No Sympathy: Abortion
Countless women tell us this same story every day and every day we mourn with them when they do. These women are quickly defended and heralded for being so strong in the face of adversity. People valiantly explain that “no one could truly understand the choice unless they’ve been through it.” Everlast has even put this warning into song cautioning us: “God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in her shoes ’cause then you really might know what it’s like to have to choose.” But these same defenders of a woman’s right to choose are also quick to remind us that they should have that right to choose because a fetus is a meaningless life form and not a human person. As they state it, an abortion is not murder, but merely a woman applying her right to maintain her body as she sees fit. But if an abortion is just the removal of a meaningless life form, then it is no more tragic than eating turkey on Thanksgiving or having plastic surgery to remove a birthmark. It is with these contradictory ideals in mind that I call on you to treat those who have had abortions in a new way-the right way: without sympathy.
Too often I hear people preface their views on abortion with, “Well, I would never have one, butâÂ?¦” There is an eerie sense that many behind the cause do not really wish to support it at all. Since the pinnacle of the women’s movement, it has been insinuated that if you are not okay with abortion you are not for equal rights. Today activists remind us that they are not for abortion, per se. No, rather, they are “pro-choice.” A statement that is akin to saying that one is not for stealing, but they would be okay with it if someone else chooses to do it. It is this very statement that exposes just how many people are uneasy about allowing someone to make this choice they purportedly wish to support.
If people really believed wholeheartedly in the principles of the pro-choice movement it wouldn’t even be referred to as such, but instead, the pro-abortion movement. Rather, proponents of abortion try to appeal to a broader group of people using semantics to disguise what they actually are in favor of. The pro-gun movement is clear in its message. It’s in favor of allowing people to choose to own guns, but would never try to claim to be “pro-choice.” (Though the idea of having pro-gun supporters aligned with pro-choice supporters under one umbrella would be quite an interesting mix.)
The sense that they are doing what is right is clearly what’s missing from the movement. No one dares say that an abortion is not a big deal, and yet the reason for allowing abortion to be legal is that people do not consider the removal of a fetus to be a big deal. I would be much more impressed with the woman who believes so completely in the pro-choice movement that she is not afraid to use abortion as birth control than one who has an abortion and tells us it was such a hard and distressing decision to make. The former, at least, believes in what she stands for.
It is either morally wrong to have an abortion and should be looked down upon like committing a murder or it is a medical procedure that has no more ethical value than getting a tooth pulled-but it isn’t both. I cannot think of one moment in my life when I was consoled and heralded for my strength in deciding to go through with dental or LASIK surgery. If you are willing to have an abortion then having an abortion should not be a big moral dilemma for you; merely an annoyance to schedule and have done. So the next time someone comes to you teary-eyed wanting to discuss the prospects of having an abortion, you should ask them where they were when you were trying to decide whether or not to get your wisdom teeth pulled. No sympathy.
