The Liberal Position on Abortion
I’ve been reading the liberal memes on Facebook about abortion. I’m sure you’ve seen them. Memes like “Republican Platform Calls for Constitutional Amendment Banning Abortion with No Exception for Rape or Incest.” They excoriate the conservative position for not having the exceptions, and they’re right to do so although they don’t go far enough.
The problem is that they’re giving away half the game to conservatives. Exceptions for rape or incest should be a given. Only a cruel person would force a woman who has been raped to carry a rapist’s baby to term, then give birth, and then allow the rapist to have parental rights (in some states). That is cruel — cruel and unusual punishment — for a woman who has already been violated once by the rapist.
This whole issue of abortion boils down to one word: choice. It’s about freedom — freedom for a woman to make decisions about her body. It’s really that simple.
But as framed by Democrats and the President, the current debate about abortion — centered as it is around rape victims and the health exception — put women in the position of supplicants, seeking permission to end their pregnancies. Most people, fortunately, think there are circumstances where that permission should be granted. But true freedom is not freedom to ask permission—it’s freedom to make a decision. That’s what pro-choice really means, and it would be healthy for abortion-rights supporters to say so clearly and often.
Republicans want to eliminate a woman’s right to choose what happens in her body. They want to take away a woman’s freedom to make decisions, a major theme in “The Handmaid’s Tale“. (I’m rereading this now, and there are quite a few parallels to America today. Give it a read if you haven’t read it or if it’s been awhile; it’s worth your time.) Liberals are allowing the anti-abortion groups to stake out the moral high ground when it isn’t there’s to stake out. They need to stop giving away the store.
No one likes abortion. No one. Everyone is pro-life. Some are pro-choice (I am pro-choice); some are anti-choice. Those are the accurate labels. So why do those who are pro-choice allow those who are anti-choice to frame the argument that way? (This problem — allowing conservatives to frame the debate in their terms — isn’t unique to the abortion debate.)
Instead of curtailing a woman’s freedom, we need to take pragmatic steps to reduce abortion. I think nearly everyone wants fewer abortions. We should provide realistic, good sex education in schools. We also need to provide access and training for contraception.
People honestly need to grow up in this country. Teenagers and adults are going to have sex. Pregnancies might occur. Teaching people how to prevent pregnancy will have a desired effect — fewer abortions.
People who are pro-choice should frame the argument as it really is. It’s about choice. It’s about freedom. And only down the line is it about abortion.
The World According to Deanna 
You make a great point. We are all pro-life. No one enjoys abortions. The problem is that it is difficult to frame the debate on freedom and the right to have an abortion because many people believe that a woman does not have that right because those who are against abortions view the fetus, the pre-brown, as a citizen with rights. So with that as their premise having an abortion means killing a citizen. So if we can alter that premise with some civilized discourse, then we can move forward.
That is indeed the disconnect. I’m not advocating abortion. But unless that fetus — or zygote, or embryo — can survive outside the mother on its own, it’s not a citizen with rights. It’s “the product of conception”, to borrow a term from John Irving.
This is a really simple issue that’s been cloaked in pseudomoralism, which muddies the waters. This is about freedom, the freedom of a woman to make choices over what happens to/in/for her body.
Thanks for commenting!
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I vividly remember a couple of weeks after my conception how horrified I was to see my father’s penis coming into my apartment/mom’s uterus. Maybe he didn’t know I was in there, I should have put the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign out on the vagina. I did enjoy the Mogen David my mom drank back in those early weeks though. What a party we would have all day. And then there was all that noise outside, I didn’t think I was going to make it to three weeks in there without going crazy. Yep, Zygote Americans want to thank the republicans for all the help in recognizing the rights of the uterine bound. By the way, if they can get the size of a cell phone down to microscopic levels, I think Sprint could have a whole new customer base.
Alan, that is hilarious. And also so true.
I believe abortion is bad. You are killing a baby. God created that life since conception. Their whole life is ruined as soon as someone commits abortion. Also, the baby feels the pain you put it through. Most women who get abortions are depressed and 10x more likely to commit suicide. All your proof here just doesn’t mean a thing.
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