Although the decision of whether to abort a fetus physically affects women on an individual basis, it seems that every one has an opinion on it. One of the most striking ideas to me from our readings this week, was the division between “pro life” and “pro choice” stance. In my mind, the “pro life” stance came to life with Allison Crews’ description of standing in front of Planned Parenthood with her mother and her fellow activists shouting at a young girl with tears in her eyes. The crowd with posters and only demeaning words to shout at the young girl who had just received an abortion left them in tears, sobbing. Reading about this experience makes me wonder why so many people felt they had a right to judge the young girl with “blood on her hands” (144). Although I do not want to judge the activists who call themselves “pro life”, I wonder what makes the unborn child’s life more important to them than the young girl who chose to have the abortion. Since the protesters firmly believe that abortion is wrong, they have no way to consider the decision that each individual woman makes when she decides to abort.
However, in the end, I believe like Inga Muscio that abortion simply “sucks”. In no way am I comfortable thinking about a vacuum that sucks the life out of female’s wombs. Reading her description made me cringe and want to hide the book so no one could read over my shoulder what I was reading. Truthfully I feel that reading about Muscio’s experience as a story makes it easy for me to judge her. Stories like those, that describe terrible amounts of pain, on top of movies like Juno, that describe the unborn fetuses already have toenails, make it easy for outsiders looking in on abortion to judge the decision. However, I believe like Arcana convey in her piece, that abortion should strictly be a motherhood issue. The only people who should judge abortion are the people faced with the option for themselves. Because as Arcana suggests, whether the individual wants to admit it or not, they are a mother deciding what is best for their child. I believe this private matter should be kept as that, private and away from the scrutiny of onlookers.
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My Response to Caren's Abortion Post:
ReplyDeleteAbortion is one of those topics that is often sidestepped in a classroom. When the subject of abortion is mentioned in a reading or somehow brought up in class, teachers often solely address the history of abortion, which includes Roe v. Wade (however not to the extent as it is discussed in Feminism in Our Time). However, teachers often refuse to further discuss this issue, in hopes of avoiding debates between those who are pro-life and pro-choice. Since abortion is such a sensitive subject, teachers often find it best to avoid the topic entirely in hopes of also avoiding arguing between students. However, the classroom is not the only place where the subject of abortion can more often than not be overlooked. Abortion is not exactly a topic that is discussed at a dinner party or at some other social event. Ultimately, as proved by all of the four readings, abortion is a controversial topic. Since it is a hot topic, I thought it was interesting to see what four different people had to say about the subject.
Ultimately, I agree with Caren, and I too believe that “abortion is a motherhood issue” (Arcana). Arcana’s article is very sound and I think that she makes a very strong argument that abortion is a personal decision. I think that she solidifies her point when she describes that choosing whether or not to abort a child is like “choosing to send it to one school and not another.” She makes a sound case when she compares abortion to the many decisions that a woman must make regarding her child. “Every woman who chooses to abort a pregnancy is justified in her decision” (Arcana). Thus, this is why abortion is a personal issue. Some women choose abortion, while others choose life; it is very similar to the idea that some mothers choose to send their children to public schools, while others send theirs to private schools. At the end of the day, each woman has her own reasoning as to why she chooses certain things for her child.
I think that in Crews’s article “And So I Chose” further emphasizes Arcana’s point that abortion is a personal decision. “She had the right to make a choice for herself and her future without being harassed and intimidated” (Crews). Crews mentions her personal story of how she witnessed young women being “harassed and intimidated” by those who are pro-life. It was at this point in time in Crews’ life that she realized that abortion was a woman decision, and like Arcana she too believed that a woman had the right to do what she believed was best and no matter what a woman chooses to do she is justified in doing so because it is her child and her body. I agree with Caren in saying that activists do not have the right to judge other people’s decisions, especially when it comes to abortion. Abortion is a motherhood decision and it should be a private matter.
Another thing that I found very interesting in Judith Arcana’s article was her idea behind conception. “When the pregnancy is deliberate, or accepted, we say baby. When the pregnancy is an accident, or rejected, we say fetus or embryo, a mass of cells and tissues” (Arcana). I had never really thought about how we as a society use certain words when discussing certain actions. I think that Arcana is extremely accurate with this point. I had never thought twice about the term baby with a deliberate pregnancy and fetus with an unwanted pregnancy. Altogether, I think that Arcana’s article was very fascinating.
In the same vein as both Katrina and Caren, I think that characterizing the concept of abortion as a “motherhood issue” is a good way to describe it. It is undeniable that the idea of abortion is generally a very touchy subject and a source of discomfort for many. But as much as people debate the concept, I can’t help but think that a person’s feelings about it really can only be validated if they have gone through such a situation. Furthermore, like Katrina, I was particularly struck by Arcana’s statement about the use of the words “baby” and “fetus” with reference to a planned pregnancy and mistake/accident, respectively. I too had never thought of that but it really is interesting how that really does seem to be true – perhaps the use of the word “fetus” or “mass of cells” is a way to dehumanize the unwanted forming being to help a person cope with the idea of abortion. To add to Caren’s thoughts about stories and media that essentially provide a place for others to judge individuals on their decisions about pregnancy, for me, shows like “16 and Pregnant” came to mind. Another side note – in Roe v Wade and I suspect in the recent law passed regarding illegal abortion (in Utah?) it is interesting to note that the people who vote on and write the laws were/are primarily men. As much as I’d like to think that men are equally involved in pregnancy, in many situations of unplanned pregnancies the women are often single mothers, so to some extent at least I really do think it is a women’s issue.
ReplyDeleteLike Kirsten and Caren I thought that the distinction between "baby" and "fetus" that Arcana made was very interesting and I had never thought of that before. It is always shocking to see how society ingrains certain things into your head without you realizing it, and this is one of them. Often, there is such a stigma associated with getting an abortion that people try to make it seem like an evil act, however what it comes down to is that no one should have any say over it except for the woman that is going through it. The issue of abortion cannot be debated as a whole because it means something different to so many different people, and that is exactly why the power should ultimately be with the woman.
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