Comments on: Attention!

By: Alyssa

Alyssa — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 20:31:55 +0000

Okay, I’m a little late to the conversation but I feel I need to state my peace with two things.
1. If you want to call yourself pro-abortion, go ahead, but please don’t tey to force the rest of us to. We have our reasons of calling ourselves pro-choice (which I won’t go into because they were explained very clearly above).
2. Can we please stop talking about giving a baby up for adoption as if it is the worst thing in the world? I agree that abortion isn’t a worse choice than adoption, and no one should be forced into keeping a baby just because giving it up for adoption is an option. This decision is really up to the woman to decide what is best, because only she knows her situation well enough to decide what is best. With that said, I will repeat myself, can we please stop talking about adoption as if it is the worst thing in the world? As someone who has given up a brown baby, I feel like I have to hide that from both the pro-lifers who can’t believe that I would willingly give up a child; and I have to hide from the pro-choicers who act like giving up a child for adoption will destroy the child’s life every time. Like I said, I understand what you are getting at, but please keep your arguement to *women are capable of making decisions that are the best for them better than strangers are* and leave the *adoption is horrible* argument out of it. Or at least be careful with your choice of words when talking about giving up children for adoption.
Thank you.

By: depresso

depresso — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 13:33:35 +0000

Great post!

PRO-CHOICER here, too. I’ve never had an abortion, but I believe that I would, if I found myself pregnant under circumstances that weren’t right for me. I’ve also never had a broken limb, but I’m pretty sure I’d seek medical treatment for that, too. I’ve lost my own point there, sorry.

Anyway. Mark Thomas (English political stand up comedian and activist) put it very well when he said that anti-abortionists disprove their own point every time they open their mouths.

Pro-life as a term is calculated misdirection. I happen to value my life surprisingly highly, it’s gratifying to know that there’s swathes of people who don’t.

Sorry, head’s away off on its own today…

By: PhDork

PhDork — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 23:38:09 +0000

CrabbyAlissa: The idea of anti-choicers muttering like the Hamburglar makes me giggle uncontrollably. (Could it be the rum and coke?)

By: SarahMC

SarahMC — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 22:47:17 +0000

As it stands, I will not call myself “pro-abortion” among people who are not die hard feminists or at least well-versed in reproductive issues. Not because I’m not pro-abortion (in that I support the legality of the procedure and have no moral qualms with it), but because folks who can’t grasp the meaning of “pro-choice” are not going to understand what it means to be pro-abortion.
Among mixed company, I will proudly call myself pro-choice, because I think it’s important to keep the focus on the availability of the LEGAL CHOICE to abortion. The vast majority of people out there would be completely baffled by “pro-abortion” and I think it would be futile to try putting a positive spin on that phrase in the public mind. We’re not there yet, and we have a number of steps to climb before we get there.

By: CrabbyAlissa

CrabbyAlissa — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 22:23:41 +0000

@Diziet_Sma: Like bluebears said, I’m pro-legal abortion. This issue I have with using pro-abortion as opposed to pro-choice is that I think it gives the anti-choicers another way to spin something negatively. “OMG- pro-abortionists want you to have abortions! They’ll teach our kids to have sex and abortions and rabble rabble rabble!” That certainly isn’t what is meant or, in my opinion, even implied, but they’ll hardly care about that and it’s just another thing they’ll use to rally their base.

By: HanaMaru

HanaMaru — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 22:21:55 +0000

@CollegeBookworm: Do you think more sex ed and greater contraceptive access would eliminate the need for abortion? Is it always the less bad of two bad choices?

By: HanaMaru

HanaMaru — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 22:09:34 +0000

I call them anti-choice because I recognize that both labels are tools of ideology, and because, for people who want to take away my fundamental right to health and bodily autonomy, just calling them anti choice is pretty mild. Also, it’s true. They do want to eliminate a choice.

If I am forced to carry a child to term, just so I can send another brown baby into the foster care system, I have a good chance of developing diabetes, like many of the women in my family. My mother will have it for the rest of her life.

If they want to call me pro-abortion, that’s fine too. I am pro-abortion, in that I believe we need to have both de juro and de facto reproductive freedom before we can become full and equal citizens and abortion is part of that. Also because their position is not the only moral one, and I refuse to go the Obamaite route and cede them that ground. I find the anti-choice position deeply callous and immoral.

By: Diziet_Sma

Diziet_Sma — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 21:43:24 +0000

@PhDork: I agree! I agree! But millions don’t.

By: PhDork

PhDork — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 21:13:55 +0000

An abortion is a medical procedure and should be no more or less morally freighted than any other procedure. "Hey, there is something foreign and unwanted in my body: plz to remove it. Kthxbai." Really. It can be that simple.

By: Diziet_Sma

Diziet_Sma — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 20:55:37 +0000

@CollegeBookworm: I really like you a lot and I don’t think we have ever disagreed on anything, either here or on Jez, but I have only one thing to say: Arggghhhhhhhh!

We will have to agree to disagree. I’ve stated all my reasons and I don’t want to get into it again, because it will be a pointless exercise.