Why I'm a Pro-Choice Christian

Recently I've enrolled in a class at my university called "Race, Gender and Class." We discuss and deal with issues ranging from racism and colonialism to abortion. At first I was very unsure about whether or not I would enjoy the class; after all we have to do one eight page paper, four three page papers and one five page paper along with discussing some fairly graphic and uncomfortable topics. I'm so glad that I have stayed in that class. It is hands down one of the most interesting classes that I have ever had the pleasure of taking. There is a lot that I have learned in just two weeks about how this countries political structure decides on matters of race, gender and class and the societal implications for people of various class systems.
Our last reading assignment was to read How I Lost Faith in the "Pro-Life" Movement. Being a woman who at one point in her life was strictly "pro-life" I identified with this article a lot. My views today are very different from when I was in high school when it comes to this issue. Personally I would not get an abortion but I don't believe in telling another woman that she couldn't have one. It is her body, her pregnancy, her choice. I have also come to the conclusion in the last few years, just as the woman writing the article has, that the pro-life movement is more about controlling a woman's potential sexual habits than actually saving babies. I have fact checked and researched the statistics and facts in the above article and I can confidently say that she is correct on all accounts. Outlawing contraceptives and abortions only increases the abortion rate. It also increases the mortality rate of fertile women and the number of still births and birth defects. Overall, banning abortion is terrible for the health of women and children. 
In addition to the health risks associated with banning abortions there is the issue of choice. A poor, single woman has the right to choose what she does with her own body, whether or not conservative men disagree with her. She should also have an equal chance to get birth control if she needs and wants it. The government and religious minded radicals shouldn't be allowed to decided how expensive contraceptives are and who can get them covered by insurance or if they are illegal all together. Women should be making the decisions associated with FEMALE contraceptives and with family planning because it is a FEMALE'S job to carry and raise children in. Until men can carry a child to term or have to face the hardships a single, non-wealthy pregnant woman does they don't have the right to decide anything for them. As stated in the article as well, birth control significantly drops the rate of abortions and it also drops the rate of natural miscarriage that occur at one week that encompasses almost 50% of pregnancies.
So today I am asking this question of the "pro-life" movement and its supporters, do you really think banning abortions will do anything for the welfare of this country? Because the answer is it won't. It will only lead us to more poverty, disability and death. Conservatives need to step up and own up to their mistakes and admit the falsehoods that they have been spewing about birth control and abortion rates to the public. They also need to step back and let a panel of elected women (voted on by women) decide on the coverage and use of birth control rather than letting a bunch of middle-aged men decide for women. It is time to change policy with the times and with the new scientific information that is now available to us. There is absolutely no excuse for ignorance on this subject anymore.