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Amy-
How do you respond to the theory that abortion
actually hurts women in the long run? I am not
speaking in medical terms, but rather the idea
that if a woman becomes pregnant and decides
to terminate her pregnancy in favor of her career
or something similar, society has less of a reason
to be friendly to mothers. I think the underlying
theory is that women shouldn't have to choose
between their lives and that of their child,
but that society should provide the support that
pregnant women and mothers need, and abortion
is certainly not that type of support.
I would cite the Scandinavian countries, with
their "womb to the tomb" public services
as examples of how to be friendlier to women,
beyond the sort of surface friendliness that
abortion rights offers.
Full disclosure: I do believe that the Scandinavian
countries do have legal abortions. I am not arguing
that women should not have safe and legal access
to abortions, but rather that you should not
paint arguments against abortion as all "anti-feminist" or
that it is not possible for a true feminist to
be pro-life.
I would point you to the July 2001 issue of
Harmony magazine, specifically Jen Roth's article "the
secular case against abortion," which applies
feminist definitions of personhood to fetuses,
and also is a source for the argument I laid
out above. Many thanks for a response.
M. |
