I was molested as a child and raped as a teenager. It is through that lense that I view the new policies that govern what happens to a woman’s body as a direct assault. Decisions were made for my body without my consent. My body and mind have been traumatized in ways I am still recovering from many years later. Maybe it sounds unjust to compare criminalizing abortion to being raped; but to me, it feels the same. I’ve learned that we all have experiences that shape us and alter our lense with which we see the world. I used to get angry when confronted with anti-abortion messaging. I used to want to yell and scream back how I felt. But then we would just have two people screaming. I see you. I hear why abortion is scary to you. I was educated in Catholic school, taught abstinence only “sex education”, I’ve watched a video of an abortion procedure, and I’ve done my research on both sides. I won’t impose my beliefs on you, no one will ever force you to have an abortion. And I ask, if you could pause for one second and realize how insane it is to impose your views on me, to force me or any woman to endure a pregnancy she is not ready for, maybe even one she didn’t consent to in the first place. I am pro-abortion, pro condoms and pro access to birth control. I would NEVER force you to have the same beliefs. Maybe you haven’t had the life experience I have had where your body has been controlled too many times without your consent but I have, and I will fight hard to stop any person from enduring the same fate. Can we recognize that within the pro-choice model we are both allowed to be right? You get to do what’s right for you, I get to do what’s right for me. You can keep speaking out against abortion as I can see how important it is for you to share how you feel. But please don’t support policies that strip people of their rights and their free choice. Because when men make laws that govern women’s body without their consent, I feel like I am being assaulted all over again. I feel like we are letting the perpetrator