It was a humble message of empathy.

A Rabbi reflected in a tweet that being pregnant has solidified her pro-choice beliefs because, as most birth parents know from experience, pregnancy is a long and hard journey, fraught with risks and difficulties.

“I’ve always been pro-choice, but being pregnant has *really* shown me how important it is not to force unwilling people to remain pregnant against their will,” Rabbi Ruti Regan tweeted in a short thread.

“Pregnancy is hard enough when it’s something I’m willing to put up with in order to have a baby,” the Rabbi added. “I can’t imagine what it must be like for people who are forced to go through a pregnancy they don’t want. I do know that I would never wish that on anyone.”

The Rabbi added, “This has also made it really clear to me why access to later abortion is important. I absolutely could not do this if I was single.”

To see the research about how forced pregnancy harms people who were denied abortions, click here to get the facts from THE TURNAWAY STUDY.

Rabbi Regan’s tweet sparked a flood of replies from people who agreed whole-heartedly, many sharing about their own difficult pregnancies. Here’s just a sampling of the outpouring of support:

@kelticmoon: I came to this same realization too. I had the best pregnancy, but a rough delivery because my son's head and his hand was born at the same time. Total labor was 27 hours, from water brake to placenta delivery and I tore. No one should have to endure that against their will.

@lovecultivated: My third trimester "hobby" was fighting with anti-choice people, especially men who were like "pregnancy is so beautiful". I used it as an excuse to discuss my hemorrhoids In excruciating detail. They didn't quite know how to handle it

@HettieBelleau: I came to this realization as well. I was pro choice already but it really gave me new clarity once I was pregnant and especially after giving birth. Forcing anyone to give birth should be considered akin to torture.

In fact: The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture counts forced pregnancy and birth to be among reproductive rights violations that qualify as forms of torture: Click here to read more about this.

@gescim: Hard same. Was always pro choice, of course, bodily autonomy, health care, Yep. But being pregnant made me *rabidly* pro-choice. No one- no one- should be forced to go through pregnancy.

@RestArchATL: This was my exact experience. I was “pro-life”, raised that way. When I was pregnant for the first time I had a moment where it hit me how grave the situation was and I had been demanding that of women. It was sobering and life changing.

@singingtrainer: I am more pro-choice as a mother of two than I was before. Pregnancy is at best difficult, at worst dangerous and potentially deadly. Forcing a woman to endure a pregnancy against her will is barbaric.

@fafagirl10: Pregnancy is so romanticized. I remember wanting to talk about how traumatic it was for me and what it did to my body (gestational diabetes, countless complications) but no one wants to hear it. No one should be forced to continue a pregnancy they don’t want.

@untztuntztunz: I always felt like I was pro-choice, but it wasn’t until I was pregnant with my daughter that I knew 100%. Pregnancy is so mentally, emotionally, and physically taxing. No one should have to go through with it unless they want too.

@writesolution: Before I had kids, I was a Planned Parenthood clinic escort—walking women through lines of protestors to get HEALTH CARE. I was passionate about abortion rights then, and when I got pregnant I became a fanatic about them. Forced birth is an obscenity.

@LindsayCGraves: This. I’m stoked to be having a kid, and love him to bits, but this has been super hard on my body. Not only because of my chronic illness, but now I’ve got gestational diabetes too. Very grateful to be having a baby, 100% could not do this if I didn’t want to raise a child.

@JackyYells: Pregnancy is a serious, life-changing event that permanently alters a body. It can be traumatic and deadly. The US is 55th in maternal deaths, easily improved with full funding for and access to care. The other side of this issue is not pro-life.

@Jayqwellin79: First pregnancy: full term stillbirth. Second: blighted ovum that required a D & C. Then: struggled to conceive. My experiences only strengthened my pro-choice beliefs, bc *no one* should be forced to endure something so emotionally and physically taxing against their will.

@JamesonAPLang: Exactly. Unexplained Infertility, multiple miscarriages, infant loss, all within 5 years. Pregnancy is trauma and even tho we’re now pursuing adoption, I’m more convinced than ever that no one should be forced into doing anything with their bodies that they don’t want.

@katstermonster: Same. I have had an extremely easy pregnancy so far (11 weeks to go, knock on wood), I want this baby BADLY, and I have a super supportive partner. But it is still hard, and exhausting, and it has done honestly unpleasant things to my body. No one should be forced to do this.

@maggotbrainrn: Raising children has made me even more pro-choice than pregnancy. You have *got* to want it. Like you’ve really got to want to do this to do it right because it isn’t easy. And it will be infinitely harder for you *and* the whole other human being if you aren’t doing it voluntarily.

@thumbelinasmum: With my first, I went to a protest, carrying a sign, “morning sick by choice”. I threw up every day of all 4 of my pregnancies. 3 solid years of throwing up multiple times a day. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone who didn’t want to be pregnant! It would be pure torture.

@KMLibrariesFTW: I was so pro-choice that I took a friend to get an abortion while struggling with my own infertility. It wasn’t for me to choose what was right for her. Later, my 1st pregnancy was not bad, but the 2nd was awful from week 5. Only people who want it should live it.

@AKWhitcraft: Absolutely agree. My pregnancy with my child & my ongoing repro struggles have only strengthened my resolve. I donated to NARAL in honor of my most recent loss, which required surgery. We have a societal deficit in empathy & must trust people to decide what is right for them.

@MelissaStordahl: Me too. Having four babies of my own, experiencing the pregnancies and births, made me vehemently pro-choice. It should be joyful; I can’t imagine going through that if you are in despair over the situation.

@ALouiseOlson: Pregnancy made me pro-choice. Before that, I'd been raised with the pro-life rhetoric and was only beginning to deconstruct it. A rough, but wanted pregnancy accelerated that deconstruction.

@femhist8: Same. I was always pro choice but I realized how important that choice was when I went through serious medical complications during the pregnancy and birth of my first child. Pregnancy and giving birth were dangerous for me and I was glad I had every medical option available.

@florilegia: Same here: always pro-choice but made more so by pregnancy. I had PND with my first which made me physically as well as mentally ill, and perinatal depression with my second which had me contemplating suicide. Thankfully I’m ok now, but I *know* I could not go through it again.

@wander_thewoods: I was pro-life my whole life until actually experiencing pregnancy, childbirth, and mothering. Nothing can prepare you for how much it changes you and what a sacrifice it is, even if you wholeheartedly embraced it. No one should be forced to do that.

To read the original thread and the flood of replies, click here.