Many people believe that pro-choice means advocating for just abortion. Only one part of that statement is true. Pro-choicers do believe abortion is a right, however, they also believe that if a woman wants to go through with a pregnancy then she should be able to. In contrast, pro-lifers believe that a woman must go through a pregnancy, regardless of her choice and the circumstances. There have been many contentious debates between these two views and their role in the pro-woman argument, a key concept of the feminist agenda. Pro-lifers claim that their argument is pro-woman because they are protecting a future woman’s life. (Yet they don’t seem to place much emphasis on protecting the females in the foster care system, for example). On the other hand, pro-choicers claim their argument is more pro-woman because the woman is given a choice on what she wants to do with the pregnancy while allowing her jurisdiction over her body. As the title of this blog states, I believe that pro-choice is pro-woman, and I will prove this as you read on.
The term “Pro-Choice” was coined after the Supreme court case known as Roe v. Wade which ultimately protected a woman’s right to abortion. This case occurred around 1970 between Jane Roe(fictional name) and Henry Wade who was a district attorney in Texas. Roe was against the law in Texas which made abortion illegal unless there were certain circumstances and believed that making abortion illegal disregarded several constitutional rights, like the right to privacy. Ultimately, this case ended in abortion being legalized which has yet to change in the present day.
Some people believe that pro-life is pro-woman and this just isn’t true. Being pro-life is FORCING a woman to go through labor regardless if she wants to or not, how is that pro-woman? Correlating with this, pro-lifers lack consideration of the fact that the woman could have been raped. If a woman has been raped, she shouldn’t be forced to go through with an unwanted pregnancy that can remind her of the trauma she endured for the rest of her life. I can tell you this much, forcing a woman who has been raped to go through a pregnancy is not pro-woman. Also, SEVERAL pro-life advocates think that a woman should be imprisoned or executed if they have an abortion. This does not sound very pro-life to me, and neither does it sound pro-woman. These pro-lifers also do not seem to have much regard for the potential of a woman to die during childbirth, a number which is constantly increasing, especially for minority women. Once again, the pro-life argument is not pro-woman for so many reasons that stem from their conservative outlook. Having conservative tendencies in today’s day is not only dangerous, but it is also counterintuitive. Progress needs to be made and this cannot be done by holding onto the ideals of the past. Thus, the way for progress to be made is by retaining principles that will facilitate progression. Being pro-choice is a prime example of this as it replicates letting go of the restrictive rules of the past. Women have been regulated by men, society, and the government for far too long and it is due time to overcome this. With all things considered, being pro-choice is being pro-woman because it is abstaining from the oppression of the past and present, and finally giving women control over their own bodies.
To reiterate, the forceful nature of the pro-life argument has no consideration for what a woman wants to do with her body, therefore it cannot be deemed pro-woman. Women have full jurisdiction over their bodies and should be able to do what they want without the pressures of pro-life elements in society. In contrast, pro-choice is pro-woman because it allows the woman to choose what she wants to do with her own body, be it going through with the pregnancy or not. Pro-life should have no place in society today, we cannot move forward by holding on to the constraints of the past. Women have come a long way over the centuries, we should not and will not stop now. After all, we still live in a society where: women’s bodies are more regulated than guns, fighting for equal rights is compared to the Nazi regime during WW2, women shame other women for being confident in their skin, and more. The only way to progress is to acknowledge the past and move on; the best way to do this is through accepting and demanding full jurisdiction over our bodies. As Ilyse Hogue, the NARAL Pro-choice president once said, “Without control of our own reproductive destiny, everything else for women fades from view.”
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