By AMANDA PELL

COLUMNIST

I am a woman. I am registered as a Democrat, and most of my opinions are relatively liberal, but I identify as an Independent and am completely willing to cross partisan lines on an issue-by-issue basis. I am a strong advocate for female reproductive rights and a woman’s right to choose. By the accepted terminology, this makes me “pro-choice.” To suggest that this makes me “anti-life,” however, would be patently untrue.

Do I support the pro-choice movement? Yes. I strongly believe a woman should have the ability to receive an abortion, should she choose it.

Does that mean that I’m not “pro-life”? No. I also believe that, should a woman find herself with an unexpected pregnancy and a desire to keep the child, she should have access to the resources necessary to provide that child with a life worth living.

What am I against, then? I am vehemently against placing a pregnant woman in a position where she cannot terminate her pregnancy but also cannot find the resources necessary to support herself and the child. I am against bringing a child into the world destined to suffer the lowest quality of life without hope of improvement.

With that in mind, I’m suggesting a new question: Where do we stand on quality of life? Somehow, the discussion never makes it that far. We argue for the child’s birth, then forget about them when they begin to live. Consider this quote by Sr. Joan Chittister: “I do not believe that just because you’re opposed to abortion, that that makes you pro-life. In fact, I think in many cases, your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born but not a child fed, not a child educated, not a child housed. And why would I think that you don’t? Because you don’t want any tax money to go there. That’s not pro-life. That’s pro-birth. We need a much broader conversation on what the morality of pro-life is.”

It’s time for us to broaden the terminology that surrounds the abortion issue. I am pro-life and pro-choice. I’m also pro-quality-of-life, and that absolutely includes mothers.

According to Egyptian medical records, the earliest recorded abortion occurred in 1550 B.C.E.

Eliminating the legal possibility in America will not end a 3,000-year-old practice; it will only eliminate the safe option. Similarly, the elimination of contraception, or the obstruction of women’s ability to obtain it, will serve to place more women in the difficult position of having to consider an abortion and/or bring more unsupported children into the world.

I am not anti-life, quite the opposite. I am a woman, and I advocate for the support of the quality of the lives of women and their children. I am pro-choice and pro-life, and I will not apologize for my beliefs or your inability to understand them.