Electric Skeptic
Well-known member
Imagine if some group had this position:
We wouldn't hesitate to say how stupid such a position was, would we? Why, then, do we think that an analogous position in relation to abortion is rational or reasonable? There are groups who say that they don't want to reduce abortion - they want to eradicate it entirely. So they oppose the only things that have been proven to lower abortion rates - increased sex education and availability of contraceptives - because they imagine it will lead to increased licentiousness or some such nonsense. They don't want to lower abortion rates via methods that have been proven to be able to do so - they insist that abortion must be obliterated by their way or no way. And their way is...well...they don't really have one. Everybody just needs to stop having sex. And if you're pro-choice, then you're pro-abortion.
Why do people who claim to be pro-life even countenance such a ludicrous position? Because, of course, the vast majority of the pro-life movement isn't about abortion at all - it's about posturing and being holier-than-thou. It's pretty obvious that anybody who is against abortion would be for the proven best method of lowering its rate - yet the vast majority of pro-lifers are opposed to it. Why? Because it's not good enough for abortion to stop - it has to stop their way, which is not people being able to have sex with lowered risk of conception, it's about people not having sex at all!
I'll believe someone is truly opposed to abortion when they are for programs for increased mandatory sex education and increased availability of contraception. But knowing the pro-life crowd, I'm not expecting to that to happen any time soon.
We don't want to reduce auto accidents - we want to eradicate them entirely. We are opposed to driver safety programs - they just encourage people to drive more and to think they're immune to accidents. The more people know about safe driving, the more they'll want to drive and the more accidents there'll be. We don't want auto accidents to be stopped or lowered by some way of which we don't approve - the only way is for everybody to stop driving except for strictly controlled circumstances that we will tell them. We have no real strategy to make that happen, so we're just going to keep insisting people act that way until they all magically start to do it. And if you're for people being able to drive when and where they want, then you're for car crashes.
We wouldn't hesitate to say how stupid such a position was, would we? Why, then, do we think that an analogous position in relation to abortion is rational or reasonable? There are groups who say that they don't want to reduce abortion - they want to eradicate it entirely. So they oppose the only things that have been proven to lower abortion rates - increased sex education and availability of contraceptives - because they imagine it will lead to increased licentiousness or some such nonsense. They don't want to lower abortion rates via methods that have been proven to be able to do so - they insist that abortion must be obliterated by their way or no way. And their way is...well...they don't really have one. Everybody just needs to stop having sex. And if you're pro-choice, then you're pro-abortion.
Why do people who claim to be pro-life even countenance such a ludicrous position? Because, of course, the vast majority of the pro-life movement isn't about abortion at all - it's about posturing and being holier-than-thou. It's pretty obvious that anybody who is against abortion would be for the proven best method of lowering its rate - yet the vast majority of pro-lifers are opposed to it. Why? Because it's not good enough for abortion to stop - it has to stop their way, which is not people being able to have sex with lowered risk of conception, it's about people not having sex at all!
I'll believe someone is truly opposed to abortion when they are for programs for increased mandatory sex education and increased availability of contraception. But knowing the pro-life crowd, I'm not expecting to that to happen any time soon.