Actually, I wasn’t always. Growing up in a religious, socially conservative environment, I was taught to believe that abortion is wrong. When my school would do the penny drives for the United Way, I wasn’t allowed to participate since they “gave money to Planned Parenthood” which was loosely described as an organization that performed abortions. In college, I was more interested in issues affecting the Third World as I took classes on international development, war and peace, the Middle East, and colonization. I graduated, and without options as a Sociology/History major, headed off to Grad School. Within my first few weeks there, I had found a group of friends that would carry me through the very difficult experience that grad school turned out to be. The friends I was lucky to find were an eclectic mix, with different backgrounds and experiences but with one thing in common - they were feminists. Mostly in awe of these strong women, I met them at coffee shops, at the library, bookstores, cafe’s, and listened as they discussed women’s issues. It was WONDERFUL. I felt right at home. I was not totally unaware of feminism, as a sociology major, I attempted to do my senior project on perceptions of rape on campus (my school was much to conservative to admit that they might have a problem with dating violence and sexual violence so I was not allowed to conduct interviews) and explored feminist literature - as feminists “discovered” campus and acquaintance rape (see Peggy Sanday and her studies of fraternities and rape prone vs. rape free cultures). But never before had I encountered such a group of women and I loved it. As I continued my studies, I started to explore Women’s Studies classes, starting with Feminist Theory. We read a range of theorists and theories, from radical feminism, post colonialism feminist thought, black feminism, socialist, Marxist, liberal, and on and on. It is what I was born to read. The issues raised by these theorist were issues I could identify with, answered questions I had about why the world works the way it does, and gave me tools to change it. Discussions were interesting, and I happily engaged - until we came to the abortion discussion. Some feminists will lead you to believe that to be a feminist, you have to support abortion. I was taught abortion was wrong, so I didn’t know how to fit or if I could even call myself a feminist. I confessed my fear to my professor, and was surprised by her answer - not all feminists support abortion. Whew! I was safe! But, as I confronted feminist theory and contemplated the status of women in society, I became concerned again. Why do I not support abortion? Or do I? And why? I have come to believe that the abortion debate is much more complicated than “stop killing babies” or “keep your laws off my body.”
1. I am pro choice because women still earn 77 cents for every dollar men earn.
1. I am pro choice because women still earn 77 cents for every dollar men earn.
One reason why this pay gap persists is because of the "myth of the protected woman" - we don't need to pay women as much as men, because men are the head of households, and you know, women eventually drop out of the workforce to have babies and such. Because every woman has a man to provide for her? Because every woman wants to stay home with babies (or can even have children)? Because its fair that a woman with the same experience and education should make less than her male counterpart? NO.
But, unfortunately, this myth persists, as illustrated by a a case where Shana Maron, Erin Hofberg, and Greta Hanes allege that Virginia Tech violated the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by paying them less than men who were doing similar jobs. One incident clearly shows the blatant discrimination: Hanes applied for a new position at the university, and requested the same salary as the man who held the job before her. She was offered $20,000 less, because, "as a woman, and not the head of her household, she was not worth the same the man" and that "hiring a woman can be a liability and a waste of space because women could become pregnant and miss work." More on this story is available here.
But, unfortunately, this myth persists, as illustrated by a a case where Shana Maron, Erin Hofberg, and Greta Hanes allege that Virginia Tech violated the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by paying them less than men who were doing similar jobs. One incident clearly shows the blatant discrimination: Hanes applied for a new position at the university, and requested the same salary as the man who held the job before her. She was offered $20,000 less, because, "as a woman, and not the head of her household, she was not worth the same the man" and that "hiring a woman can be a liability and a waste of space because women could become pregnant and miss work." More on this story is available here.
If we are going to treat women as second class citizens in the workforce, and deny them wages they are entitled to, and expect them to sometimes raise their children all on their own, then I don't see how we can not have abortion be a choice.
2. I'm pro choice because we came very close this past week to defunding an organization that helps prevent pregnancy. I've written about that here, so for now, I'll let Steven Colbert take over
3. I'm pro choice because pharmacists can decide not to sell the morning after pill or birth control. This might be a case where "keep your laws off my body" is an appropriate response!
4. I'm pro choice because we live in a rape culture. What is a rape culture? "It is a complex of beliefs that encourages male sexual aggression and supports violence against women. It is a society where violence is seen as sexy and sexuality as violent. In a rape culture, women perceive a continuum of threatened violence that ranges from sexual remarks to sexual touching to rape. A rape culture condones physical and emotional terrorism against women and presents it as the norm." (Transforming a Rape Culture) According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, there were 247,730 rapes and/or sexual assaults in 2002. 678 rapes a day or 28 each hour. Even then, a majority of women don't report their assaults: when the offender is a boyfriend or current or former husband, 75% of victims do not report the assault. When the offender is a friend or acquaintance , about 71% do not report the assault. As Andrea Dowkin said: "It is astonishing that in all our worlds of feminism and anti-sexism we never talk seriously about ending rape. Ending it. Stopping it. No more. No more rape."
5. I'm pro choice because I believe that we are not, in fact killing babies. We are preventing a baby to be born, but I don’t believe that, when aborted, the fetus is a baby. And if I am wrong, I don’t believe in a God that would send these babies to hell.
6. I'm pro choice because for a long time, the only sex education in a lot of our high schools was abstinence only sex education (which is a trend that is reversing, for now, at least).
The Chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Dr. Jonathan Klein has said: "Even though there is a great enthusiasm in some circles for abstinence-only interventions, the evidence does not support abstinence-only interventions as the best way to keep young people from unintended pregnancy."
If we have not been teaching our children how to prevent pregnancy, how do we expect them to not have unplanned pregnancy??
I still don’t like abortion, in fact, I would like it if it happened less (in fact, a lot less). But until we live in a society that does not treat women as second class citizens, I will continue to support a women’s right to choose. We live in a society that unjustly judges poor women, in fact, punishes them (have you noticed the rhetoric in the news these days?). I believe its easy to say "abortion is not the answer" if you are in a loving, committed relationship, with support systems and resources. Until you walk in the shoes of a woman who is making minimum wage, or attempt to understand what its like to live in an abusive relationship with no support system or options, or be a woman who is working SO very hard to someday make her life better, WE shouldn't judge her for the choices she HAS to make. Until then, I’ll keep raising hell and advocate for change where I can.
4. I'm pro choice because we live in a rape culture. What is a rape culture? "It is a complex of beliefs that encourages male sexual aggression and supports violence against women. It is a society where violence is seen as sexy and sexuality as violent. In a rape culture, women perceive a continuum of threatened violence that ranges from sexual remarks to sexual touching to rape. A rape culture condones physical and emotional terrorism against women and presents it as the norm." (Transforming a Rape Culture) According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, there were 247,730 rapes and/or sexual assaults in 2002. 678 rapes a day or 28 each hour. Even then, a majority of women don't report their assaults: when the offender is a boyfriend or current or former husband, 75% of victims do not report the assault. When the offender is a friend or acquaintance , about 71% do not report the assault. As Andrea Dowkin said: "It is astonishing that in all our worlds of feminism and anti-sexism we never talk seriously about ending rape. Ending it. Stopping it. No more. No more rape."
5. I'm pro choice because I believe that we are not, in fact killing babies. We are preventing a baby to be born, but I don’t believe that, when aborted, the fetus is a baby. And if I am wrong, I don’t believe in a God that would send these babies to hell.
6. I'm pro choice because for a long time, the only sex education in a lot of our high schools was abstinence only sex education (which is a trend that is reversing, for now, at least).
The Chairman of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Dr. Jonathan Klein has said: "Even though there is a great enthusiasm in some circles for abstinence-only interventions, the evidence does not support abstinence-only interventions as the best way to keep young people from unintended pregnancy."
If we have not been teaching our children how to prevent pregnancy, how do we expect them to not have unplanned pregnancy??
I still don’t like abortion, in fact, I would like it if it happened less (in fact, a lot less). But until we live in a society that does not treat women as second class citizens, I will continue to support a women’s right to choose. We live in a society that unjustly judges poor women, in fact, punishes them (have you noticed the rhetoric in the news these days?). I believe its easy to say "abortion is not the answer" if you are in a loving, committed relationship, with support systems and resources. Until you walk in the shoes of a woman who is making minimum wage, or attempt to understand what its like to live in an abusive relationship with no support system or options, or be a woman who is working SO very hard to someday make her life better, WE shouldn't judge her for the choices she HAS to make. Until then, I’ll keep raising hell and advocate for change where I can.
Well said. It is sickening to think that a woman can be raped, and then she can be told that she probably asked for it, and then also be told that she can't get an abortion for it. I know a lot of people think abortion is ok for rape and incest and should not be available outside those circumstances, but I think having rape and incest be the basis for legitimizing all abortions is wrong. I think abortion needs to always be available to all women, because who is going to be the person who decides if a woman was indeed raped and if she deserves an abortion? Probably some self-righteous doctor or pharmacist who doesn't know how to judge at all! Therefore, it should always be legal for any woman wanting it.
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