Today, Jan. 22, is the 36th anniversary of the landmark Roe v Wade decision that granted women autonomy over their own bodies. Today is Blog for Choice day.

Roe makes America a better place.

No matter what you believe, having the right to have a safe abortion instead of a back-alley job is important. (Demand for abortions did not go down while it was illegal and it will not go down now if it is again made illegal.) Before Roe, women died after getting DIY abortions on kitchen tables or from “doctors” with no credentials. Having Roe saves lives. Period.

If the most important thing is to preserve life, we must have abortions available to women and families. I don’t know if a fetus is a person yet, but I know a woman who is pregnant is definitely a person, alive and has a soul. In fact, sometimes an abortion is the only way a woman can stay alive, when being pregnant jeopardizes her life.

And to me, it seems like cruel and unusual punishment to make a woman, or girl, remain pregnant — the fruits of incest or rape. Can you imagine enduring huge physical changes in your body for nine months when it is the physical reminder of such a traumatic incident? That seems heartless and sick to me.

Abortion is not a fun right. It’s not like voting or freedom of speech. But people have died for all of those rights.

Without reproductive rights — including abortion; accurate and accessible medical care and information; and birth control — women are second-class citizens. When laws are created without thought to the impact it will have on a woman’s autonomy and freedom, women are being treated like second-class citizens. And when 50% of the population is treated like they are second-class, everyone loses.

We don’t make laws that limit male sex-enhancing drugs or limit the conversations that men can have with their doctors, but we tell women that they can’t make decisions about what happens to or in their uterus’ all the time!

Roe is threatened and that makes celebrating it all the more important. In my lifetime I have never known a time without a Roe, but it is possible if we don’t protect it. The forces against choice are strong, as much as I hate to admit it. And we still have issues like parental consent laws and as well issues of access (one abortion provider for an entire state is not enough!) and safety for patients and doctors.

It’s something to celebrate that we have choice in America. And you can celebrate Roe locally on Jan. 24 by attending Rock for Roe.

I am hopeful that the new Obama Administration will work with us to strengthen all reproductive rights for all people. And if he doesn’t, it’s our job to move him!

I’m a pro-choice blogger and I am grateful for all my pro-choice readers today and every day.