Weiss
So it seems like society has decided that the issue of abortion is split into a dichotomy of pro-life and pro-choice, as if they were mutually exclusive. But with a name like “pro-life,” haven’t people considered that everyone falls under that category? I therefore propose that it is common for people to be both pro-choice and pro-life, and rare for people to be anti-life.
It seems like it’s a language issue. Like people feel they can persuade others to be on their side by finding a name for their belief that either no one can disagree with, or that villainizes the opposite belief. When people call themselves pro-life they are falsely implying that people who do not share their beliefs are anti-life. Obviously, you don’t want people thinking that you don’t value life, when just about everyone does. No one wants to be considered an evil baby-killer. So when you think about it, that simple title is, in a way, very manipulative.
Even in the recent election for the first congressional district between Tim Huelskamp and Alan Jilka, the language used when discussing abortion was biased. Apparently, the word “abortion” is too coarse to even mention on their websites. They categorized it under “Life Issues,” as if to say that they either value life or do not. So, when one reads their stance, it’s no surprise that they are both against abortion. Please, just give me a pro-choice, choice. What’s the point of having a Republican and a Democrat if they’re going to share similar stances on the few issues I care about?
This language is also visible on campus, in the form of the new anti-abortion student organization known as “Emporia State University Students for Life.” It makes me want to start an organization called “Emporia State University Students for Breathing Air,” or “Students for Food.” I find it that silly.
Because of the silly pro-life title, I feel that I fall under both categories. Abortion is not an event to be taken lightly, and should be avoided at all costs. I love babies, they’re adorable. I love life, it’s awesome. I, however, would never, ever deny a woman the right to have control over what happens to her body. An unwanted pregnancy is just that, unwanted, and can be detrimental, if not deadly, to the life of the woman having it.
It seems that, because of this, the pro-life title is even more misleading. When the mother’s life is at risk because of a pregnancy, pro-life advocates are not pro-life at all. Rather, they are choosing the life of the fetus over the life of the mother. This just seems backwards to me, to decide that a woman has lived long enough, and that her fetus is better off growing up an orphan.
Even if I did believe that abortions were morally and/or ethically wrong, I wouldn’t force my beliefs onto others, or demand that it become law. To those of you who do think that way: I refuse to be guilt-tripped into any belief. My advice: so-called pro-lifers should find a new, less manipulative name that does not apply to everyone. Perhaps something more accurate… like “anti-abortion” or “anti-choice.”
Ellen Weiss