The Right to Choose

By Alissa Scheller

Nadya Suleman became famous almost overnight.

The night of January 26, to be exact. That was when she gave birth to octuplets, and became the second mother in the United States to do so.

Shortly after the octuplets were born, the public learned that Suleman was single , already has six children, is unemployed, and lives with her mother. These new pieces of information on the Suleman clan sparked debate all over the internet, centering around one main question: is any single mother really capable of raising fourteen children?

This debate comes at an interesting time. With the recent anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court case that legalized abortion in the U. S., as well as a new pro-choice president, many Americans are celebrating the freedom to choose.

What do we do, however, when life is chosen?

Well, we tend to give the mother a hard time.

Now, yes, I will admit it. I am a pro-choice feminist. However, I think the recent internet debate over Suleman’s choice is an interesting one. Many people have condemned her decision to have her children, saying there’s no possible way she can support them, that she will not be able to provide them with the emotional care they need, and that having fourteen children is unethical in an overcrowded world.

While these arguments have merit, I think the fact that Suleman did make a choice – she chose to have in-vitro fertilization, and she chose to keep her babies – is something some people forget too easily.

On a slightly different note, who thinks it’s ridiculous to use a pro-choice president’s image in an anti-abortion ad?