Learning to Practice What I Preach

I was a mother for several years before joining the reproductive justice movement. I was a young mother of three girls and my only wish was at the time was that my children wouldn't have children while they were young. I would always say to myself of close friends that if they were to get to pregnant while under the age of 18, there would be questions asked. I would make the decision for them and they would have an abortion. Without realizing it I was taking away their choice, their right to choose. How could I be an advocate for women's rights and reproductive justice in the outside world but my personal life, especially my children, followed a different set of rules? This was a huge reality check for me. Yes I still have to be a parent but I cannot violate my daughters rights as women and individuals. This realization stretched beyond reproductive choice. I now find myself letting them choose what to where, how to style their hair, how to be individuals. Of course their is some governance being I am the adult who has "been there, done that." As a woman and mother who fights for the right to full autonomy over one's body, it's about time I started practicing it on the home-front.