I would like to address two issues regarding Davidson College: its health insurance coverage of abortion obstructing freedom of religion and its widespread stance on abortion. 

First, the student health insurance plan’s coverage of abortion fees obstructs students’ fundamental First Amendment right to religious freedom. When opting to join the student health insurance plan, students are not notified about this critical and disturbing component. Consequently, pro-life students who do not view abortion as “health care,” but instead as murder, are thus forced to contribute to transactions that completely defy their moral convictions. 

 Second, although many on this campus describe themselves as being “pro-women,” the college’s attitude and sentiment toward abortion is precisely the opposite. To be “pro-women,” you must first allow for women to be born. Abortion blatantly thwarts that: it killed at least 1,026,690 babies in 2023 (allowing us to reasonably assume that they included 500,000+ females), according to a report by the Guttmacher Institute. Moreover, while many argue that abortion is a “woman’s choice,” research by the medical journal Cureus shows that “nearly 70% of women with a history of abortion describe their abortions as inconsistent with their own values and preferences, with one in four describing their abortions as unwanted or coerced.” These statistics contradict the notion of “pro-choice.” If abortion clinics were truly and honestly providing the individuals seeking an abortion with more “choices,” such as assisting in adoption procedures or directing them to pregnancy help centers who can equip them with the adequate financial and emotional resources to be a mother, these women would not feel pressured to abort their child. Therefore, rather than encouraging female students to abort their child while also providing them with the means to do so with little to no monetary costs, we should be instead supporting their pregnancy. 

If we truly believe that women are strong and resilient, we should be telling them that they can pursue their academic and career goals while also possessing the ability to become mothers. Or, at the very least, we should be helping them carry their baby to term so that he/she can be adopted by a loving family that longs to care for her child. We should be encouraging them and their male partners to respect and protect womens’ bodies and responsibly utilize contraceptive measures made widely available, especially when they do not feel prepared for parenthood. We should be providing women with encouragement and support rather than degrading them and implying their inability to become a mother, the role that they were created for and which will bring them true fulfillment and joy. 

Lastly, Davidson’s characterization of abortion as a “reproductive right” is wildly inaccurate. Abortion does not directly relate to reproduction, nor is it a right. Abortion does not inhibit one’s “right to reproduction,” for reproduction has already occurred when one makes the deliberate decision to engage in sexual relations and has nothing to do with abortion. Instead, abortion is an attempt to escape the consequences of irresponsible actions. The act is not only the murder of an innocent life but would also inflict long-lasting physical and emotional trauma upon the mother, so much so that there is a medical condition known as the “post-abortion stress syndrome” (PASS) that presents similar symptoms to PTSD. Therefore, abortion should not be allowed, let alone encouraged and promoted, except in extreme and rare circumstances of rape and incest or when the mother’s life is in danger. Abortions under these conditions comprise only 0.4% and 0.3% of all abortions, respectively, according to the Lozier Institute. Over 99% of abortions are thus for elective purposes, and as previously mentioned, about 70% of abortions were not independently decided by the women but rather pressured upon them.

True women’s rights entail the ability to vote, pursue an education, and hold the same merit-based employment positions as men, all while experiencing the joys of motherhood and raising the future generation. Many women around the world long for such opportunities and women in America should be extremely grateful for these blessings. True “female empowerment” means providing support and encouragement to women in their journey to and through motherhood, the journey that young girls dream of and what all women intrinsically desire. With that being said, I would like to deeply apologize to all the female students on this campus who have been told that abortion is your “right” or that it “empowers” you. I am sorry that your true strength and resilience have been diminished and characterized by a cruel act that not only kills your innocent child but leaves you more alone and anxious than ever before. I am sorry that Davidson currently underestimates your great capacity and potential to pursue your academic and career aspirations, all while fulfilling the role that no man can undertake and that will bring you the greatest fulfillment: motherhood.

Cynthia is a Political Science and Economics double major from Richmond, VA and can be reached for comment at [email protected].