Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Will the fetus be aborted?

The Supreme Court has upheld a nationwide ban on partial birth abortion, which certainly sets a new precedent, although I'm really not sure how significant it will turn out to be. I suspect there are a lot of pro-choice people who are opposed to partial birth abortions. Of course, that's just a guess on my part. On one hand, I'd love to discuss this news with people I know in my daily life. But the abortion issue is one of those topics where people's programming seems to override their intellect. The major difference between the pro-life and pro-choice movements? One side calls you a baby killer for disagreeing with them and the other side calls you a misogynist. Has anyone else encountered this difficulty? Do any of you still make the effort, or is it just too fraught with trouble?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't bother. Personally, I think it's dangerous to create categories of humans (and the fetus is human for chrissake) that it's okay to kill (a person choosing to forgo treatment when terminally ill is a totally different question, IMO). I know that might sound like an alarmist slippery slope type argument, but I honestly think that a mindset of "it's okay to kill under these circumstances" makes one more open to consider *other* circumstances where it's okay to kill.

However, in no way do I support the immediate ban on abortion. I'm also still torn on whether it should be banned at all, based on my above argument.

When I say the above to pro-choice people, I don't get attacked, but there is this kind of bristling at the very notion of condemning abortion. I don't mind talking to people one on one about it too terribly if it comes up, but I totally avoid bringing it up in a group. That's just a shouting match waiting to happen.

Rufus said...

I wonder if they haven't shot themselves in the foot with that. I find that when I ask questions of most pro-choice people I know, I've gotten told that my opinions aren't relevant since I don't have a womb. And I tend to agree with them. It seems misguided somehow, especially since they hope to influence opinion, and they're in the majority anyway.

SecondComingOfBast said...

I tend to be pro-choice, with some reservations. I'm certainly not a fanatic about it. It would certainly never be the deciding factor in how I vote, or even a major consideration for that matter.

Rufus said...

Yeah, that's the other thing that's strange. We have a woman in our department who said to me the other day 'Well, I was planning on voting for Hillary Clinton, but then I found out that she's not as pro-life as I thought she was.' Somehow, I just can't imagine that issue being the deciding factor.

clairev said...

it would completely influence my decision, and i'm so glad canada isn't still fucking around with this issue. i'm pro-choice, and don't generally discuss it because i have rarely had a productive discussion about on the subject without someone feeling threatened. my stance is purely self-centered: my body, my health, my responsibility (most of the time, statistically speaking) therefore my choice. now that rufus is around and the commitment is different than say, a boyfriend of 7 months, he would get a say for sure.

the last internship i had was at a catholic agency in which we were told on day 1 of training that we were not allowed to mention abortion as an option to pregnant teens (hamilton has the highest teen pregnancy rate in canada) or women, and were only allowed to offer resources on adoption or parenting. it was a difficult thing to swallow for me as a therapist because it was against my therapeutic sensibilities of offering and exploring all options available to the client. when that pregnant teen did come through the door into my office, i can't say i didn't look around for bugs to make sure the conversation wouldn't be monitored. in the end she is going to make her own choices and it's not for me to push one over the other, but if she's coming to therapy for it, she's looking for options and i think she deserves to hear all of them.

c