Protect dignity and sanctity of every life

If you are someone who is cheering the end of abortion, it’s time to stop cheering and get to work proving that this will make our country better. Prove to young women who are terrified of what this will mean to them that their lives are not ruined. Here’s how:

If you say you are pro-life, then support life in any way you can, including providing food to families who struggle to find enough, access to medical care and life-saving medications to people who need them, access to housing for people who struggle to put a roof over their child’s head, access to job training, and support for decent wages so that no child dies from poverty. Don’t forget that environmental issues like clean air and clean water are also pro-life issues, as is gun control.

If you say there’s no reason to have an abortion with all the access people have to free contraception, then work to make sure that is true. Many women do not have access to contraception, and even if they do, it is not always free or even inexpensive. And with the Supreme Court signaling a possibility of removing any right to contraception, it will be extremely important to show young women that we are working to preserve

their right to contraception in order to prevent an unplanned pregnancy. (And if you say, “But wait — contraception is against my religion,” I would remind you that we still have freedom of religion in this country, and absolutely no right to dictate anyone else’s religion or morals.)

If you are someone who says there are plenty of parents who would adopt a baby, then start working on streamlining the process and pairing pregnant women with families who would adopt their child. Make sure it’s not just empty words. And if a single mother decides to keep her baby, let’s do everything in our power to make sure she has all the help she needs to raise a healthy child: access to food, housing, child care, medical care and a job that pays a fair wage.

Pro-life doesn’t end with banning abortion. It begins there. It’s time for pro-life people to show that we are willing to do whatever it takes to protect the dignity and sanctity of every life.

Maria Love, Chula Vista