Nearly forty years following Roe v. Wade, the discussion on abortion continues to separate our country, politically and socially. The Supreme Court ruled that a woman’s right to abortion fell within the rights of privacy, and thus a woman has total control over her pregnancy for the first term but must abide by state regulations in her later terms.

Those who strongly oppose the legality of abortion have cleverly coined the name ”pro-life,” although the name anti-choicers is much more fitting. Now, I am not making an argument for or against abortion, but the use of the pro-life label oversimplifies and leads away from the actual agendas of those opposed to abortion.

Someone who identifies as pro-life should be exactly that: pro-life. Yet many who call themselves “pro-lifers” refuse to aid in the form of medical care, asylum, or other measures of security to those who need it most. You cannot claim to be pro-life and watch as half a million Americans sleep on the street starving each night.

It seems more than a bit hypocritical to identify as pro-life yet support the death penalty. Ironically, after comparing information about death penalty and abortion restrictions, you’ll find that 27 states of the 32 that restrict public funding of abortion also use the death penalty.  

It’s pretty simple. The label pro-life suggests that you cannot support anything that pushes toward death, yet the countless issues our country turns its back on seem to show that many citizens are exceptionally great at doing just that.

Every citizen in our nation has the freedom of religion. People can openly practice any religion and make choices based upon that, but they cannot make decisions for others. Yes, you may believe abortion is wrong, but your personal opinions do not change the right of potential parents to make a choice for themselves. Abortion is a moral decision, the right to which should remain protected by the Constitution.

More importantly, outlawing abortion does not lower the number of procedures or pregnancy. By restricting abortion, the procedures cannot be regulated and therefore become more dangerous for people, making death more likely. Almost half of the world’s abortions each year are unsafe. In fact, 70,000 maternal deaths occur each year due to unsafe abortions, according to the World Health Organization.

Women die from unsafe and often illegal abortions. While “pro-lifers” are trying to save a fetus’s life by imposing laws or refusing access to safe abortion, both the fetus and the mother can die due to lack of safe options.

The battle over abortion has always been, and continues to be, a violent storm. Protesters attack or threaten to attack reproductive medical professionals nearly everyday and clinics are forced to shut down due to violent damage and threats. Physically assaulting and threatening someone’s life doesn’t sound too “pro-life” to me.

Those who are against the legality of abortion are not saving lives, nearly taking away choices and therefore affecting lives of women, men, and children without their consent. Anti-choice is therefore a name much more fitting.

Are you really pro-life if you’re taking away someone’s ability to determine how their own life will play out? I don’t think so. If you are against abortion, that’s your right and your opinion, but please do not pretend that you are standing for the sanctity of all lives.