I've come to the realization that a lot of people who call themselves pro-choice actually are people who don't have any moral objections to abortion. This isn't a profound point -- I think most people could infer as much -- but it plays into the rhetoric they use.
The common refrain from pro-choicers goes something like this: "I'm personally against abortion, but I respect a woman's right to choice." Perfectly middle-of-the-road, inoffensive to everyone. But when you think about it, it really doesn't make any sense.
First of all, people should understand something: when you give your opinion about abortion in an informal setting, you're not obligated to be even-handed in that way. You can speak on your personal beliefs with relative impunity, and it's really nobody's business that your opinion isn't as yielding as they feel it should be. I think abortion is wrong. I don't care if you believe it's okay. I'm not running for office and the fate of abortion rights isn't hinged on my endorsement. So fuck off. I can say what I want to say. So can you.
HOWEVER, it's important to note that opinion does not accurately portray the current state of abortion politics. There's a federal court case protecting the "right" to abortion. There are two ways to undo that precedence and make abortion something that's totally banned in some states. One is for the Supreme Court to overturn that decision. The other is for Congress to pass a constitutional amendment banning the practice. Notice neither one of those options involves a public vote. So your PC political opinion of what you think of people's rights is nebulous considering there's little chance you'll be apart of upholding or doing away with it.
I never hear pro-choicers speak on the improprieties of abortion. Sure, they'll pay lip service and say stuff like "well, we need better sex education" (which is a total red herring if I've ever heard one) and give other answers that sound like they care, but they don't. If you want abortions to actually diminish, you have to start by having an admitted intolerance of it. You can't dilute it with saying you approve of the right to have one if you actually want it to go away. Either you want it to go away, and thus your attitude reflects that, or you don't (or don't care) and your attitude will reflect that, too.
Pro-choicers just want to play both sides: they don't want to come off as being anti-choice because that's non-PC and abortion advocates have made that about as bad as being a white supremacist, but they also don't want to come off as pro-abortion, because they don't want to seem like they hate children. So they straddle the fence and hope no one notices.
It's always bullshit when people act as if they have no problem putting their personal views aside due to their respect for the rule of law. You could tell gay marriage advocates every day from now on that there's no constitutional right to it, do you think they're going to submit that there isn't? No. They'll still make up some de facto right they think justifies it. The same goes for the pro-pot-legalization crowd. When people truly believe something is right or wrong in their heart, they defend that viewpoint and wont be deterred by the vagaries of law or public opinion.
So I think pro-choice advocates need to come clean about the fact that they have no problem with abortion as a procedure, and all that comes with it. You're not a humanitarian when you support a woman's right to kill her unborn child out of convenience. You're not pro-choice when you never mention how horrible of a procedure you think abortion is, but spend most of your time defending it, diminishing the existence of a fetus, and attacking those who hate the procedure for being anti-woman misogynists; you're pro-abortion.
The common refrain from pro-choicers goes something like this: "I'm personally against abortion, but I respect a woman's right to choice." Perfectly middle-of-the-road, inoffensive to everyone. But when you think about it, it really doesn't make any sense.
First of all, people should understand something: when you give your opinion about abortion in an informal setting, you're not obligated to be even-handed in that way. You can speak on your personal beliefs with relative impunity, and it's really nobody's business that your opinion isn't as yielding as they feel it should be. I think abortion is wrong. I don't care if you believe it's okay. I'm not running for office and the fate of abortion rights isn't hinged on my endorsement. So fuck off. I can say what I want to say. So can you.
HOWEVER, it's important to note that opinion does not accurately portray the current state of abortion politics. There's a federal court case protecting the "right" to abortion. There are two ways to undo that precedence and make abortion something that's totally banned in some states. One is for the Supreme Court to overturn that decision. The other is for Congress to pass a constitutional amendment banning the practice. Notice neither one of those options involves a public vote. So your PC political opinion of what you think of people's rights is nebulous considering there's little chance you'll be apart of upholding or doing away with it.
I never hear pro-choicers speak on the improprieties of abortion. Sure, they'll pay lip service and say stuff like "well, we need better sex education" (which is a total red herring if I've ever heard one) and give other answers that sound like they care, but they don't. If you want abortions to actually diminish, you have to start by having an admitted intolerance of it. You can't dilute it with saying you approve of the right to have one if you actually want it to go away. Either you want it to go away, and thus your attitude reflects that, or you don't (or don't care) and your attitude will reflect that, too.
Pro-choicers just want to play both sides: they don't want to come off as being anti-choice because that's non-PC and abortion advocates have made that about as bad as being a white supremacist, but they also don't want to come off as pro-abortion, because they don't want to seem like they hate children. So they straddle the fence and hope no one notices.
It's always bullshit when people act as if they have no problem putting their personal views aside due to their respect for the rule of law. You could tell gay marriage advocates every day from now on that there's no constitutional right to it, do you think they're going to submit that there isn't? No. They'll still make up some de facto right they think justifies it. The same goes for the pro-pot-legalization crowd. When people truly believe something is right or wrong in their heart, they defend that viewpoint and wont be deterred by the vagaries of law or public opinion.
So I think pro-choice advocates need to come clean about the fact that they have no problem with abortion as a procedure, and all that comes with it. You're not a humanitarian when you support a woman's right to kill her unborn child out of convenience. You're not pro-choice when you never mention how horrible of a procedure you think abortion is, but spend most of your time defending it, diminishing the existence of a fetus, and attacking those who hate the procedure for being anti-woman misogynists; you're pro-abortion.
