The abortion debate. It's been high on the policy agenda for years, and few issues spark more heated argument. Am I pro-life or pro-choice? Do I really have to choose?
No, I don't mean that I intend to be both for and against abortion. But I hate, hate, hate those labels. In a society which can be nauseatingly politically correct, I'm surprised the titles have survived. And yet we tend to accept them blindly, impressing them on others and assuming them for ourselves without a thought.
What if I'm for abortion? Okay, and even that's bad phrasing. "Pro-choice" advocates aren't necessarily for abortion, like "Yes! You go kill that foetus!" Why do we think about things that way? These aren't mass murderers, and agree or disagree with the point of view, don't condemn the people. On either side.
That aside: "Pro-choice." This implies that I, as a "pro-life" supporter (I'll get to that in a minute) am "Anti-choice." I believe that foetuses are children; that doesn't mean I burn the Constitution for fun. I am all for free choice, freedom of speech, whatever. It is my personal belief, and you can agree or disagree, because that's not what this particular blog is about, that killing a foetus is just as wrong as killing someone who's left the womb, and that free choice doesn't extend to murder. But that doesn't mean I'm against choice. It just doesn't.
On the flip side, calling myself "pro-life" implies that people who aren't "pro-life" are somehow against life. Just, you know, life. "I hate life!" That's ridiculous. Really.
It seems to me that the labels are designed to insult the opposite groups, to imply that whoever disagrees with you is a terrible person who either hates life or free choice. Thus my question: Do I have to choose? Can't I be in favor of life and choice, and still have an opinion on abortion?
Maybe it's a silly, irrelevant question. But you'd think we'd be more enlightened than this, in this day and age (and country!). It's just a little disturbing.
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Here's a better way to label them: the preventative movement, and the punitive movement.
The preventative movement is all about preventing abortion, with birth control and preventative education. Preventing abortion and STDs, and ensuring that the few abortions that do happen are as safe as possible, is all the preventative movement cares about. They don't care how many people you've slept with, or when, or why, just as long as it's consensual and you're happy with it. The preventative movement just wants everyone to have the tools to prevent unwanted pregnancy and STDs, regardless of their beliefs, morality or social status.
The punitive movement is all about punishing abortion, with laws and bans that only serve to drive abortion underground, where it is unsafe and unregulated. They don't care about preventing abortion, because abortion is not really the issue: sex is the issue. They believe sex should only happen in marriage, and that once you're married, you should welcome as many babies as God will give you, because that is woman's place: in the home, raising babies. In an ideal punitive world, abortion would be illegal, contraception would be illegal, and sex education would be illegal.
See, I'm not sure I agree with that picture of the "punitive movement." Again, does the fact that I'm against abortion force me into that group? I don't think so. Sure, I don't believe in sex outside of marriage (although I'm certainly not going to force that belief on anyone else), but as to "welcoming as many babies as God will give you, because that is woman's place"...I think that's a bit of a generalization. I certainly don't believe that; in fact, I spend more time than I'd like arguing against that very viewpoint. I'm not against contraception or sex education; in fact, I think both are important.
So although those labels avoid insulting both groups, which might be an "improvement," they depict a definite slant, and generalizations that just aren't true. This is why I hate labels like these; they push people into pre-determined groups. I shouldn't have to choose between being "preventative" or "punitive" any more than I should have to choose between "choice" and "life".
I am for Sex Education and contraceptives for the reason that if one so chooses to have sex before marriage they should be well informed beforehand. I think the biggest problem society faces is ignorance. As much as researchers know about sex and STD's and contraceptives not providing this information is, well stupid. Also, people are careless when it come to sex in the sense that if a girl or woman becomes pregnant its no big deal to get an abortion. With all of the contraceptives available preventing an unwanted pregnancy isn't that hard. Although there is the exception that the chance the contraceptive fails. If a person does not want a child whatsoever they should think twice before they have sex. Is that such a hard concept to grasp. Abstinence is something I rarely heard in Sex Ed. I find this astonishing since it guarentees no pregnancy. I am against abortion for the reason that there is no excuse for an "accidental" pregnancy.
I am for Sex Education and contraceptives for the reason that if one so chooses to have sex before marriage they should be well informed beforehand. I think the biggest problem society faces is ignorance. As much as researchers know about sex and STD's and contraceptives not providing this information is, well stupid. Also, people are careless when it come to sex in the sense that if a girl or woman becomes pregnant its no big deal to get an abortion. With all of the contraceptives available preventing an unwanted pregnancy isn't that hard. Although there is the exception that the chance the contraceptive fails. If a person does not want a child whatsoever they should think twice before they have sex. Is that such a hard concept to grasp. Abstinence is something I rarely heard in Sex Ed. I find this astonishing since it guarentees no pregnancy. I am against abortion for the reason that there is no excuse for an "accidental" pregnancy.
I am for Sex Education and contraceptives for the reason that if one so chooses to have sex before marriage they should be well informed beforehand. I think the biggest problem society faces is ignorance. As much as researchers know about sex and STD's and contraceptives not providing this information is, well stupid. Also, people are careless when it come to sex in the sense that if a girl or woman becomes pregnant its no big deal to get an abortion. With all of the contraceptives available preventing an unwanted pregnancy isn't that hard. Although there is the exception that the chance the contraceptive fails. If a person does not want a child whatsoever they should think twice before they have sex. Is that such a hard concept to grasp. Abstinence is something I rarely heard in Sex Ed. I find this astonishing since it guarentees no pregnancy. I am against abortion for the reason that there is no excuse for an "accidental" pregnancy.