FRAMESHOP: Frameshop: Oh, Baby!
Via Evan at Peek
This lengthy post was mentioned on Peek as a discussion of how Dems might reframe the abortion issue. As usual, the guys don't get it.
My Comments:
The missing element in your argument is autonomy. Women are autonomous beings. Free citizens in a Democracy. We are not incubators, and we still do not have representative input in government. No body of rich old white men has any business telling young women how to conduct their lives, period.
"Slave births" harm society as a whole by increasing the crime rate and placing an additional burden on social services but that's not the real issue, either. It's that my actual life takes precedence over what may or may not constitute life, and as an American citizen I am guaranteed the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Whether or not I choose to host a fetus has a dramatic and unchanging effect on my happines, and may impact my life. I agree that we need to stop calling it 'choice' - it is NOT a 'choice' if it is your only chance to survive.
posted by Morgaine @ 11:01 PM
4 Comments:
"As usual, the guys don't get it."
Do they ever? Granted some do, but seriously, they do have the luxury and convenience of 'not getting it'. Until one of them finds themselves pregnant and having the government stripping them of their civil rights and liberties all because they are pregnant, I'm afraid most guys won't get it or respect a woman's right to be an autonomous human being, with equal rights and liberties--that are protected and preserved by the government.
Yes! A thousand times yes!
Let's get rid of "choice" and call it "reproductive sovereignty" or "uterine autonomy" or how about "A Womb of One's Own"?
Personally, I beleive that all life is sacred and I make an effort to follow principles of non-violence and lovingkindess toward self and others, but I retain the right to decide what happens in my own womb.
We need to train a new generation of midwives not only in home and natural birth techniques, but also in home and natural abortion techniques. There are herbs that can safely induce menstruation if used at the time of your normal period. Not every fertilized egg finds a home in the uterus, not every zygote roots. Midwives can assist women who need this kind of intervention, but the women need to be empowered and paying attention and not wait overlong.
We need to teach girls that they are in control of their sexuality and their capacity to reproduce.
I am a male, adamantly pro-choice, and I agree. I believe this is a private matter which should be left between a woman, her doctor, and if she chooses, a spiritual advisor and/or partner.
Abortion opponents might argue that "since you concede that a fetus 'may constitute' life, if a woman chooses to engage in unprotected sexual intercourse, and becomes pregnant, she should take responsibility for her choice, and protect and preserve what 'may constitute' life. In such a case, abortion should not be a legal option.
This principal should also apply when protection fails, as the risk is omnipresent, known, and avoidable through abstinence to any woman or couple who does not wish to assume responsibilty for what 'may constitute' life".
How do you suggest I counter such an arugment?
First off, thanks for the reply to my piece. It's great to get good feedback from bloggers who care very deeply about the issue.
I am concerned, though, that the readers of What She Said might inadvertantly be using my piece an opportunity to voice a position that has little to do with what I wrote. My piece is calling for a deeper understanding of what is actually written in Roe v. Wade, and the reactions seem to suggest that I am arguing against a woman's right to have an abortion. In fact, I am not arguing in any way against a woman's right to have an abortion. Quite the opposite. I am suggesting that the more people who understand what is written in Roe v. Wade, the more people a woman's right to have an abortion will be protected. My piece even links to the same copy of the ruling as linked on the main page of the What She Said blog.
The main point in 'Oh, Baby!' is that Americans do not know what Roe v. Wade says. The Blackmun opinion explicity states that it does not believe in a woman's unlimited right to an abortion, but rather believes that abortion should be regulated and that the state has an interest--above and beyond women's rights--in protecting children.
Those two issues have resulted in widespread access to safe abortions in this country, available to women acting autonomously. True, this access and that autonomy has been curtailed in recent years. But I would argue that this is because of an attack on Blackmun's opinion and a diminising number of Americans who actually know what it says. Most Americans probably believe the view of Roe v. Wade put forth in the dissent by Justice White, which is a hateful piece of writing that completely misrepresents Blackmun's argument.
Now, I get the sense that What She Said readers are responding as if I am politically opposed to abortion or evern worse: as if, based on my essay, I am somehow against women's autonomy or equality. I am not nor have I ever been.
I invite everyone to take another look at the essay. Where I offer critique, it is only of the word 'choice'--the word only, not the idea of woman's autonomy or the importance of eliminating criminal statutes barring abortion. Although I introduce the idea of thinking about potential life, I do so because it helps to explain the logic of the court ruling. If Americans really understood how much Roe v. Wade discusses the value of protecting potential human life--the opponents of abortion and women's autonomy would be shouted back into their churches.
It is true, sadly, that Blackmun did not discuss the problem of unequal representation in our system of government--the persistent problem whereby women are excluded from our democratic system. But I don't think Blackmun impedes this discussion. And I think he would be the first to support those arguments as a citizen, even if he was not able to write them into the opinion on that particular case.
Please, take a second look at the essay because I think you will find that--with the exception of the missing point about autonomy--it makes a pretty sound argument, and that it actually puts forwarrd the case that needs to be made if we are going to protect women's access to safe abortions in this country.
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