As a vocal prochoicer, I am not able to always speak my mind.
Every single time I tweet, blog, email or post a comment somewhere, I have to carefully look over each and every word, to ensure that I haven't said something I "shouldn't."
What are these things I "shouldn't" say? Well, basically it's anything an antichoicer could jump onto, take out of context, or otherwise use against me. Against us. Against Planned Parenthood. Against women.
I hate that I have to guard my speech. I hate that I have to turn conversations onto random tangents over word use. But if I don't do these things, antichoicers will run away with my words and ignore anything I say after that.
Well you know what? I'm tired of letting antis decide what I do or do not say.
So what if a woman calls a fetus a baby? So what if I follow her lead and say the word baby too? I shouldn't refrain from using words that the woman is most comfortable with. If after her abortion she feels that her baby died and became an angel, then why can't I agree with her on that?
I'm not the only one who feels their language is limited sometimes. And for other people, it's limited not only by antichoicers but fellow prochoicers. For example:
I got this email in the Spectrum Doula Collective inbox earlier this week:
I know you think you’re doing good, but you are not. You are doing a grave disservice to the pro-choice movement by believing the lies from the anti-choicers. Please email me back, we can talk more about this, but please consider what you are doing before you proceed any further.
Wow. What, exactly, are we doing wrong? What sort of disservice do we do by believing pregnant people need compassionate care while undergoing surgical procedures? Or, at the very least, that they might want a bit more emotional and informational support while they undergo a highly mystified and generally misunderstood surgery?
How are we “believing the lies from the anti-choicers” by recognizing all reproductive experiences (and the emotions surrounding them) and believing that they are valid?
Via: Exhale is Pro-Voice
We cannot all hide behind the statistics ("most women aren't depressed after an abortion"). The facts are the facts, and they will remain the same. But abortion is about more than the facts; it's about the people involved and the emotions those people feel.
Prochoice advocates aren't the only ones silenced by antichoicers. Women who have abortions, who believe their abortion was the right thing for them but who also feel sadness afterward are stuck in between a rock and a hard place; especially when her prochoice friends feel they can't recognize that sadness because antis will it up and run off with it. Both the woman and the advocate/friend suffer. Sometimes, the woman just refuses to share her feelings with anyone because she's afraid of her friend's response or, again, that antis will take her words and run away with them (See: Why I Blame the Antis).
I will not let antichoicers control my speech, and I will not allow them to have a monopoly on emotions.
Women do not fit into our stereotypes. Not all women feel regret after an abortion, as antichoicers say. Not all women treat abortion as a lightheaded, easy matter as some prochoicers say. Some women do both these things, while some do neither.
As a prochoicer, I will work to acknowledge all these feelings and emotions before, during and after an abortion. Will you?
The whole idea of being "pro-choice" is really deceptive since the only "choice" you and others will tolerate is the one that ends in the death of the unborn baby. Planned Parenthood has been exposed lying about the development of the unborn baby. It is tragic that someone can be so intimately involved in the delivery of babies and yet advocate their murder five minutes prior to being born.
ReplyDeleteSorry Todd. I don't think being prochoice has anything to do with being deceptive. We're about fully informing women and letting them make their own choices.
ReplyDeleteIf you think prochoiers only support abortion and not adoption or parenting, you are arguing against a strawman, and have never met a prochoice person.
Pro-choice doesn't mean a person solely supports abortion, it's a mere portion of the whole picture. I support a woman's decision to parent (alone or with a partner), to adopt (public or private), and to have a safe abortion. I also believe that a woman should have the option of hearing all the options with honest, medically-based facts. If she needs more time to make a decision or needs more information, I will ensure she gets it. If she has made her decision, then I have faith in her decision.
ReplyDelete^ This.
ReplyDelete