As I read through the responses to the recent coverage of the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban, I find myself saddened by the lack of sensitivity in the world today.

I am currently pregnant with my first child — pregnant at an age when most students are worried more about classes and parties than parenthood. College is a place where the average student is extremely uncomfortable with the idea of pregnancy.

I could pretend my life is rough, but I would be vastly wrong.

I am married to a man who supports me entirely and is elated to be a new father.

I also have the support of my family, friends and professors to lean on.

But it hasn’t escaped my attention that I have it easy for a pregnant college student — sometimes it can be really hard.

At times it is difficult to deal with the weird looks and attitudes I get from a lot of people whom a few months before I would have considered good friends.

I guess I believed we are all at an age where seeing a young, pregnant woman isn’t such a shock — not like it is for many girls who become pregnant in high school.

However, I was completely wrong about that, and was totally floored to find myself “talked about” in the rumor mill.

While I’ve dealt with that indirectly on several different occasions, I’ve never until recently been avoided because of my condition.

And when I say avoided, I mean a guy literally walked the other way in the hall to avoid having to talk to me.

Whether that was due to his opinion of my circumstance or due to the fact he was just uncomfortable with my condition, I don’t know.

On numerous occasions, my then-fiance would listen to me tell him about how I felt as though I no longer fit in where I had previously felt comfortable.

Memories surface of me telling one of my good friends that I felt like people were treating me as though I had a disease; like pregnancy was something they might catch if they didn’t avoid me. Watch out for the fertility disease!

Blame can’t be placed on those who don’t understand the situation. Many who know me personally would be surprised to hear that even I considered abortion as an option when I first found out about my pregnancy. But considered is the key word.

I really thought about things and, before I knew it, I was imagining first birthdays, bike rides and high school dances.

It wasn’t as though it was an easy decision. Human nature tells us to think of ourselves first.

My first thoughts were of how my life would change and all the things I would have to give up.

In the end, my heart won me over. I knew that giving up the life I was accustomed to in order to fulfill another’s needs was much more important.

Sure, it would have been easy to just “get rid of it” and go on with my life. No one would have ever had to know.

How could I have lived every year knowing that, on March 28, my baby would have been another year? Many say it isn’t a baby, just a glob of cells.

But even just four months into my pregnancy I cannot explain the connection I have with my unborn child and my excitement at those first flutters of movement — I am ecstatic that in just five months I will finally “meet” my new son or daughter.

I can’t imagine the bond that will exist between us when I am six to nine months pregnant — a time when many partial-birth abortions take place.

Some might feel I am condemning them, which is definitely not my goal.

Finding out you are pregnant in a less-than-ideal situation is scary and confusing — I surely can’t blame anyone for taking a different road than I have out of fear.

I can, however, plead for the lives of unborn children yet to come. Frederick Douglas, for example, was born out of wedlock, born into less- than-accommodating circumstances, but he lived to be one of the greatest people of the 19th century.

Do I support taking away a woman’s right to choose? Certainly not.

But women need to understand how abortion can indefinitely affect their lives. Women who have had abortions are surely dealing with the emotional, if not physical effects, right now.

Please look at all options before making your decision. Life does go on when you are pregnant, although it may not be the same as it was before.

It may even be better than you ever imagined.