Dear President

Imagine you’re 17 again and living in Guthrie, Oklahoma this time. You notice you missed a period and start to worry. Did you forget to use a condom? Did it break? You decide to walk to the store to buy a pregnancy test, you test it and its positive. Now stop. Where do you go from here? Motherhood was never in your plans, at least not till you’re older. The father is a young man, he doesn’t know how to raise a kid, he probably doesn’t want to either. You could have the kid and give it up for adoption, but your in school and working right now, the physical labor of growing a child inside you is no easy burden. And then after 9 months of carrying someone else inside of you, caring and becoming emotionally attached to them, they are taken away from you. That isn’t easy for anyone, having an abortion isn’t easy either but it’s a fix to a mistake that can cause you a lot of a physical and emotional pain. If you’re living in Oklahoma without access to an abortion clinic or a car to travel hundreds of miles to another state then you don’t even have access to that help.

Abortion is a testy topic in politics these days. Federally it’s legal, but there are still many states where it’s prevented. As a president I know your options are limited in what you can do as far as affecting states. Roe v. Wade settled this issue in 1973, but left the power to prevent abortion in the states’ hands. The supreme court has already decided that anybody with a uterus has a right to an abortion, but some states still block that right; Oklahoma for example.

Teen mothers are statistically more likely to drop out of highschool and live in poverty. Often (and possibly as a result) their children experience health and developmental problems. The importance of educating women cannot be understated. The more women we have educated and working in STEM fields and high-power jobs the more advocacy and trickle-down protection there will be for working women. I’m not trying to say that having children can’t be a fulfilling and happy life for some, certainly that is what some people want, but it’s not for everyone. Often it’s not possible to have a child and balance getting an education and working at the same time. Not having the option to choose a life path for yourself rather than for an unborn other person is keeping women who want to succeed back.

As our president you are supposed to protect our freedoms. It’s a freedom and a right to be able to choose to terminate your own pregnancy. I understand your power is limited in state level government, but your sphere of influence is much larger that even just the United States. It’s in your interest to protect and fight for the rights of women. Putting in legislation will protect future generations of women who will become our engineers, leaders and scientists. It doesn’t seem fair to me that a medical procedure that holds so much weight in the lives of individuals is only accessible for some citizens of our country. I hope during your presidency you oppose anti-abortion legislation that is proposed or passed at the state level. You should do everything in your power to extend the power of the supreme court's decision. State governments shouldn’t be able to prevent the american woman’s right to an abortion. I hope that, for me and others like me in the United States, you will fight to keep this option available and to allow it in places with anti-abortion laws.