Pro-lifers, I have a problem with you. You're not pro-life.
Let's cut to the quick: nobody --pro-lifers, pro-choicers, ardent fans of 'Brave New World'-- believe that abortion is a good form of contraceptive. The appearance of a baby should be an amazing and celebrated event and if that is not true, then it is fundamentally very sad.
I am ardently pro-choice. And frankly, it's rare I'm ardently anything remotely political. I'm pro-choice because I believe a pregnancy is too important to be subjected to a single blanket rule.
In many cases, an unwanted pregnancy can occur through an accident during consensual sex. Concerned about the consequences, the parents may be seen as seeking an abortion as the 'easy' way to resolve the situation. I completely agree that this is not desirable. However, I feel the solution is not to make abortion impossible, but to make the alternatives viable.
The procedure for adoption (both sides), full financial support to negate the costs of bringing a baby to term, counselling for families, support (education and emotional) in schools and the workplace needs to be available and so completely transparent that they are at the forefront in the mind of a scared 16 year old when she's staring at the stripes on a home pregnancy kit.
If this support is available and I do not know about it: that's a problem. Make me know about it. I'm not planning to get pregnant. I'm not going to hunt down the information for something I never intend to happen.
Frankly, not doing this and banning abortion is the 'easy' fix to prevent the disposal of accidental pregnancies. This seems immensely hypocritical.
Then there are the cases where a pregnancy did not come from consensual sex or there are medical complications. These events are devastating. To suggest that care for the woman in such a situation should be in anyway restricted is morally unacceptable.
Let me make something very clear:
My life is important. I am important. I am more important than an embryo.
To even suggest that I am obliged to put my life in danger by continuing a high risk pregnancy is to tell me my life is not as important as yours. While I appreciate the embryo will one day become a person, to force me to die so it can live is as abhorrent as kidnapping a healthy individual to donate their heart.
There are an infinite number of cases that fall neither into accidental pregnancies nor threaten the life of the mother. These can include serious mental trauma, an unviable or seriously disabled foetus and crippling sociological consequences. To insist a single solution is right for all shows a disgusting lack respect for other people. If you haven't experienced these situations, how dare you force your judgement upon those that have?
'Pro-choice' does not mean 'pro-abortion'. I believe it is the realistic recognition that there are worse things out there and we need options to deal them them. The best path depends on the individual predicament and none should be seen as more nobel, since the consequences are not comparable across situations.
An expectant mother is a very important person. Let's give her the choices that demonstrate we believe that.