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Pro Life Agenda
Pro-life, Pro-choice,
or Pro-Punishment
The Secret Pro-Life Agenda
By Sig Shonholtz
October 2004
Published November 2004
My mother invited
me to sit with her, and her like-minded democratic
friends while they tried to sign up voters for
the coming election. She lives in Newport Beach,
a very conservative community in Orange County,
Southern California. It seemed like an adventure
to me and since I had not seen her in two weeks
I agreed. Trying to sign up voters in a community
that is decidedly against your agenda is very
courageous to start with but beyond that it can
be an exercise in futility and frustration. After
many comments of Baby Killers, and assorted “drive
by shootings” against Kerry and in favor of Bush
I noticed a common theme. A majority of the people
that came by the table were men and they unquestioningly
felt that George Bush represented their point
of view on many issues but most importantly they
thought he was most aligned with their thoughts
on the issue of abortion. OK, I thought after
a while, it is time for me engage one of these
characters in pro or “against life” conversation.
I decided to have it with a man who was riding
with his son of about 14 years old. I chose them
because they chose me, and they were capable of
having a serious conversation.
Before we start I would
like to bring up a point which I think is very
pertinent. It is that the abortion debate starts
off on a false foundation. I have observed that
the pro-life movement seems to have a lot more
men then women in it, or at least more men then
I think it should have. Time and again it is men
arguing against the rights of a woman to determine
what she can do with her body. I find this disturbing
and have tried to find a similar example in a
man’s world. Well of course it is impossible;
as close as I could get is to suggest that a national
woman’s organization wanted to pass a law that
imposed forced circumcision on all males older
then 13 because they felt, believed or thought
that it was more suitable for them. Of course
this is hardly the same but it illustrates the
depth of the complexity of the issue.
The main problem with the
abortion question, which makes it so complicated,
is that it is actually two conversations that
are collapsed into one. The first question is
should a person, a woman, have the right to control
her destiny, the answer is of course, yes. The
second question is a fetus a life, is more complicated,
but for the sake of this argument let’s say yes
to that also. Now the question becomes which life
is more significant, an unborn fetus or a fully
developed woman, and which has more opportunity
and privilege at the moment?
The debate started off with
me taking a basic position. I presented myself
as a 20 year old woman in college studying science,
I had a boyfriend and always used a condom when
we had sex but somehow I got pregnant. I told
my parents, my pastor and my boyfriend, and decided
that an abortion was the best decision. My question
was simple should I be prevented from having an
abortion in the first trimester? Both the father
and his son said yes, I asked them why? Their
answer was simple; condoms were not 100% effective
and I had to face the consequences of my actions.
Clearly I was going to be punished for my actions,
there was no mistaking their tone or intent. I
pointed this out to them. It was not a punishment,
they assured me. Okay, I understand it is not
punishment according to them; their point is that
the fetus has a soul or it might have, therefore
it has a right to life. Next I asked them if they
will support me while I am pregnant so that I
can have a healthy baby and will they help me
raise and educate my child. The answer was clear,
they would not, it was not their responsibility.
So, once more I concluded it was punishment, because
they were not interested in the well-being of
my child, just in my decision to have an abortion.
Now, they suggested that
I should have the child and put it up for adoption
which would be the “right thing” to do. I have
no idea what it feels like to be pregnant, nor
does any man, which is why no man should be involved
in this controversy. However I am certain no woman
has an abortion without having some serious thoughts
about it. But I am sure that being forced by law
to have a child and give it up is much more painful
then the difficult decision of having the abortion.
Finally in frustration the
father recognized the weakness in his own argument.
He offered this as the reason why abortion should
be outlawed. “We have performed 40 million abortions
in this country”. “Those people could be working
and contributing to social security”. So, now
we have it the secret agenda of the conservative
right. We need more uneducated poor people in
this country to do menial jobs. That will solve
all of our problems.
In ancient times a woman
was literally stoned to death for adultery. If
she had a child out of wedlock she was forever
ostracized in the society. The idea of punishment
has been around for centuries and it seems that
it still is.
While it is unlikely
that the Pro-Lifers and the Pro-Choicers will
ever come to an agreement, it's always interesting
to hear more opinions on the matter. SIG
Shonholtz has come forward to share his
experience with the readers of the-vu.
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Pro Life Agenda
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