I, for one, am sick and tired of old white men deciding what I can and cannot do with my body. I am done seeing protesters outside of Ames Planned Parenthood, encouraging the cessation of my right to certain heath care. I will no longer stand to hear the overused anti-abortion argument — something that should have been settled in 1973 with Roe v. Wade. 

As a woman living in America, I feel scared and threatened by the discussions taking place in Washington, D.C., concerning the rights I have over my own body. To think that because a room full of men have potentially limited the number of courses of action I can take in handling a pregnancy, and also contraceptive care, infuriates me. 

President Donald Trump signed an executive order to defund all institutions providing women with even information on abortions. As if slashing women’s health care in all of America wasn’t enough, he largely defunded all international Planned Parenthoods and similar organizations, further condemning women of the world to losing these rights. 

Abortions are an essential, basic health care for women, and to deny such rights is unconstitutional. For women who are not ready to have a child, too young to have a child or cannot financially or competently raise a child, abortions should be a safe and accessible solution. Not to mention cases of rape and incest — a woman shouldn’t have to carry that child for nine months if she does not so desire. 

Historically, whether or not abortions have been legal, women have received them. Before Roe v. Wade, women sought the help of doctors to privately carry out the operation at the risk of these doctors’ medical licenses and even incarceration. While this was the safer method, not all women were able to take this route. Others had no other choice but to perform what was called the “coat-hanger abortion” or even throw themselves down the stairs in order to terminate their pregnancies. 

Now, before you say all of these desperate acts are unnecessary, and could have been prevented if a woman were to simply carry out her pregnancy, you should first know that under some situations some women are simply forced to terminate. Whether it is fear of assault if someone finds out about her being pregnant, not wanting to have to raise a child in an unhealthy, bad situation or not being physically competent enough to care for and raise a child, women getting abortions are not just thinking for themselves.

So why force women to birth children that they do not want, only to add to the increasing number of children in adoption centers or foster care? Why force women to have a child that they cannot financially or properly raise, thereby dooming the child from birth?

The bigger picture of abortion is that the policy surrounding it is determined by mostly men. A photo of a room full of all men standing and watching as Trump signed his defunding bill recently went viral, showing Americans who’s really behind the women’s issues at hand. Can someone please tell me why only men are making the decisions regarding women’s health care? This is a woman’s matter, and therefore should be decided by women.

Furthermore, if you don’t believe in getting abortions, I have advice: don’t get one. Keep abortions legal, however, for those who need this resource in case of emergencies. They are thinking for the sake of the child. 

America was originally founded on the principles of freedom — the freedom to make your own decisions and the freedom to constitutional rights. To deny women the freedom to their own bodies is not just unconstitutional, but un-American in nature. Trump needs to stop grabbing at women’s rights and focus on some of the more worthwhile issues at hand.