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Sparkle (1)
One reason people have kids is that they want them to fulfil dreams they weren't able to. My grandpa wanted to be a lawyer, was well on his way to becoming one at U Chicago Law School, and then had to give it up to take over his ailing father's boating business. He strongly encouraged my mom to attend law school, but to no avail.
I want two kids eventually, and my goal for one of them is to do something I can't do: Go to medical school and become an abortion provider. I'm hopeless at math; there's absolutely no way I could complete a medical degree. My kids, however, are going to be enrolled in math and science extra-curriculars; they are going to take calculus and chemistry and get As; and, so the fantasy goes, one will take on the sad but gravely important work of an abortion doctor, preferably somewhere that lacks such resources.
Abortion providers are a notoriously far and few between, at least in some parts of the United States. What is a young woman without a car supposed to do when the nearest clinic is hours away? And if she lives in South Dakota, not only does she have to find a way to get there, she has to make the whole trip again 72 hours later after the mandatory waiting period. If she can't do this, the alternatives often include a self-induced abortion (which are very dangerous) or a more expensive, riskier later-term abortion. Legal attacks on abortion continue to make it even more difficult for women in compromising situations to get their lives back together after an unintended pregnancy.
Sadly, there is no guarantee that my kids will live my dream. They might turn out like me, appallingly bad at math and unable to get a medical degree. There's always hope, though.
College student, future history teacher, and feminist.
