Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, or Anti-Abortionist?
There are three terms always bandied about when discussing abortion and they require clarification: Pro-Choice; Pro-Life; and Anti-Abortion.
“Pro-Choice” and “Anti-Abortion” accurately describe the two camps squaring off against each other in the arena of abortion rights. It is the term “Pro-Life” that is problematic. People against abortion prefer to drift toward the term “Pro-Life” to describe themselves. To be sure, “Pro-Life” sounds so darn positive that no one could possibly take issue with the concept, but it is an inaccurate moniker they attach to themselves.
Someone truly advocating a “Pro-Life” position not only supports bringing all pregnancies to term but cannot then make those very children who grow up gay and lesbian wish they had never been born. One cannot be “Pro-Life” having supported the invasion of Iraq, especially when one considers the hundreds of thousands of people who were indiscriminately killed, including the countless thousands of women who were with child. Of course, we never allow ourselves to be brought uncomfortably close enough to this truth because the moral implications would be inescapable.
To be “Pro-Life” must include opposing capital punishment and the idea of retribution. To be “Pro-Life” must include the desire for every man, woman, and child in this country to have adequate and affordable health care, no matter what the cost. Being “Pro-Life” implies an active life of service toward redressing the inequality and injustice of poverty and hunger, disease and conflict. If by our actions – and inaction – we make “life” a living hell for billions of people on this planet, then, by default, we are contributing toward conditions where abortion becomes an inescapable conclusion for many.
In short, “Pro-Life” is not a conditional term. Many friends who are “Pro-Choice” are “Pro-Life” in all other respects. Most people who are “Anti-Abortionists” are “Pro-Life” in that respect only. That people assume an “Anti-Abortionist” position is fine, but let’s keep the conversation honest. It provides the necessary groundwork for dialogue.
“Pro-Choice” and “Anti-Abortion” accurately describe the two camps squaring off against each other in the arena of abortion rights. It is the term “Pro-Life” that is problematic. People against abortion prefer to drift toward the term “Pro-Life” to describe themselves. To be sure, “Pro-Life” sounds so darn positive that no one could possibly take issue with the concept, but it is an inaccurate moniker they attach to themselves.
Someone truly advocating a “Pro-Life” position not only supports bringing all pregnancies to term but cannot then make those very children who grow up gay and lesbian wish they had never been born. One cannot be “Pro-Life” having supported the invasion of Iraq, especially when one considers the hundreds of thousands of people who were indiscriminately killed, including the countless thousands of women who were with child. Of course, we never allow ourselves to be brought uncomfortably close enough to this truth because the moral implications would be inescapable.
To be “Pro-Life” must include opposing capital punishment and the idea of retribution. To be “Pro-Life” must include the desire for every man, woman, and child in this country to have adequate and affordable health care, no matter what the cost. Being “Pro-Life” implies an active life of service toward redressing the inequality and injustice of poverty and hunger, disease and conflict. If by our actions – and inaction – we make “life” a living hell for billions of people on this planet, then, by default, we are contributing toward conditions where abortion becomes an inescapable conclusion for many.
In short, “Pro-Life” is not a conditional term. Many friends who are “Pro-Choice” are “Pro-Life” in all other respects. Most people who are “Anti-Abortionists” are “Pro-Life” in that respect only. That people assume an “Anti-Abortionist” position is fine, but let’s keep the conversation honest. It provides the necessary groundwork for dialogue.
posted by Jeffrey Reel at
1:32 PM
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