I’m a man. Early in my relationship with my now-wife, as we were finishing college, we had a pregnancy scare. It was terrifying. Turned out to be nothing, but being faced with the spectre of the end of your life as you know it in your early twenties is a nightmare. If it had been something, and we’d been faced with having to make a decision, I’m glad we had the option to *choose* between us what we’d do. And that it turned out to just be a scare.

I think, though, that when people think about abortion, this is the thing they envision. And alone, that’s enough to make me in favor of allowing people that choice. A lot of people just aren’t *ready* to have kids, and for us, when we chose to have our two boys, we were ready for the reality of raising a kid, we were ready to devote ourselves 100%, and our kids have loving, focused, *willing* parents who will do anything for them. We instead would have been forced into parenthood, and I while I absolutely love being a dad, I cannot imagine how anyone who’s become a parent could imagine forcing parenthood on anyone who’s not explicitly excited to do it.

But of course, these situations are only a part of the picture. Abortions also happen because the fetuses become “unviable”. They’re either dead, or they cannot survive outside the mother. Or the pregnancy is endangering the mother’s life. Or any number of things.

The picture a lot of abortion opponents paint is one where people seem to enjoy making decisions about getting abortions. Whether it’s early or late in the process, everyone I know who’s had to make that decision – it’s been agonizing. But again – I say that because it’s so counter to the picture abortion opponents paint. To me, it’s honestly irrelevant. Because it’s not *my* decision. It’s not my body. It’s not my life.

It’s not about “pro-choice”. It’s about autonomy over your own body. Your own life. It’s your nothing less than freedom. Without autonomy over your own body, you *are not free*.

I am 100% in support of bodily autonomy. I 100% support women’s freedom. Nothing less.