So, this may be a shock to all of you, but I, Chris Kok, will never get an abortion. I’m sure you can figure out why. Not only am I ill equipped to have an abortion, or a baby for that matter, I am personally against abortion in most cases. But that does not mean that I have the right to force my opinion on others.

At the time of conception, a bundle of cells begins to grow. Life itself does not start until the brain is mostly developed. Until life begins, it is the woman’s decision if she wants to have a medical procedure to remove an unwanted growth.

Abortion has been under attack ever since Roe v. Wade. These “pro-life” groups claim abortion is murder, and every life is sacred. Not only is a fetus not a human yet, but these people are also hypocrites.

Have you ever asked a pro-lifer how they feel about the Iraq war? Most of them support this war, which has killed more than 100,000 Iraqis and more than 2,000 Americans. Or how about the death penalty? They largely support it. They support sending innocent people to be killed for crimes they never committed.

If pro-life groups really cared about life, they would be working hard to ensure a quality life after birth. They would support birth control, free daycare and welfare. They would also realize criminalizing abortion will not stop abortion, it will lead to deadly back-alley abortions. They only care about pre-natal life, once a child is born, they don’t care what happens to him or her.

These pro-life groups don’t care about life; they only care about taking rights away from women. Pro-life groups just want to see women return to the kitchen barefoot and pregnant.

Recently, South Dakota has banned all abortions, except when the mother’s life is in danger. This is going to be used to test the new Supreme Court and to try to overturn Roe v. Wade. Women’s organizations are focusing on electoral efforts, essentially trying to get more Democrats into office.

If you think Democrats are going to save abortion rights, don’t hold your breath. Democrats have consistently been more concerned about being pro-family than to stand up for abortion rights.

Hillary Clinton said, “We didn’t have to march for 12 long years because we had a government that respected the rights of women.” Yet this is overlooking the fact that during the Clinton presidency, abortion rights were highly restricted. Clinton and the other Democrats are only giving abortion rights lip service. In action, the Democrats refuse to take action needed to preserve those rights.

Abortion rights were not won because of a liberal, enlightened Supreme Court. No, the Supreme Court allowed abortion rights because of the radical actions of the day. They realized that if they upheld a ban on abortion, people would riot.

The power of the people was the reason abortion was allowed. The power of the people is the only way that abortion rights will be respected today.

People need to get actively independent of political parties if abortion is to remain legal.

Chris Kok is a senior international relations major and point/counterpoint columnist for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact him at [email protected].