Juan: Abortion Analogy

You are a 20 year old cook. You are currently in culinary school and are $50K in debt. You work 40-45 hours a week for $12 an hour (pretty good for a youngster cook) and go to school 20 hours a week. The restaurant you work at offers no health insurance. You put away as much as possible for moving expenses in the future and 'just in case.' You also like to work out and play basketball with some friends on your days off. It keeps you in shape and helps to blow off some steam.

During one of your sunday pick up games you come down wrong on your right knee. It hurts pretty bad and you decide to dip into the 'emergency money' to make a trip to the doc. It turns out you have a small tear in your ACL. It's very small and was caught before it torn further. The doctor tells you that a shot could help alleviate some of the pain and if you stay off the knee for two weeks, you'll heal up just fine. it's tough to miss two weeks work, but worth it in the end. The doc also tells you that you could also opt to go through with an ACL replacement surgery. The surgery will be in two weeks, and you'll be laid up for 6-12 months. It could make your knee stronger in the end, but not guarnateed. Workman's Comp will not cover the injury since it is your fault that you were playing basketball in the first place. Easy decision for you, right? Take the shot, miss two weeks work and school and be more careful when playing hoop on the weekends. The emergency fund should keep you afloat for the two weeks. Unfortunetly, the doctor refuses to give you the shot and forces you to have surgery on your knee. He says that the side effects from the shot bother some people and therefore they have stopped giving the shot. It is now illegal for the shot to be offered. So you have the surgery, lose your job, and slip further into debt. The school you are attending will not allow you to re-enroll, but you're still on the hook for tuition up to your injury.

Sounds like a pretty shitty situation, right? This is what will happen to women if their right to choose is revoked. We are essentially telling women, "I don't care what you say, you must have a child if you are pregnant." Just reflect on that. If you are two weeks pregnant and the fetus is smaller than the size of a pin-head, the government is telling you that you must allow that fetus to grow for 9 months and you are responcible for raising it until it is 18. No questions. Added bonus, the government doesn't have to help you raise the child it forced you to have. Better get a job to pay those bills. Don't let people forget that this is what the right to choose is about.