Pro-Choice

Pro-Choice (Re-Post from July 2011)

Here is a subject most people don't want to debate about.  I call this the silent majority. They have their opinions but don't want to enter the fray. Well, I have my thoughts and would like to share them. Please, hear me out.

To decide first if we are pro-choice or pro-life, we must first have a solid grasp on what it means to take such a position. What are we arguing for and against, and why? Interestingly enough, there are people with identical beliefs that can consider themselves members if either camp, depending only on what they perceive their camp stands for.

What is pro-choice in favor of?  From what I can tell, it's this: A woman should have access to safe and legal abortions whenever she wants for whatever reason she deems fit.

Why is pro-choice in favor of this? I've seen it put this way: A woman has a right to do whatever she wants with her own body and womb.

Using this argument, suicide and unlimited drug use should be supported by those in this camp, as well as many other acts that are currently illegal. While I do believe a person should have the right to their own body, even the majority of people that consider themselves pro-choice don't in fact believe a person should be able to do whatever they want with their bodies, so this argument falls flat on it's face.

What is pro-life in favor of? Abortion should be illegal at all times except perhaps a life is at stake, and an abortion would save it.

Why do pro-lifers believe this? Abortion is murder and life  begins at conception.

Interesting... Using this argument, most babies die. It's sad, horrible, and true. Many die without their mothers ever knowing they existed. They were never named, had no funerals, and were never loved. If they truly believe that life begins at conception, and knew about every time they conceived, many women would be in a constant state if mourning.

So, what do a majority of people really believe? I think this is an ugly truth nobody wants to hear. Most people believe in a woman's right to do what she feels is necessary. It's an ugly thing, necessity. It doesn't indicate freedom of choice, but rather limited choices, the choice between one hell or another. The woman gets to choose between having a bright future, or keeping a child she'd otherwise want. She chooses between the pain of having a child she can't support, or having it torn away from her, often never knowing if the child really had a better life, and if it will hate her for giving it up.  She can choose between having a rapists child and being tormented by knowing there's a person that's just as much him as they are her. Abortion is usually about hard, painful, and limited choices, not freedom. What the woman needs to do is usually given priority, not what she wants to do, for which she is usually chided for as irresponsible. It's time to face the ugly, ugly truth. Most of us implore a woman to do the right thing for herself, and don't support what she really wants and wishes she could do, regardless of our pro-life or pro-choice stance.

What do a majority of us believe? We have a human right to do what we feel is necessary and practical for our survival and well-being. I call it the pro-necessity stance.