I am female, have several university degrees, and the professional rank of a director. Equality is very important to me and I take care of it in my job and in my private life. I am with several women’s organizations and help other women wherever I can. In short: I would consider myself a feminist.

At the same time, I notice that other feminists sometimes think very differently than I do, especially when it comes to abortion. They see in female rights an integrated right of a woman to fully control her body and thus everything that grows in her.

Well, in my opinion, every woman can decide how much she shaves, what her hair color is, what clothes she wears, etc. When it comes to a human life that grows in her, it is completely different in my eyes and cannot be compared with the rest of the body.

As we all know, a woman’s body differs from that of a man in one crucial point – the genital organs. The woman has all the physical abilities to let a person grow up and give birth to it. Sex has only one purpose in nature: reproduction. In contrast to animals, which usually know certain mating times in the year, humans are capable of mating throughout the full year. They are often also willing to do so. As we know, sex for some people has always been more than just reproduction. If these encounters produce an undesirable result, abortion is a logical consequence for some women and men. The top reasons for abortions are not ready for a child / wrong time, lack of financial resources, health problems, etc.

Statistics about reasons for abortion are rather rare. I found one from the US (2004): with the exception of pregnancy through rape (0.5% of the cases) and likely severe disability of the child (3% of the cases) as well as the mother’s physical health at risk (1%), the real “hard cases” account for roughly about 4.5% of all cases. The remaining overall 95.5% of the other reasons for abortion include the following:
– 27% say they are “not ready for a child.”
– 21% state that they “cannot financially support a child.”
– 13% “do not want to be a single mother”
– around 20% feel “they are too young, or a Baby would interfere with their career”

All those other reasons for the overall 95,5% are known before pregnancy. In my view, most woman are aware before having sex if they want to have a child or not. Still, it seems they and their partners have surrendered to their lust, deficiently protected or even completely unprotected.

I call this behavior of the 95.5% of the women who abort for those other reasons irresponsible. In my eyes, it has nothing to do with being modern or representing the “freedom of women” when a woman, as a consequence of irresponsible behavior, kills her own child. Women have the capability to give birth and the period reminds us every month. There are ways to control the cycle, and so many ways to avoid an unwanted pregnancy these days.

I am pregnant myself and seeing my little one in the ultrasonic shows quite clearly, that despite being connected and nurtured by my body – it is its own body with its own heart, own arms and legs and it jumps around happily already at week 13 and I guess it did that earlier as well without me noticing.

It is clear that what grows within me is not my body anymore – it is a separate human being. Further, a man was involved and it is not a result of my body alone. It is an independent human in a growth process – just as we all are. Parents do not own their children – the same as we are not owned by our parents. We are independent human beings. Thus, if a new human is emerging, in my view, a woman does not have the right to decide for the life of another human. It’s no longer “her body” but the body of another person. For the 4.5% of “hard cases,” more advanced judgment is needed, and organizations and persons are available for that.

To the initial question – does feminism and pro-life go together? I think so. It has to do with the equality that women demand from men and that they share full responsibility for their joint actions. Women have the right to be loved despite deciding not to have have sex because the cycle is inappropriate or insists on contraception. This testifies to self-confidence, responsible behavior and protection of life, which should ultimately be in the interest of everyone involved.

Let’s be wild feminists. Let’s fight for our right to protect our bodies and be able to love our unborn children!