Let's talk about Abortion

For many years now, there has been a heated debate over whether or not abortion should be legal. Those who are Pro-Life say that abortion is wrong and those who are Pro-Choice say that it is not. What I find dismally depressing about the topic is that each side is arguing a completely different point.

 

Let’s break down the implications behind the names of each group. Pro-LIFE means that the fetus inside a woman’s uterus is a human being and should be kept alive. Pro-CHOICE means that the woman should have the right to decide what she does with her body. The two arguments are not mutually exclusive. You can completely agree with both statements and still not agree on abortion. Why? Because you’re talking about different things.

 

As a result, I see an endless amount of rage and vitriol coming from both sides. They literally hate each other. One side calls the other murderers and in return is accused of stripping women of their rights.

 

We cannot have a meaningful conversation until we agree on what we are talking about.

 

If you are Pro-Life, please stop accusing them of murder. It’s not helping anything. To someone who does not believes that a fetus is a baby until a certain point in the pregnancy, removing that clump of cells is no worse than removing a tumor. If you hope to change someone’s belief about abortion, you have to convince them that the parasite has value. You have to explain why you believe what you believe. You have to communicate.

 

If you are Pro-Choice, please stop accusing them of stripping away your rights. To someone who truly believes that the fetus is a human life, they feel convicted to defend that life as a separate entity from the mother’s body. If you hope to change someone’s belief about abortion, you have to convince them that the baby does not have value.

 

In addressing each side, I intentionally used words that each side uses. To a Pro-Life advocate, it is a baby. To a Pro-Choice advocate, it is a parasite. We’re not having the same conversation. We need to use terms that both sides can connect to. If I call it a diamond and you call it a rock, we aren’t going to agree on its value.

 

Imagine, if you will, that you are a member of a certain race or sex that has historically been thwarted by society and has had to fight long and hard for equal rights. Now imagine that you have a benign tumor on your thigh and you want to get it removed, but the powers that be won’t let you because they say that altering your appearance is wrong so you have to live with that tumor for the rest of your life. Wouldn’t you be angry that they are taking away your right to choose?

 

Now imagine that you go to a country where it is perfectly legal to kill stray dogs. You’re walking down the street and you see a hungry puppy rummaging through a trash bag. Then a guy comes out of the building with a rifle and just shoots it and throws it in the garbage. Would you want to stop that from happening even though it’s socially acceptable?

 

Maybe these aren’t the best examples, but please just try to understand where your opposition is coming from.

 

Neither side are terrible people, they just have different beliefs. We will never make progress until we stop reducing these issues down to catch phrases and slogans.

 

The statement “My body, my choice” is true unless it’s not your body we’re talking about.

 

The statement “Abortion is murder” is true unless the fetus isn’t actually alive.

 

I’m not getting into what I believe about abortion because I think it’s irrelevant and I don’t want this to be a debate. I want people to stop hating each other. I want people to have conversations instead of arguments. I want people to understand each other.

 

Is a fetus a human life and, if so, what is the value of that life? That is the conversation we should be having.

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