Following the annual March for Life in Washington, DC, Russia Today featured a segment about the continued debate over abortion in the United States. Following the segment, RT hosted a debate between pro-choice and anti-choice advocates. I represented Feminists for Choice, and Anna Franzonello represented Americans United for Life.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg19QxxH9-4[/youtube]
We debated several aspects of the abortion debate, including whether the Supreme Court was the best mechanism for legalizing abortion, or whether states should have been given the opportunity to make the decision themselves. We discussed taxpayer funding for abortion, and also explained why we attended the March for Life. It was my first television appearance so naturally I was incredibly nervous, but I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. The show’s host was great, and the Ms. Franzonello was a good co-panelist.
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Sarah's first book, Generation Roe: Inside the Future of the Pro-Choice Movement, will be out March 2013. For more information, follow her on Twitter @saraherdreich, or check out saraherdreich.com. |
Great job tackling the issues, Sarah. Ya’ll really got into some interesting aspects of the abortion debate. Way to keep it civilized.
Excellent job! Amazing how fast that time goes. I wish all discussions of choice could be this polite. And I have to say it’s great to see three women up there.
Watched this from a link on my facebook page. Awesome job Anna!!!! So proud of our pro-life women who stand up for the rights of women AND children!!! Very nice to see such a civil argument from BOTH sides as well!
Great job Sarah! One of the things that bothers me the most about Anna’s argument and goal of making abortion illegal, is it assumes that women cannot make decisions for themselves. She said that abortion is bad for women and used the example of the existence of abortion support groups as proof that abortion is bad for women. And her answer to that is to make abortion illegal, which doesn’t do anything to make actual abortions less bad or reduce the abortion rate, it only presumes that others know better than women, and women must be legally forced to make the decision that is ‘right’ for them.
Thanks for the positive feedback, guys! Kim, I agree with you that Anna’s argument regarding abortion being bad for women is troubling, and I wish there had been more time to explore that idea. It’s particularly interesting in light of the Danish study released yesterday, that shows that having an abortion does not lead to an increase in mental health problems.
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