Natura's Reflection  

 

Abortion has always been an important issue to me, although I often find myself caught between the “Pro-Life” and “Pro-Choice” viewpoints which I find to be too restrictive. The life of the child and the life and decisions of the woman are perfectly equal, and both need to be taken into account when forming an opinion on abortion.

 

When my classmate Annie and I began this project, we both expressed our concern and interest in New Jersey’s abortion laws and decided to work together to fix the issues we saw with our state’s abortion legislature. After we explained our ideas for possible change regarding abortion laws, more classmates joined our effort to reform.

 

While researching, I found discovered some very unsettling facts about abortion, such as how women pregnant with disabled children are often encouraged to abort, and how New Jersey has one of the lowest teen birth rates in the country (but one of the highest teen pregnancy rates).

 

Abortion is a very complex topic and controversial topic, but that did not hinder me and my group from learning about it and understanding its implications. This directly affects our lives as both young women and citizens of New Jersey, making it imperative to understand.

 

What I enjoyed most about Project Citizen was the ability to get directly involved in the lawmaking process by petitioning, polling, writing bills, drafting letters to representatives and so forth. I was able to turn a topic I am passionate about into a possible law and find it to be extremely exhilarating.

 

Project Citizen has taught me that my voice truly does matter and that being an active democratic member is time-consuming, but very satisfying. Being able to talk to a representative used to seem so difficult, but as I learned, they are here to serve us, and are only a phone call or email away. With a voice, an opinion and some passion, change is not so far away.