4 Ideas Pro-Life and Pro-Choice People (Should) Agree On
The Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in America is 45 years old now. Our culture has had countless arguments, debates, and conversations about it since then. We’ve started culture wars, voted for candidates based on this one issue, and have demonized the “other side” (whoever that may be).
In an effort to get us on to the same starting point in order to better hear each other, I wrote this little guide that should help clear up some misconceptions that are common in the abortion debates.
1. Human life begins at conception.
This is the most fundamental and persistent myth. I do not know how or where it started, but there are very few well thought arguments for abortion that deny this.
Mary Elizabeth Williams wrote an article for Salon three years ago with the title “So what if abortion ends life? I believe that life starts at conception. And it’s never stopped me from being pro-choice” in which she argues for abortion while also agreeing with the statement that life begins at conception.
To argue any differently, that an embryo or fetus is not human, is to be intellectually dishonest. As Williams wrote, “It seems absurd to suggest that the only thing that makes us fully human is the short ride out of some lady’s vagina.” To argue that size, viability, self-dependence, or any other factor besides existence defines life leads to many problems.
If we choose size as a definition, then is a six foot tall man more “life” than a 5 foot woman?
If we use viability as the measure, then that means an American becomes life before an African villager without easy hospital access.
If we use self-dependence as the yardstick, then we become human only after abortion (and some men not until their 30's).
The real question is not when does life begin. That has been answered. The question you need to decide is does life have intrinsic value, or is its value derived from our ascribing value to it?
The answer for many pro-choice advocates is, “No. Life is not inherently valuable.” Here is Williams again:
Here’s the complicated reality in which we live: All life is not equal. That’s a difficult thing for liberals like me to talk about, lest we wind up looking like death-panel-loving, kill-your-grandma-and-your-precious-baby storm troopers. Yet a fetus can be a human life without having the same rights as the woman in whose body it resides. She’s the boss. Her life and what is right for her circumstances and her health should automatically trump the rights of the non-autonomous entity inside of her. Always.
More pro-choice thoughts on when life begins can be found here.
2. Using your voice and privilege to defend others is good.
When I hear others’ thoughts on abortion I often hear something like, “I’m pro-life, but I’d never force my view onto someone else.” While I agree with the spirit of the statement, I deeply disagree with its consequences.
Let’s apply the same ideas to other areas in our society.
“I believe that women should have the same rights as men, but I’m not going to tell a man he can’t beat his wife.”
“I believe slavery is wrong, but if someone else wants some slaves, who am I to judge?”
If life is valuable and begins at conception, then we should be very vocal in our opposition to abortion.
We should be just as vocal in defense of the fetus as we are in defense of Tamir Rice. Being a drum major for justice is not a judgemental thing to be. It is loving and gracious and kind.
Pro-choice has also long been held up as a liberal ideal. One in which the rights to liberty and happiness are being defended. It’s a women’s rights issue because it’s her body and she should be able to choose what to do with it.
There’s an old quote often attributed to Oliver Wendell Homles, “My right to swing my fist ends where your nose begins.” Liberalism is usually on the side of equality. Throughout history liberals have been offended by slavery, promoted women’s suffrage, and spoken on behalf of the poor. But in the case of abortion, it is elevating the rights of one person over the rights of another person.
3. Miscarriage and abortion are not equivalent.
I’ve been hearing this a lot lately in defense of abortion. Many people assume that since many pregnancies end in miscarriage, then pro-lifers should be fighting against miscarriage as much as they do abortions. The shortcomings in this argument seem obvious, but it keeps coming around.
To argue that a fetus or embryo dying is the same as it being willfully killed is silly. Again, if we apply the same logic to any other area of society it sounds ludicrous. Go ahead and try it.
“People die everyday, so what’s so bad about killing them?”
There’s little else to say about this argument. Natural death rates should have zero influence on our understanding of willful killing.
4. Outlawing abortion will do little to prevent it.
In the two decades before Roe v. Wade made abortion federally legal, there were between 200,000 and 1.2 million abortions performed illegally. Women have been getting abortions for as long as they have been pregnant. In fact, countries with abortion restrictions typically have higher rates of abortion than countries that have legalized it.
Abortion was not caused by legislation and legislation won’t stop it.
Women in America get abortions for many reasons, but there are four that most of them say are the main reason. From the Guttmacher Institue:
Three-fourths of women cite concern for or responsibility to other individuals; three-fourths say they cannot afford a child; three-fourths say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or the ability to care for dependents; and half say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner.
Each of these reasons can be boiled down to the woman being poor, scared, and/or lonely. The women do not cite inconvenience or any frivolous reasons for their choice. For the vast majority of them, they are worried they would be bringing a child into a bad situation. The child won’t have a dad, or food, or a promising future.
Abortion seems like the loving choice to many.
Forty-two percent of the women getting abortions make less than $1,000 per month. Black women get abortions at almost 3 times the rate as white women. Abortion is something pro-lifers can nearly eradicate, but it will take a selfless love.
The basis of the pro-life argument is the conviction that life is valuable, yet their actions disagree.
Pro-lifers are usually the ones arguing for “carpet-bombing” the Middle East. They are ones calling unarmed black boys “thugs” and “animals.” Pro-lifers are the ones clamoring for a taller fence. They are the ones calling for less welfare and immigrants and taxes and affirmative action and gun control.
These inconsistencies are as intellectually dishonest as the argument that life begins after birth or some other trivial point. If one argues that all life is valuable, then why respond to #blacklivesmatter with hate or some other slight. If all lives matter, then why argue against Syrian refugees finding rest here? If all lives matter, then why are we so confused people react in anger when unarmed people keep dying at the hands of police? If all lives matter, why are we standing outside abortion clinics calling the women murderers?
As Williams wrote:
In an Op-Ed on “Why I’m Pro-Choice” in the Michigan Daily this week, Emma Maniere stated, quite perfectly, that “Some argue that abortion takes lives, but I know that abortion saves lives, too.” She understands that it saves lives not just in the most medically literal way, but in the roads that women who have choice then get to go down, in the possibilities for them and for their families. And I would put the life of a mother over the life of a fetus every single time — even if I still need to acknowledge my conviction that the fetus is indeed a life. A life worth sacrificing.
If we really want to end abortion, then that means…
We find ways to help share the burden of raising children,
We find ways to help single moms financially,
We find ways to be available to help mentor young couples,
We find ways to help men become fathers,
We find ways to save the life of the baby, without costing the mother hers.
