Ranty rant rant...
Alright... I keep hearing arguments on whether or not people who are Pro-Life (as opposed to Pro-Choice) should be considered Feminists. The thing is, I keep hearing these black and white answers. Pretty much just two: Yes, they are ; No, they are not. I'm a Libertarian and I believe that you should have the Liberty to do whatever you please as long as it does not infringe on the rights of other people. So my take of the Pro-Life Feminists is pretty simple: someone who is Pro-Life can think that abortion is the wrong thing to do, and not do it, but they're still Feminists as long as they don't try and take the choice away from people that believe it to be acceptable or needed. As in: "I believe it's wrong but people are free to do what they want. I just won't get an abortion myself." Because any time someone tries to limits the "choice", they aren't Feminists. Does that make sense?
I also heard THE dumbest Pro-Life argument today... We were discussing Libertarian stuff and the whole subject of abortion came up and this one guy said that he believed that someone becomes a person when their heart starts beating because he stated that someone is considered legally dead when their heart stops beating.
...
Say whaaaaat? The obvious problem with that statement is that...you're not legally dead when your heart stops beating. Someone who's heart stops beating can still be brought back to "life." That's why the definition of legal death was redefined...in the 1960s! Brain death is the only legal and clinical death, because it is irreversible.-Facepalm- I don't have anything against someone who's Pro-Life as long as they don't try to take my rights away...but this...was just stupid.
So... This really made me wonder what century this guy thinks we're living in. And it also caused me to sigh out loud, because it makes me realize how uneducated some people are. And you know what? That's kind of scary.
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Can We Settle This?.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.feministing.com/cgi-bin/movabletype/mt-tb.fcgi/9589
Weekly Feministing Newsletter
Feministing RSS Feed
Whenever I hear the argument about being pro-life and a feminist, I've never thought that people who were *personally* pro-life were being told that they aren't feminists. As far as I've seen pro-life "feminists" that are accused of not being feminist are the ones who are trying to take the choice away from other women by trying to make abortion (and sometimes Plan B or even contraception) illegal. Also, I think if someone is personally pro-life, but doesn't want to take that choice away from other people through legal means than they are...pro-choice.
Well, as a man, I'm unable to choose to have an abortion, and if feminists really believe in equal rights, then they shouldn't either.
Kidding. I just tried to think up a dumber argument against abortion than the one that guy used, and that's the only one I could think of.
I agree with AgnesScottie. The definition of pro-choice to me is not whether or not you agree with abortion, but whether or not you agree that each person has the right to decide for themselves. You can be personally againist abortion and still pro-choice.
Thirding. If you would never have an abortion, but you don't want to take the right to do so away from anyone else, you are pro-choice.
The problem is that pro-life and pro-choice aren't diametrically opposed. We need new terminology to become standard.
pro-life: believe abortion is wrong. May or may not deny the right to others. May or may not be feminist.
anti-abortion: believe abortion is wrong. Deny all (or most) the right to abort. Anti-feminist.
pro-choice: may or may not believe abortion is wrong. Do not deny the right to anyone. May or may not be feminist.
STRICTLY on your statements - I agree 100%. Religion should not be forced on others much like the right to choose to have an abortion or not.
The choice TO have an abortion or not does not decide if you are a feminist. It is rediculous to assume that if you want to have an abortion you are no longer a feminist...but it seems "anti feminist" to tell another woman she has NO choice and must see the pregnancy to full term.
for the record, i would rather have been a terminated pregnancy, then an unwanted child...but that is MY opinion....not that you asked :P