Also, to separate Mexico from America here ignores how much America profits from the patriarchy of Mexico. After NAFTA, hundreds of mequiladoras, or Mexican-side border factories operated mostly by women (often fired because they became pregnant, were paid dirt, face enormous health risk due to non-existent waste management and factory conditions, harrassed and humiliated by their male bosses, and on and on) were created. These factories are American owned; we ship materials across the border, where the production process is insanely cheap, and receive products at a fraction of the price and reap absurd profits. Think of how much cheaper it is to ship things back and forth to Mexico as opposed to countries in east and southeast Asia. Young girls are whistled at and propositioned regularly at very young ages, and rape and abuse are far more prevalent.

I only bring this all up, and these are just a couple of examples, because I think this legislation to allow abortion is terrific; but no one for an instant should think that women in Mexico are even close to obtaining the life and security that women in the States enjoy; and we both know that women in the States face an uphill battle every single day.

On a side note:

“I personally find nothing morally questionable in the idea of abortion. Others do. And quite honestly, that’s okay. You don’t have to think that abortion is morally neutral, or think that you yourself might have one in order to be pro-choice. You just have to believe that women have the right to control their own bodies, to make their own choices, and to do so without putting themselves at risk of physical harm.”

I really appreciate you saying that. I am pro-choice in all circumstances, but sometimes I find myself grappling with the morality of it. The thing is, I have known pro-choice advocates who essentially say that being pro-choice and being ethically conflicted about it are incompatible, and it means that I don’t get it and that I’m really not pro-choice. I would never presume to tell a woman what to do with their bodies and I would support any decisions they make, but sometimes questions of ethics in terms of aborting, say, a sentient and self-aware being (which does NOT exist at conception), cause me some discomfort purely because there isn’t enough science to determine the exact point of sentience, or of self-awareness or physical feeling. I do not believe this is wrong; I have to think that I’m not in some tiny minority by thinking this way. So, again, I greatly appreciate you mentioning that in your post (sorry for the long comment, but your post covered a couple of very important issues to me).