After an amazing homily by my Priest, which will probably be the topic of a later post... a parishioner made an extended announcement about how my church will be sponsoring a trip to the pro-life march that's upcoming in Washington.
Now, I'm pro-choice. And I understand the pro-life side... however:
Until the day comes when pro-life people are vehemently pro birth-control, I view them as hypocritical, elitist, classist, and nearly murderous.
This is no small statement, I realize.
By "nearly murderous," I mean: they are trying to require the birth of millions of unwanted or accidental children, thereby enormously damaging the lives of a geometrically larger number of people in ways that will reverberate for many generations.
These "pro-life" people, by being against birth control, are acting in a way that destroys life... even if that life is still "lived."
Now, I'm sure I'm going to get a comment like "I was an unwanted child, an my life is beautiful!" Let me say that I'm really glad for you, but your case doesn't prove anything. In fact, one of my own children wasn't exactly planned, either. But my kid's case doesn't prove anything, either.
Pre-emptive dismissal isn't usually my style, but in this case... there you go.
Love to all. Even you, the pro-life folks with whom I absolutely disagree.
23 comments:
Hear, hear. It always amazes me that Pro-Life people aren't Pro-Birth Control and Pro-Sex Education.
Jennie- Hi! Interesting point:
Two things:
1) I'm not saying, "up to the individual." I'm saying one without the other is totally destructive. If you're espousing a "pro-life" stance, than you must, morally, espouse a pro-birth-control stance. Else you are "anti-life."
2) With that said, if you could point me to some Right to Life orgs that are birth-control neutral, or religions that are the same, I'd appreciate it.
I appreciate the comment a lot.
Zube: Yup, totally.
"Now, I'm pro-choice"
How come pro-choice people don't call yourselves, pro-aborts? Or pro-baby killers? Or pro-death?
Pro-life is straight forward. No hiding what is meant by that.
Just wondering.
C.Trail: Pro-life is, actually, a completely bogus term. Abortion kills the blastocyst/zygote/fetus, this is true... just as your idea of forcing people to have children would destroy countless lives. Pro-choice means: You can choose to have the child, or you can choose not to. It means, YOU decide... as opposed to "I've decided for you."
If Maggie got pregnant now, I don't think I could bear the idea of terminating the preganancy. But so what? That's our choice.
Your "Pro-life is straightforward" comment means that you either believe the dumbed-down arguments, or fail to grasp the idea of "Choice" as a real, operative word. Honestly, Pro-Choice is MUCH more literal than "Pro-life."
Anyway: thanks for commenting.
I agree with you R|C - it's refreshing to find an intelligent blog entry that looks at both sides without getting all "I'm right and you're wrong" (like so many pro-life champions are prone to do) Good on you for stepping up and writing so eloquently about such a controversial topic.
Just wanted to say that I totally agree with you rich|championable-being pro-choice means you have options and choices obviously, being pro-life means you believe only that every life, even when there is too much of it-is good. I think most intelligent people who really thought about it would be pro-choice because they could choose life all they wanted without imposing their beliefs on others-that is why this is a (semi)free country. Thanks for the interesting read-blog explosion obviously works for you, I found you. :)
Oops. I meant to say "It always amazes me when Pro-Life people aren't Pro-Birth Control and Pro-Sex Education." not 'that'.
Also, and I don't want to hijack your comments, but I'd like to respond to Conservativetrail Head.
See, if I were Pro-Abortion, it would mean, at least to my logistics, that I'd want no pregnancies in the world.
To the contrary, depending on what any friend of mine chooses I'd give her a ride to the clinic, or buy her diapers and help her find the resources she might need if she's in a less than desirable situation.
Pro-Choice does not = Pro-Abortion. It's just rhetoric that's used by Pro-Life people, and I resent the fact that they resort to using that untrue term even while I refuse to call them 'Anti-Abortion' which is, well, pretty much true.
I totally respect Pro-Life folks because I used to be one. I'll fight them until my dying day, and I'll call BS when I see it, but I respect them. As long as they're not spouting off emotionally charged words instead of real arguments.
Um. Sorry again. I just can't stand that label and the righteousness that usually goes with those who use it.
Zube girl is right. Being Pro-Choice doesn't mean you are Pro-Abortion. I firmly believe in a woman's right to choose what to do with her body. That being said, I'm no big fan of abortion. I don't feel that it is a choice that I could make.
Rich, you forgot another reason that "Pro-Life" is hypocritical. Most so-called "Pro-Life" people would be more than happy to throw the switch if a person is sentenced to death by the courts.
nice post by you Rich and also nice response by Zube girl. Couldn't have said anything better myself
Yet more "Catholics" that are ignornat of church teaching. Try reading Pope Paul VI's Humanae Vitae, and perhaps you will understand. Get educated about your faith please.
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html.
"an essential feature of support for the inalienable right to life, from conception to natural death, is the effort to provide legal protection for the unborn, the handicapped, the elderly, and those suffering from terminal illness. ... Catholics, and especially Catholic legislators, must continue to make their voices heard. ... America must become, again, a hospitable society, in which every unborn child and every handicapped or terminally ill person is cherished and enjoys the protection of the law" -Pope John Paul II
I've been reading for a few weeks and am only now deciding to comment.
I just want to reiterate that there is a reason we are called pro CHOICE.
I find it so ironic that those who typically rally with the pro lifers and want the authority to remove options and choices from women/families are the very ones who cram legislation down our throats for freedom in business and profit. They sure don't want anyone telling them what they can and can't do....unless it's coming from the pulpit (then all bets are off)
I also want to say that I'm really enjoying this blog.
I think people are against abortion, because they need more soldiers to feed the American war machine.
These same people are ready to torch the world under the banner of Christianity and war on terrorism, yet they are concerned with the lump of meat inside women's wooms.
A lot of people seem to be all too oblivious of the knock on effect that you mentioned.
If people aren't going to use contraception I think you should have to apply for a licence to have Sex. They should make it especially difficult for people to get a licence in trailer parks.
Great post championable. Pro-lifers are hypocritical, something I posted about on my blog about a month ago. The same people who want every pregnancy to come to term, refuse to support measures that would significantly reduce unwanted pregnancies, and by extension, abortions.
The people who scream about how abortion is "baby killing" are also inevitably the same people that don't give a rat's ass about how babies already born are faring, nor does it bother them a bit to have thousands of innocent children in Iraq maimed and killed for nothing. Executions (even of innocent people, as we know happens) doesn't faze them much either.
The "Culture of Life" is an Orwellian term for murderous, hateful zealots, and I don't have a damned bit of use for them, nor do I care to discuss the abortion issue with them until they get themselves right with the rest of the living. I happen to believe that protecting life should extend beyond fetuses and those who are irreversibly brain dead.
mayhaps I am straying from the subject here but what i find interesting is how often "pro-lifers" support the death penalty. I do not refer to all that label themselves this way, many do not (you should not generalize Kate, not all pro lifers are hypocrites). But then again, I know of many "pro-choice" who are against the death penalty. Both sides use semantics to support their views.
Pro-life is just a big set up. It was coined by religious groups to corner everyone who didn't agree with them. Think about it. If you aren't pro-life, you must be pro-death, what alternatives are there?
I consider myself pro-life, because, although it's a very mean trick, they were right. Who is anti-life? You'd have to be a really sick individual to be against life, right? I am also pro-choice, pro-birth control and pro-sex education.
I agree! But I think Pro-lifers are morons.
I know another way that Pro-Life is hypocritical: If abortion is murder, then all the millions of American women who have had abortions deserve to be prosecuted for murder. I don’t believe that very many pro-lifers would endorse this policy, but it follows inevitably from their premise.
"Abortion kills the blastocyst/zygote/fetus"
Talk about denial. It's a baby. A living human. It's not about the convenience of the parents or outcome of the baby's future. It's about having respect for life.
At what point does the being in the uterus fall under the protection of the Constitution? (You know, life, liberty, pursuit of happiness...?)
Denial? It's not denial.
Abortion kills the baby. Or, as it is called, the fetus/zygote/blastocyst, depending on where it is in it's development. I'd hardly call a blastocyst a baby, though.
Don't confuse YOUR lack of vocabulary with denial on my part.
Interesting that you didn't comment on anything other than that... but not surprising, I guess.
Sheesh.
It's not about the convenience of the parents or outcome of the baby's future. It's about having respect for life.
I ask: WHOSE life? one that needs months to develop inside of a mother's uterus before it can survive outside but still then needs YEARS of provisions and care to sustain life......or someone who has already been living and sustaining their own life as well
working towards a quality of life.
I'm still waiting for a reasonable and viable argument on the part of a pro lifer. And I agree with the original post that it's a very hypocritical position/viewpoint/brainwash.
While I respect your right to hold the opinion(s) that you do....you do not have the right to make a decision for me - or any other woman who makes a choice (for whatever reason) to terminate a pregnancy.
Well, until I got about halfway through the comments I was going to say that I was surprised at the civility of the discourse here. The pro-life/pro-choice discussion is always hijacked by those of both sides who decide to namecall and paint their opponents with the same brush "those pro-lifers", "all pro-choicers", etc. The whole conversation is so difficult b/c both sides view things so differently. One commenter mentioned unwanted or accidental births. Well, many pro-lifers are of a mindset - usually religious -- that there are no accidental births. Unwanted by the parents, but not unwanted by the God who created them. And if you don't believe in God, or don't believe that he chooses each child who is concieved -- for whatever unfathomable reason when it's a tough situation -- then you simply do not have a point of reference to even try to understand. And for those who do believe God works that way, they cannot imagine someone who sincerely feels it's compassionate to prevent the life of a child who might suffer. Never the twain shall meet.
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