I believe in the sanctity of life. I also believe in personal freedoms. The intersection of those two beliefs is abortion. I think we can all agree that abortion is a sad event, and every effort should be made to keep the number of these painful occurrences to a minimum. Unfortunately, the very same people who are the most vehemently against abortion are also often the ones most squeamish about equipping our teens with critically important information so as to prevent pregnancies.

But the reality is that any 12 year old with a phone can and almost certainly has seen stuff that would curl your hair.   We need to grow up and make sure all the kids in middle school have been made knowledgeable about human reproductive biology as well as the complex nature of sex.   Our collective obligation isn’t just to teach them about the prevention of pregnancies, but also about the prevention of disease, and the nuance of consent. As important as any of that, kids must be taught that there really isn’t such a thing as “casual sex.” Sex is a big deal. It causes changes in brain chemistry, such that a participant “bonds” with their partner much as a baby duck will “bond” with a toy duck upon hatching if that’s the first thing the hatchling sees.

I shouldn’t think anyone is ok with infanticide. But there is a gestational age of viability, and clearly if a child can survive outside of the mother, abortion should not be an option. But at 6 weeks of gestation, that fetus has gills and a central nervous system that is less advanced than a guppy’s.

I also believe in compromise, and if we’re talking about gestational age, surely compromise should be struck. But the fetal heart beat means little in terms of the awareness of that organism; the brain’s development is the key.  And were there to be limits as dictated by gestational age, they must be malleable enough to account for special medical circumstances related to the health of the mother and fetus.

Access to quality information and health care can serve everyone’s interest. But to be perfectly clear, this choice should be between a woman and her provider. People that don’t want to have a child should not be forced to have one. Children raised by accidental parents are going to struggle, and those unwanted kids are less likely to grow up happy and well adjusted.