Never did I think a class would be so emotional. Taking college courses can be difficult, though only in the sense that I have 4 kids, 2 of them are babies and 2 are home schooled. I never thought a class would be difficult on my emotions. Though, this class is. It's Ethics and Moral Reasoning.
The great thing about the class is that our assignments are based on our own beliefs. The bad part is that other people, whether intentionally or not, tend to be harsh when disagreeing with your beliefs. I know that people won't always agree with my beliefs, but they could at least respect them.
Most of what I believe in stems from religion, though a lot of it I do have some form of personal experience with. Whether it be watching a family member or friend, or myself actually being faced with something that called my morals into question, the personal experience is used in almost all of my beliefs.
One of the topics of discussion in our class was abortion. I posted that I am Pro-Life and believe that abortion is murder. I stated scientific reasons to support it, the religious reasons to support it, then I mentioned that I had a personal experience with it. I didn't go into detail, obviously, but I let them know that I was faced with this moral question myself.
The other thing I made sure to comment on was that until that point, I was Pro-Choice. I felt a woman had the right to make that choice. I felt that a woman who was raped shouldn't be forced to carry that baby, I also felt that if it was that the woman knew she was unable to care for a baby, she should be afforded that option as well. However, that has vastly changed.
Being raped changes a person, in many many ways. I think, for me, it changed me in a good way. The beginning was really hard but it made me realize the amazing parts of life and made me wake up to the way my life was going if I didn't straighten up. It also called almost all of my beliefs and morals into question, forcing me to face situations and questions I had never faced before. It was a good and bad thing to happen to me.
After facing the abortion question, and seriously looking at it as an option, I had a choice to make. I tried to justify it the way I would have before, that I shouldn't be forced to carry a baby that was made against my will. I tried to say that my life would be better off without a constant reminder of what happened to me. I thought that adoption wasn't an option because if he found me later (or if my other kids found out), I would seem like a horrible mother for giving him away. I tried thinking of anything that made abortion seem acceptable.
In the end, I couldn't. It just wasn't acceptable. By the time I knew I was pregnant, there was already a heart beat. He was already forming arms and legs, as well as his other vital organs. He was growing, heart beating and living inside me. I was told by my most Christian friends that they would support me if I
chose abortion. I would have been supported by everyone around me,
because it seems in that situation people accept that as an answer. How on Earth is killing such a helpless human acceptable? It's not, it's just not. Not to me. I knew that if I were to go through with it, I would feel even worse after it than I did already. I would have felt like a murderer.
One thing I have realized, through research and history/science, is that it doesn't take much to be considered life. If scientists were to find a single cell organism on another planet, that planet would be deemed to have life. Even if it isn't currently reproducing or doing anything amazing, just being there would be considered life. Yet, babies are made and being reproducing cells immediately and at an alarming rate. The growth process and creation of a baby is just purely amazing, yet it is not considered life. The fact that science says both of these things just seems a bit backwards and hypocritical to me.
There are people who won't agree, and that is fine. I accept that, and I respect that. What another person believes isn't for me to decide. I have friends who don't believe this way, and we still get along perfectly well. I just hope that my beliefs are respected.
