OHIO — As college students in Ohio and across the country head back to school, many will come back discussing events that happened over the summer, including the Supreme Court’s decision to rescind Roe v. Wade.
Spectrum News 1 sat down with two young women who both grew up as practicing Catholics in the Cincinnati area but came to forge different opinions on the issue of abortion and the recent court decision. Spectrum News 1 agreed to only use their first names and not disclose their schools.
“To me, abortion is the right to choose whether or not to have a baby,” said Claire, a design major.
“I’m a Catholic that is pro-life,” said Rachael, a psychology major. She and Claire both grew up in households that advocated against abortion for as long as they can remember.
“Growing up, it was very much, ‘Abortion’s wrong. Don’t do it,’” Claire said.
“From the very beginning when I was a child, my mom brought me up to believe that killing people is wrong,” Rachael said. “And Catholic social teaching teaches us that life begins at conception.”
Claire isn’t so sure about when life begins, but she has very definite opinions about whether or not abortion should be legal.
“I think for me, deciding that I am pro-choice came down to it doesn’t matter about my views about abortion; everybody should have the right to do what they want,” Claire said.
“A lot of people say, ‘it’s my body, my choice,'” Rachael said. “That’s true, but when you create another life, there’s now another body growing inside you, and it’s your responsibility to care for them,” she said.
Rachael ended up deciding to practice what she believed in when she became pregnant during her junior year of college. She wasn’t engaged, and her family was devastated by the pregnancy. Friends weren’t too happy, either.
“The first thing some of my friends said was, ‘You need to get an abortion because this is inconvenient for you. Your life is over,’” Rachael said. She said many friends told her she would never amount to anything and that she had to get an abortion. But Rachael elected to end those friendships instead of terminating the pregnancy.
“I lost a lot of friends who were telling me that I needed to have an abortion,” Rachael said. “I can’t do it. I just can’t.”
She moved back in with her mother and took two years off of school to give birth and start the process of raising her son. She then transferred to a university near her mother’s home so that she could be close to child care and began balancing a job and being a mother.
“Being a mom’s no joke,” she said with a laugh. “Especially when you’ve been up all night with your boy being sick and then you have to go in and work.”
She thanks her supportive family for helping her to juggle all of the added challenges while she finished her degree.
“Now, instead of focusing solely on a career, I’m focusing on how can I make my son’s life better,” Rachael said.
While Rachael is very vocal with fellow students about her decision to keep her baby, Claire said she is less likely to speak out about the topic in a classroom setting in fear of offending people.
“It’s a very personal issue,” Claire said.
Rachael’s goal is to persuade as many young people as she can.
“I hope I change minds. I hope I change hearts,” Rachael said.
Claire is more concerned with changing the current law and restoring a national ruling that makes abortion legal again across the country, instead of allowing individual states to decide the issue on their own.
“I don’t know when or how we can get it changed, but I hope soon,” Claire said.
