinions are strongly upheld by pro-life supporters. My thoughts and prayers go out to aborted children in conjunction with the unborn.

Over my 15 years of walking on this green earth, I’ve been to at least 4 “March for Life”movements in Austin, Texas. Thousands gather and tread to the Texas Capitol. Many people bring signs, either homemade or purchased, with loving slogans written across them, some of them reading “Where there is love, there is life” and “Everyone deserves a chance at life.” I enjoyed holding those signs because I knew I was standing up for something.

After Rick Perry left the governor’s office in 2015, candidates Greg Abbott and Wendy Davis reached their hands out for the governor’s position. Abbott was elected, and I was jumping for joy since he held conservative views and policies. Two years earlier, Senator Davis, a Democrat from Fort Worth, aimed towards the State Senate floor an 11 hour filibuster to block a bill that would restrict abortion in Texas. She attempted to keep the floor until midnight so the legislative session would end without the bill being passed. Fortunately, she didn’t make it, and David Dewhurst suspended her filibuster at ten p.m. that evening, two hours to the deadline. The bill passed.

Pro-choice activists have the same arguments to try and overshadow pro-life activists. “Religious beliefs should not dominate our legislation, there is no sympathy to the young girls who live with an unwanted pregnancy, and you belittle equal rights.”

On the religious aspect, 2 of the 10 Commandments in the Bible shape the order of modern laws, being “thou shalt not kill” and “thou shalt not steal.” Killing children breaks those laws; these United States laws are not only meant for Christians, they are some of the central laws for all Americans. 

As for equal rights, I’m alright with it, as long as you’re not harming anyone in the process. For young women, it’s untrue to suggest that their future educational and career goals must end because they become pregnant. The choice of adoption is still open as well as pregnancy support programs. Young women can temporarily suspend their plans for success but can still work to reach them.

I don’t agree with abortion. The child that grows inside a mother’s womb is their own person, not their mother’s. I also believe that every human being should be able to have a chance at life. They’ll learn how to develop into it. Yes, they’ll fall down, but they’ll learn to get back up again. Every human has the right to create their own future. These babies have great potential. Imagine what they can be: doctors, brain surgeons, teachers, business owners, or even President of the United States. At least 58,586,256 abortions have taken place in the United States since 1973; there are 3,000 abortions per day, and 645,000 abortions every year. So many innocent lives being taken at the hands of abortion doctors, and all I’ve ever wanted to do was take a stand for the sake of them being able to live.