Dear Blank,

The following is a letter I wrote a few days ago. It’s to an unnamed family member. I am not a confrontational person, so whenever I get really heated about something or someone, I usually write a letter to let all of my emotions out, and then not send it. But due to a few things that were said during the debate tonight, I felt inclined to share this letter in particular.

Dear Blank,
As much as I love and respect you, I’ve decided to unfriend you on Facebook. I unfollowed you over a year ago, but since most of what you share and post I disagree with, I feel like I need a complete break. I could give you a whole list of things I disagree with, but I don’t have all day and neither do you. So I think I’ll share the one that’s been on my mind the most lately. And that’s your stance on abortion and Planned Parenthood.

While you call it murder, I call it a lifesaver. Why you ask? Because Planned Parenthood saves the lives of thousands of mothers every year, not to mention provides many other much needed services to both men and women. They provide breast exams, HIV tests, sex education courses, etc. Did you know only 3% of what they do is related to abortions?

But since that’s what you seem most bothered by, I’ll delve into that. I am not sexually active, but if I were and I came home pregnant, what would you say? That I deserve it? That it’s my own fault? That I should drop my plans and my dreams to raise a child I’m not ready for and can’t emotionally or financially support? I am 16 years old, just like so many other girls, whose best option would be an abortion.

As long as the abortion is done safely, there are no long term health risks to having an abortion. And if you do it early enough, it’s not a baby, it’s a group of cells. It is far from murder.

So many people are not ready to be parents or don’t want to be parents. Whether they’re too young, can’t afford it, or they just don’t want kids. Not to mention, child birth puts a mother’s body through a lot. Women still die from childbirth, even in 2016.

I’ve noticed that you still often say you are killing a child. And you’re probably thinking there’s always the option of adoption or just sucking it up and raising the child. But that’s really not fair to the child. Currently there’s too many kids that need to be adopted, and not enough parents willing or able to adopt. The child has a strong chance of being placed in foster care and not having a stable home. And if the child wasn’t wanted in the first place, that’s not a stable home either. Instead of focusing on helping unborn children, I think everyone should be focusing on children who are already born, and having trouble thriving.

Now I get it, you may still be the ignorant type that says “well if you don’t want to get pregnant you shouldn’t have sex!!” And that leads me to my next point: rape. I’m going to use myself as an example again. If I was walking home from school one day, and a guy pulled me into his van, and forcefully raped me, and I became pregnant from it, shouldn’t I be allowed to have an abortion? I wouldn’t know the guy’s health history, so there would be risks for the baby, and the psychological consequences of me having my rapist’s baby could be devastating. Not to mention I’m still only 16. There needs to be a way out for rape victims.

And I hate to be so blunt, but you are a man. When a woman gets pregnant, the man essentially gets to choose how involved he wants to be in the pregnancy. But a woman has to deal with it. And sometimes abortion is honestly the best option.

Now I know you’re a smart man and you’ve probably heard this all before. Why it’s not getting through to you is beyond me. But if you claim it’s because you’re a Christian I’m calling BS. I’m a Christian too. I go to church every Sunday, and after my church service is over I teach a Sunday School class to 1st graders. On Wednesday’s I hang out with my church’s youth group, and I’m part of a small group full of young Godly women like myself. I volunteer for my church’s VBS every summer and have yet to miss a mission trip. I’ve been baptized, I went through confirmation, and I read my bible regularly. I am every bit of Christian that you are, and I’m perfectly fine with abortion and Planned Parenthood. So until you get off of your high horse, consider us family, but not Facebook Friends.

Sincerely,                                                                                                                                                              Abby