Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Reasons to be Antichoice

Before I begin, I would like to mention that today is Abortion Provider appreciation day. So, THANK YOU to all those wonderful people out there who provide abortions. Secondly, tomorrow is a doula-healthcare action day: Click here to learn more.

Now, onto my topic. I would like to list, and possibly explain, the reasons I see that people choose to be antichoice.

Jealousy. This reason most often causes infertile antichoicers to fight against pregnant women. Infertile antichoicers are incredibly jealous of other women and their ability to produce offspring. When a woman chooses to not have offspring, an infertile anti will be outraged; why would someone "throw away" something she* wants with all her body and soul? For this reason, she becomes angry at pregnant women, especially those choosing abortion. She decides that other women should give their babies to her, because she wants them so badly. Somehow, she twists it in her mind that other people have a *duty* to produce offspring for *her.* Like all antis, she doesn't care for the pregnant woman's rights.

Hatred. This is probably the majority of the antichoice movement. Many, many, many antis will say "Well she had sex so now she has to have a baby!" This foolish idea (which completely ignores miscarriage and even stillbirth, let alone abortion) stems from their hatred of women who have sex when they "not supposed to." "Not supposed to," of course, is some magical time completely made up in the anti's head. It could be that she's not supposed to have sex as a teenager; she's not supposed to have sex as a college student; she's not supposed to have sex when drunk; she's not supposed to have sex when she doesn't want to have kids; she's not supposed to have sex if she can't afford a(nother) child; she's not supposed to have sex if pregnancy endangers her life- etc. None of these are laws (moral or legal). These are simply random qualifiers created in the anti's head. If a woman "disobeys" and breaks these qualifiers by having sex when she's not supposed to- then the anti wants her punished. She will be punished with pregnancy. Antis who tell women they have a "responsibility" to give birth really just want to see women suffer for having sex when the anti deemed she was "not supposed to."

Ignorance. Unfortunately, this is common among antichoicers as well. This can range from ignorance about pregnancy, to ignorance about abortion and ignorance about the law. Some examples include:

1. Believing that abortion deals with newborns instead of embryos and fetuses.
2. Believing that abortion is more dangerous than full term pregnancy and childbirth (Its not).
3. Believing that abortion is murder (that's wrong too).
4. Thinking that abortion causes all women to suffer regret and pain (Nope).

There are many more misunderstandings and incorrect beliefs. All of them can lead to an antichoice position. I think, of all the reasons to be antichoice, this is the "best" one in terms of prochoicers because this belief has the possibility to be fixed. All we need is a little education! Although getting antis to listen is not always easy.


These are really the only reasons I can think of for being antichoice. Do you think I missed some? Please leave a comment, and explain!

*Whether I say "she" or "he," all of these can apply to male or female (or trans) antichoicers. It's simply easier to type using one pronoun.

22 comments:

  1. I'm pro-life and have never used any of those three reasons to remain pro-life.

    1. I'm not jealous. My wife is now pregnant with our very first son. Even before my wife was pregnant I had no jealousy over the pregnancies of other people. Being jealous over another person's pregnancy just sounds really silly to me. I have never heard a pro-lifer state that he/she is personally jealous of another person's pregnancy. I'm sure that there are people who are jealous of other people's pregnancies, I agree.

    2. I do not have hatred towards pro-choice people. My wife and I have friends who state "I'm against abortion but I would not take away the choice for others to have one." These people are indeed pro-choice yet some of these people are great friends of ours. I do have some disdain and remorse towards the actions of others that result in the direct killing of unborn children. However, I certainly do not have hatred towards any of these people.

    3. Ignorance is something I have tried to combat day after day. I am a Registered Nurse and have gained much medical knowledge throughout school. When I took the anatomy, physiology, and OB/GYN classes I learned much regarding the nature of human development in the womb. I have also used many resources over the years to learn about the nature of the conceptus, zygote, embryo, fetus, and newborn. I have also personally helped care for prematurely born neonates in the NICU at a local hospital (one at 22 weeks). I think I have a somewhat solid base of knowledge to combat the ignorance that you speak. Have you ever heard of the scientist named Gerard Nadal? You should check out his blog: http://gerardnadal.com/
    a. The term "baby" is not a developmental term. The proper terms are zygote, embryo, fetus, neonate, infant, school-aged child, adolescent, etc. Thus, the use of the word "baby" is meant to convey endearment rather than technical terminology.
    b. Not all pro-lifers believe that abortion is more dangerous than childbirth. However, the statistics regarding this matter are extremely under-reported. Furthermore, maternal death rates include abortion death rates. This is contrary to abortion death rates which, obviously, do not include maternal death rates.
    c. "Murder" is indeed a legal term. In the United States abortion is currently not murder. I understand this very clearly. However, if law were to ever consider the unborn in the same way that science considers the unborn then the term "murder" would indeed be used to describe an elective abortion.
    d. Not all women experience regret and emotional pain following an abortion. However, there are many women who do. I have never heard a pro-lifer claim that every single woman who has had an abortion experiences regret and emotional pain. Refer to http://www.silentnomoreawareness.org/ for over 800 personal stories regarding abortion regret.

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  2. "Do you think I missed some? Please leave a comment, and explain!"

    Yea, I think you have missed one reason why people are pro-life. Most people are pro-life because they wish to prevent the intentional killing of innocent human beings. You might want to add that to your list. This is indeed THE reason why I am pro-life.

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  3. Thanks for your comments, SegaMon. I should clarify, that you don't have to feel all of these feelings to be antichoice. Some might be antichoice just because of jealousy, while others are antichoice just because of ignorance.

    I'm glad to hear that you do not think you fit any of the definitions I've listed above, especially the hatred and jealousy categories. It's refreshing to hear an antichoicer admit that abortion is not murder. However, I think you go to far as to claim that if a z/e/f is considered equal, abortion would be murder.

    In terms of regret: when you say 800 stories, it sounds like a big number. When we compare that to 50 million abortions, 800 is pretty small. I wouldn't say "many" women regret their abortion, because most women don't regret (even allowing for those who regret but do not post on silentnomore).

    I would like to ask: Do you fight against war? Do you fight against the death penalty? Do you fight FOR health care reform?

    Many antichoicers *claim* to be against the killing of innocent people, but then they support war, death penalty (Texas still kills mentally challenged people http://www.texasobserver.org/cover-story/cracked ), and stand against health care reform- which could stop thousands of people from dying every year.

    Actions speak louder than words.

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  4. I've seen a lot of the jealous anti-choicers. I feel for infertile people who want biological children. I really do. I just don't see that as an excuse to force other people through pregnancies.

    I don't even bother with the antis that say that all women regret their abortions. If they hate women enough to make all of the women who do not regret their abortions invisible and silenced, then they're most likely beyond help.

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  5. Christian Prochoicer,

    "When we compare that to 50 million abortions, 800 is pretty small."

    The majority of Americans have never heard of the Silent No More Awareness. Thus, people are not able to post their story online to a website to which they do not know of. It would be more fair to compare 800 "regret" stories at silentnomoreawareness.org to the 20 "positive" stories at 45millionvoices.org. I never said that all women who have abortions regret them. I said that many (or possibly most) women who have abortions regret them.

    "Do you fight against war?"

    I would certainly prefer that no war would ever be necessary. In fact, I remained skeptical regarding the Iraq war although now it has appeared to have been successful. When I discuss the topic of war, I tell everyone that it should be avoided as much as humanly possible. As was especially demonstrated by WWII, there are some unfortunate times during which war is unavoidable. I pray for the ability to avoid all wars in any way possible.

    "Do you fight against the death penalty?"

    Yes. I am against the death penalty. I used to be in favor of it in very limited circumstances. However, I no longer believe that way. Even though the majority of those sentenced to death are guilty of heinous crimes, their lives should not be taken away because of it.

    "Do you fight FOR health care reform?"

    I am a nurse and see a great need for healthcare reform (mainly in the cost and how some services are provided to certain populations in need). However, the kind of healthcare reform that Democrats and Obama propose is something that I do not support. Our current system, although with problems, is certainly better off without the currently considered reforms that the Democrats and Obama are currently trying to enact against the will of the people.

    "It's refreshing to hear an antichoicer admit that abortion is not murder."

    The term "murder" is strictly a legal term. If a neonate was not considered a human person by law then killing neonate would also not be considered "murder." Again, the term "murder" is strictly a legal term.

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    1. There are more than one definition of the word murder. Sometimes discussing abortion is murder :-)

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  6. SilentNoMore is not the only location where people can show their feelings after an abortion. Numerous studies have been done, all over the world, which all conclude the same thing- most women feel relief and not regret after an abortion, short and long term.

    Do you speak out against war and abortion in the same way? Abortion and the death penalty, the same way? It sounds like you accept war, and you even admit that you used to accept the death penalty.


    You don't have to answer these questions if you don't want to, simply things to consider. I'm certain that most of the antichoicers I speak with would not respond in the way that you do.

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  7. I wrote a really long response but your website erased it. I don't have time to rewrite it. Maybe I'll rewrite it sometime later.

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  8. So, if we aren't pro-life for any of your reasons listed, then we're ignorant. Well, thank GOD we have a Christian who is willing support the murder (or do you prefer termination of life? Not sure what the difference is...) who set me straight! You can't honestly believe that God would think its ok to be supportive of abortions do you? Not when adoption is such a much less controversial subject? If you honestly believe that, then you don't know the same God I do. God smote the WORLD because of their wickedness. Never forget that the ONLY way to him is through his son, Jesus Christ! That's not my opinion, its in the bible! Being a good person and not believing will not get you to heaven.

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  9. Anonymous, you complain about being called ignorant (though I must point out, it is you who placed yourself in that category) yet at the same time you claim abortion is murder. You are ignorant to the fact that abortion is *not* murder, thus proving my point. Not even the Bible says that abortion is murder.

    I think God gave us free will. I think there is nothing in the Bible against abortion, and even some verses which could be interpreted as for it. I never saw anything in the Bible which says "adoption is a good option, abortion is not." Abortion is only controversial because antichoicers make it controversial.

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  10. According to scientific research and FACT, an unborn child [or "fetus"] has a heartbeat at 23 days after conception, and brain waves at 40 days. According to biology, the fetus is alive (as are all other things with heartbeats & brainwaves). As far as all the reasons you listed as to why people who are "anti-choice" (or Pro-Life) are the way they are, I am not the way I am for any of those reasons. I am Pro-Life because I believe that it is wrong to stop the heartbeat of an innocent, living thing. I am trying my best to refrain from calling YOU ignorant b/c YOU are the one making the rediculous claim that something that is growing & developing rapily, has a heartbeat, and has brainwaves "isn't alive". That is an erroneous statement.
    You say that you are a Christian and that the Bible says nothing about killing the unborn, but it actually does. In Exodus 21:22 it talks about a fine that must be paid if two men get in a fight and in the course of the fight, hit a pregnant woman and cause her to have a miscarraige. The amount that must be paid was determined by the amount of damage done to the baby. If God made a law specifically regarding the unborn, don't you think that they mean something to Him? It would appear so. Especially considering the verses where God is talking about how he "knew" us before we were born. (Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. Before you were born I set you apart... Jeremiah 1:5).
    -Psalms 139:13-14 states "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made." It's pretty evident that we are the masterpiece of a GREAT Creator who took incredible care in creating us...for His glory.
    It is not up to us to "play God" and try to determine when a baby should be allowed to be born and when it should be aborted.

    We serve a God who is against murdering the innocent (Exodus 20:13). As Christians, we are supposed to have the mindset of Christ and follow His teachings and instructions. Since an unborn baby has a heartbeat, it is alive...and therefor falls under the "Do not murder" set of guidlines. Pretty simple if you ask me.

    God bless!! :)

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  11. No, Anonymous, an embryo does not have brain waves at 40 days. This is false science which has been spread around- a lie, as most people say [1&2].

    I don't think I ever claimed that an embryo or a fetus was not alive. Why do all antichoicers think that prochoicers believe a fetus isn't alive? The fact that you bring this up proves you are ignorant to the law- basic American beliefs and freedoms.

    It'd be interesting to see if you're also pro-war or vegan.

    Exodus 21:22 has been used both by prochoice and antichoice groups to make claims about the Bible supporting their side. Though, I don't think I mentioned anything about the Bible in this post, so I don't know why you're bringing that up (twice now you've misquoted me?).

    As for God knowing us in the womb... God knows your great great great great great great great grandkids. He knows them right now- but they're obviously not persons right now.

    If you are against "playing God," does that mean if you get cancer you would not seek treatment? You don't get vaccines? You don't get any surgery? Because all those are playing God as well.

    I agree, fetuses should not be murdered (if that's possible). However, abortion is not murder. Thanks for your comments, though.

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  12. "When you do a D & C most of the tissue is removed by the Olden forceps or ring clamp and you actually get gross parts of the fetus out. So you can see a miniature person so to speak, and even now I occasionally feel a little peculiar about it because as a physician I'm trained to conserve life and here I am destroying life."
    -Dr. Benjamin Kalish, abortionist

    It [abortion] goes against all things which are natural. It's a termination of a life, however you look at it."
    -Abortionist Robert Harris

    "It [abortion] is a form of killing. You're ending a life." -Abortion Advocate and President of the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, Ron Fitzsimmons

    "I am destroying a life." -Dr. Harrison, who has terminated more than 20,000 pregnancies

    All these are quotes from abortionists who have performed numerous abortions and know what they are doing...even THEY recognize that abortion is killing. As for your statement that it is a "lie" that a fetus has brainwaves at 40 days. It's ignorant of you to flat out say it's a lie when scientisits and doctors have proven that it is true. Pick up the nearest biology text book and you will see that this is true. Planned Parenthood and other abortion promoters have been lying to women telling them that their unborn baby isn't deveoloping into a person, isn't more than a mass of cells, and isn't a baby at all until it is outside the body. This isn't true at all. Infact, an unborn baby's internal organs are all functioning by about 8 wks into the pregnancy...that's before some people even know that they're pregnant. So, you've got a hearbeat, brainwaves, and functioning organs..before the mom even knows she's pregnant. It's a developing baby, regardless of how much you would rather it not be for the sake of your agenda.

    One thing I noticed is that you didn't address the fact that a fetus has a heartbeat. Lets say, even if the fetus *didn't* have brainwaves at 40 days, it still has a heartbeat. Which means that stopping that hearbeat would be murdering it (b/c it's alive). It strikes me as odd that you say that you recognize the fact that it's alive, but you fail to see how stopping that heartbeat is killing [murdering] it.
    You say that you "agree, fetuses should not be murdered (if that's possible). However, abortion is not murder." How can you say abortion isn't murder if you admit that the fetus is alive.. and it clearly isn't after an aborion?? In your opinion then, how else could you murder a fetus? And how would it be different than an abortion??


    As far as what you said about me misquoting you because you don't think you "mentioned anything about the Bible in this post", I was referring to your biblical referrence in the last comment you posted before mine. (under the 1s Anon's comment).

    I don't believe we should play God when it comes to murdering someone. Getting treatment for cancer, and ending your unborn child's life are two TOTALLY different things and it is quite foolish to say that since I am against the latter that I must be against the first.

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  13. If you really want to know, no I am not pro-[unnecessary]war, and I am not a vegan. But I am also not pro-sitting back and letting your country be attacked and destroyed by those who want to destroy peace and security world-wide. God wasn't anti-war. He wasn't against having His people fight against the countries/people groups that came against them and put them in danger. There are numerous times in the Word that God commands His people to rise up and fight, and that He promises to deliver their enemies into their hands.
    As far as not being vegan goes, I don't believe it's bad to eat animals or animal products because in Genesis (1:28-30) God gave man dominion over all animals and plants to use as food, for helping with working the fields, etc. responsibly.


    Thanks for taking the time to respond to my last comment! Have a blessed day!!

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  14. Anonymous, if you have proof of brain waves at 40 days, please provide it. Otherwise, I will continue to believe the scientific proof I have seen.

    Again, I never said that a fetus wasn't alive before an abortion. Why are you still acting like I think it's not alive?

    If a fetus was fully formed with all organs operational at 8 weeks, pregnancy wouldn't be 40 weeks long. It's prolife propaganda which has taught you to think these things (you're repeating things I've heard claimed before). Do you go to pregnancy websites which are not involved in the abortion debate? Do you visit medical websites? I do. This is where I obtain all my information about the development of the fetus. I've never looked to planned parenthood or other abortion supporting groups for fetal development information.

    As for your use of the term baby- no, the fetus is not a baby. A baby has already been born. That's what the definition of the word says.

    What does it matter, though, if you call it a fetus or a baby? Do you think saying fetus changes the species? Absolutely not. Many people recognize that a fetus is not a baby, just as a toddler is not a teenager.

    In terms of murder, simply because the fetus has a heartbeat does not make it murder to kill it. See above, ignorance of the law, as one of the reasons you're probably antichoice. Words have definitions and meanings- antichoice has worked and worked endlessly to change the meaning of words to have their way. I refuse to let you do so.

    Do you recognize that there are ways to kill a born, living human being which are not called murder? If you do, then why not recognize that there are ways to kill a fetus which are not murder, seeing how you consider the two things the same?

    As for the Bible comment- I see now where you got that from. I would like to clarify- I see nothing in the bible against abortion, but I do recognize that there are verses about fetal death. I do not think any of these verses prove the Bible is against abortion.

    In terms of "playing God," you are the one who claimed we should not do it. Why do you accept playing God in one case, but not the other?

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  15. You say you are against killing innocent life, yet you kill innocent life in eating meat, and accept the death of innocent life during war. How do you accept these two situations, in terms of your own faith?

    (As a side note, in Genesis God only gave us the plants to eat; Adam and Eve did not partake in animal meat as food.)

    I hope you're having a good day as well. :-)

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  16. http://www.ehd.org/ -- This may clear up some of the scientifically inaccurate information, Christian Prochoicer and anonymous poster. ^_^

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  17. Why I'm prolife:

    (Jealous? No. Hateful? No. Ignorant? No.)

    When I was sixteen, I worked on a project in high school that was the beginning of my research on this issue. I was horrified to see photographs of garbage cans and bloody buckets filled with dismembered and/or fully-formed, dead fetuses.

    Over the years, I’ve read countless testimonies of women (and men), who terribly regret their decisions to terminate their unborn children. They're plagued by guilt, anger, depression, and often despair. My heart breaks for them.

    Young women enter abortuariums in a desperate state of mind, have the ten minute surgery, and then go home. It isn’t until later that the impact of what they've done hits them. To their horror, they discover their unborn baby was more than just a clump of tissue, but by then it's too late.

    Chief Justice, Brian Dickson, of the Supreme Court of Canada, wrote: “Forcing a woman, by threat of criminal sanction to carry a foetus to term unless she meets certain criteria unrelated to her own priorities and aspirations, is a profound interference with a woman’s body and thus a violation of her security of the person.”

    I’ll never forget when I saw my daughter on ultrasound. I was only 12 weeks pregnant (two months along), and the image of that ultrasound is forever implanted in my mind’s eye. Tali was lying on her back with her legs sticking straight up, her arms moving, little fingers waving in the amniotic fluid. I could see her chin, her nose, the side profile of her face. And even though she was so fully formed already, she was only 5 cm long!

    According to the CDC, the majority of abortions take place between 7-13 weeks gestation. So, my question is, how can anyone say that to deny a woman an abortion is to profoundly interfere with her body? That little child within me, though only 5 cm long, was and is her own person. She is not me, and she never was me! Therefore, abortion would be a profound interference with her body and thus a violation of her (not my, “the woman’s”) security of the person.

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  18. Not all women regret their abortions. Just saying.

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  19. Also, I think Pro-Choice Christian just summed up three main reasons people are anti-choice, not that it applies to everyone. Knowing the people I do, I agree with the reasons.

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  20. I have been a part of the pro-life movement for over 25 years.

    I can tell you that the vast, vast amount of pro-lifers are not pro-life for the reasons you mention.

    They/We are pro-life because we believe abortion kills an unborn baby. We believe abortion takes a life. We believe science backs this up. Many of us have seen photos of aborted babies with their tiny arms and legs torn from their bodies. We oppose abortions because to us, they ARE babies. We oppose abortions for the same reasons we oppose child abuse or murder, because we consider abortion to be those things.

    What you are saying is gross distortion for why people are pro-life. it may be easier for you to dismiss the pro-life movement if you can tell yourself that all pro-lifers are hateful monsters- but that simply isn't true.

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  21. Here are over 25 quotes from scientific textbooks that state that life begins at conception.

    http://clinicquotes.com/category/quotes/scientists-speak/

    Most abortions are done between the 7th and 10th week of pregnancy. At seven weeks, not only does the baby have arms and legs, but if its a girl, she has developing ovaries of her own. She looks like a baby. She had a heartbeat, a circulatory system, and a developing brain. (which has already split into three hemispheres) Is it really so hard to believe that an intelligent, informed person could consider an entity that has human dna, human parents, human features, and a human future to be a human being? http://www.ehd.org/prenatal-images-index.php

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