Why Are You Pro-Choice
Yesterday the folks at I Am Dr. Tiller asked Tweeters “why are you pro-choice?” I loved reading all of the responses, so I’m totally going to share them over here.
HappyFeminist b/c if fetus still depends on woman 2 live, the woman’s life should come 1st. Choice is 4 safety of woman.
KellyHK as a mother of 2 girls and a doc, I believe that sovereignty over one’s body is an undisputed human right.
DantesVirgil b/c we are not reducible to wombs. We are 1st class citizens, state has no right to our bodies.
JItzkowitz b/c mistakes or lack of education shouldn’t have to ruin lives, just b/c someone else says so.
nicki2377 If women are not allowed to control reproduction, they are not free.
mronhubbard Because every child born should be LOVED & WANTED.
alessca because the government has no place in a woman’s womb.
Kimli The ability to choose is what separates us from animals.
alecialudwick because I will not allow my or my daughters body to be ruled by others beliefs.
NathalieBarney Because I. Trust. Women.
yonghokim porque son las mujeres mismas quienes tienen derecho a decidir si van a optar o no por la vida
nfprha Health care decisions should be left 2 patients & health care providers, made based on science, not ideology
There’s so many more great responses on IamDrTiller’s Twitter page, so go check them out.
1John
wrote on 9 July 2009 at 7:57
I am pro-life because I see the pro-abortion movement as made up of the MOST self centered people I have ever met. Without exception, pro abortion activists use every possible selfish motivation, trying to justify their ego and lack of personal responsibility.
2Bekah Ferguson
wrote on 9 July 2009 at 8:00
HappyFeminist said: “b/c if fetus still depends on woman 2 live, the woman’s life should come 1st. Choice is 4 safety of woman.”
Less than 1% of *all* abortions take place for the reasons of rape, incest and the mother’s health *combined.*
JItzkowitz said: “b/c mistakes or lack of education shouldn’t have to ruin lives, just b/c someone else says so.”
Nor should mistakes or lack of education be allowed to ruin (destroy) the life of the preborn child.
nicki2377 said: “If women are not allowed to control reproduction, they are not free.”
A woman’s control over reproduction begins with the choice to have sex and ends with her choice to use contraceptives. If an accidental pregnancy occurs, control over her reproduction is clearly lost. Anything after the fact requires taking the life of an innocent human being.
mronhubbard said: “Because every child born should be LOVED & WANTED.”
The majority of documented child abuse cases are actually of children who were very much wanted at birth. The feelings wore off as the infants grew into toddlers. They became unwanted long after they were conceived and born.
alecialudwick said: “because I will not allow my or my daughters body to be ruled by others beliefs”
Oh, and what about your granddaughter’s or grandson’s body?
nfprha said: “Health care decisions should be left 2 patients & health care providers, made based on science, not ideology”
It is a scientific fact that a new human life comes into existence at conception. At fertilization – when sperm and egg join together – there is a complete set of DNA in place which is distinct from the mother. Eye color, hair color, gender, and intelligence are all determined at conception.
The only ideology I see is the belief that a preborn child does not become a *person* until they have consciousness. This is a clear example of ideology versus science. Science can not tell us when a human being becomes a person, it can only tells us when human life begins. It begins at conception.
3JoyfulC
wrote on 9 July 2009 at 16:20
I’m pro choice for many reasons. Some are: up until just recently, the leading cause of death for reproductive aged females was complications of childbirth/pregnancy (and still is in the developing world). This not only took women’s lives but left children orphaned, husbands widowed. Another reason comes down to thinking about life and death. Anyone who is alive has a life and a death, but there’s no guarantee on length of life. Some die before being born; others may live more than 100 years. Death finds us all, and so no person can say that they are injured by death, nor can they truly claim that their life was “cut short.” The people who are most adversely affected by death are the living, those who will miss a person’s presence and contributions. In the case of a fetus, the only person who has a real relationship with that fetus — which I admit is a person from the moment of conception — is the mother carrying the child. She is the only person who has a true relationship with that unborn person. Others might claim to have a relationship, but that relationship exists solely in the realm of ideas — not reality. And so, if the mother feels that abortion is the best choice for herself, her already-born children and/or husband, or even for the child she’s carrying, then it’s her decision to make and to grieve over. (And yes, many women who choose to abort grieve their whole lives.) People kill people every day, people who threaten others and innocent people minding their own business, we kill directly and indirectly (as in, it’s tough to believe that we freak over a dead fetus while allowing little kids to die all around the world over the price of a little rice or a cup of potable water). Abortion shouldn’t be a first line of birth control, but a last resort. Every effort should be made to reduce the need for abortion: by improving contraception and sexual education, by improving quality of life for women who choose to be mothers and their children, regardless of whether the mother made socially acceptable choices, and reducing child poverty. Unfortunately, people are too mean-spirited. They love nothing better than to take their harsh judgments out on women they view as having been foolish and their innocent kids too. Too bad we don’t spend less effort arguing over abortion and more effort improving the quality of life for kids. I’d also like to note that nearly all the women I ever met who had an abortion either were using birth control at the time they conceived, or believed it wasn’t necessary (due to menopause or having been told they were infertile).
4jsb16
wrote on 9 July 2009 at 16:39
I assume John and Bekah Ferguson will volunteer to cover burial costs for every menstrual period that might possibly contain a fertilized egg, since they believe that life begins at conception, and there’s no way to tell a fertilized egg from an unfertilized egg prior to implantation. I further assume that Bekah is an enthusiastic advocate for full sex education, so that all girls (and boys) can know how to use contraception.
I’d also like to see sources for the 1% number, as I don’t believe it for a moment.
5freewomyn
wrote on 9 July 2009 at 18:57
John – until you’ve ever had to personally ponder whether or not to carry a pregnancy to term, you should stop speaking about something that will never be a personal problem.
Bekah, you say: “The majority of documented child abuse cases are actually of children who were very much wanted at birth. The feelings wore off as the infants grew into toddlers. They became unwanted long after they were conceived and born.”
This is proof that not everyone should be a parent. I don’t know where you get your “facts,” but this would be impossible to prove.
Joyful says “Too bad we don’t spend less effort arguing over abortion and more effort improving the quality of life for kids. ”
Amen to that, sister. Let’s spend more time and attention improving our schools and quality health care for everyone and stop bickering over ideological issues.
JSB, two tumbs up.
6freewomyn
wrote on 9 July 2009 at 18:59
Oh, as for why am I pro-choice: because a woman’s control over her reproduction is control over her destiny – it’s fundamental to everything else.
7Bekah Ferguson
wrote on 10 July 2009 at 11:16
freewomyn said: “This is proof that not everyone should be a parent.”
Agreed. But that doesn’t mean we should kill their preborn children anymore than we should kill unwanted toddlers, preteens and teens.
8Bekah Ferguson
wrote on 10 July 2009 at 11:45
jsb16:
Due to significant medical advances, the danger of pregnancy to the mother has declined considerably since 1967. Yet even at that time Dr. Alan Guttmacher of Planned Parenthood acknowledged, “Today it is possible for almost any patient to be brought through pregnancy alive, unless she suffers from a fatal illness such as cancer or leukemia, and, if so, abortion would be unlikely to prolong, much less save, life.”
Excerpt from: http://www.epm.org/artman2/publish/prolife_womens_health/mothers_life.shtml
9Christine
wrote on 12 July 2009 at 22:16
I am pro-choice (NOT pro-abortion, John… there is a difference: get it right) because there is a debate over whether or not a fetus is a human being, and there is NO debate over whether or not a womyn is a human being. And when it comes down to it, the human rights of a living, breathing, clearly-alive womyn ALWAYS logically take precedence over the “human rights” of the possibly-not-alive fetus.