Hey, Sanilac County, Why Not Both?!
On Friday, March 29th, this billboard put up by Sanilac County went viral, thanks to Protect Life Michigan. As of Saturday afternoon, the post has 1.2k shares.
Many of the shares come from pro-life individuals and groups, including my personal favorite share coming from New Wave Feminists. Please be forewarned about language.
An update from Protect Life Michigan also notes that Sanilac County received so much negative press they have decided to take it down. The Facebook page of the county itself also noted the billboard will be coming down.
While this is welcoming news, it cannot come soon enough considering the billboard should have never been put up in the first place. It’s at best classless and tacky, and at worst, it spits in the face of women’s empowerment, during Women’s History Month, nonetheless.
I’ve experienced two unplanned pregnancies, one while I was a graduate student earning my Masters of Arts in American Government and a Certificate in Law & Public Policy. If my perspective isn’t a poster child for the benefits of online education, I don’t know what is. Point being though, it’s definitely still possible to go through pregnancy and childbirth and parenting while in school. There’s no reason to have to choose one over the other, or to make young women think that they have to choose.
These tactics are what pro-abortion groups, Planned Parenthood chief among them, has turned to.
And why is the woman looking ashamed and lamenting being pregnant? Yes, unplanned pregnancies can be surprising, and a shock, but it need not be so life-ending as is implied. Pregnancy, even when unplanned, is a remarkable and miraculous process, one which isn’t always fun or pleasant, but creating life is still such a miracle.
Do pro-lifers not want women to “take control of your future?” Of course not! Contraception is readily available. Abstinence can also be utilized as a 100 percent method to prevent pregnancy.
But women don’t need to have to choose one or the other. And they certainly don’t need to be shamed for becoming pregnant. If it’s going to come from anyone, it certainly ought not to come from county health departments. In that case, you just know taxpayer dollars may very well be involved in this.
This Women’s History Month, and every month, let’s truly empower women, rather than shaming them and pregnancy.
