Those of you who know me well can attest to the fact that I despise anti-abortion wingnuts. My own state of Colorado currently has a
pro-life amendment on the ballot that would apply the term "person" to every sperm and egg that happen to bump into each other. If the amendment passes, a fertilized egg will have the same legal rights as your Uncle Bob, and a lot more than your pet dog Jolly.
It would be funny, except a depressing 27% of Colorado citizens voted in favor of the amendment the last time it was on the ballot. It honestly frightens me to think that almost 1 in 3 people I meet on the streets think this is a good idea.
So why do I care about this so much? Partly because it's wrong and stupid, but mostly because I can't stand bullies. We've all heard the horror stories about the prostitutes and rich women who use abortion as a form of birth control, but even if these are true (and I doubt that most of them are), they do not represent the majority of women who consider abortions. Many women entering abortion clinics are undereducated (thanks, abstinence-only sex education!), or poor, or young, or victims of rape. Some were just careless, but I doubt they're any less frightened about the prospect of becoming mothers by accident. By and large, women considering abortions are at one of the most vulnerable and difficult times of their lives. And then you have the lousy right-wing fuckheads telling them they're murderers. My blood fucking
boils at the thought.*
But I have to make two concessions to these
retards campaigners. With the November election drawing closer, there are many arguments flying around (from both sides) that simply don't make sense. Here are two from the pro-choice side that I feel obligated to put down.
1. Men should not vote or campaign for a law that will only affect women.
I admit, pro-life men piss me off. Unlike pro-choice women, they never even have to consider what they would do in the event of an unwanted pregnancy. (You can argue that they're affected if their spouse gets pregnant unexpectedly, but I'm talking about having a fucking basketball-sized tumor swimming around in their bellies.) But you must remember why pro-life people are opposed to abortion. They honestly believe, rationally or not, that every tiny fetus is a human being and that doing anything to the fetus is actually murder. Stupid as that is, it
is a matter of human rights to them. You can't ban men from the discussion simply because they can't get pregnant. Also, by that logic, men shouldn't vote in
favor of pro-choice laws, either. I shouldn't be writing this blog post now. Etc.
Anyways, it's hardly less aggravating that pro-life
women are trying to force this law down the throats of
other women.
2. It is a woman's choice to abort or not abort.
Okay, wait. I have to add a LARGE disclaimer to this one, because it's practically the pro-choice maxim. Let me say right away that
I totally agree with this statement. Read the first part of my post if you have any doubts whatsoever. But I
have to point out that this statement does
not answer the pro-life claim that abortion is murder. Again, for those on the pro-life side, abortion is a matter of human rights.
Their argument is as follows:
P1. Killing an innocent person is murder.
P2. A fetus is an innocent person.
__________
Therefore, killing a fetus is murder.
If you
just respond to this argument by claiming that abortion is a woman's choice, then your argument fails.
If a fetus is an innocent person,
then killing that fetus is indeed murder. And no one has the right to choose to murder someone else.
So in order to adequately respond to this argument, you have to show that the second premise is false. You can bring in scientific studies that show when a fetus begins to feel pain or becomes conscious. You can argue about what features a human being must have in order to deserve moral consideration. You can attack the idea that there is anything like a 'soul' that every human receives at conception. But you
can't just say that abortion is a woman's choice. That is a
conclusion, not an argument.
I
conclude that abortion is a woman's choice because a fetus is not a person for reasons X, Y, and Z. And that's what I'll argue with any pro-life proponent.
So that's about as far as I'll ever get to defending a pro-life position. Incidentally, if I know you and you vote Yes on Amendment 62, please don't think we'll ever be on good terms. You and everyone else without the goddamn decency to stop and think rationally for a moment deserve every bit of ridicule and contempt I can muster the effort to heap upon you. Go to hell.
*
Incidentally, this is probably also a large part of the reason why I'm so concerned about animal rights. Animals are in an even more precarious position because they can't defend themselves at all. Unlike women, every single one of their interests depends on a small handful of humans who can be bothered to consult their consciences.
