Pro Choice

[beachlass]

Hmmm.... the context for this is clearly American (Roe vs Wade); and the context here in Canada is different: it's been almost 20 years since we were immersed in a national debate on abortion.

I was at an ecumenical lunch one day last year, and sitting with an older couple at a long table. I complimented the woman on her necklace, and in return she drew my attention to the pin on her sweater. She explained that it was in recognition of her participation in anti-abortion work, and continued with series of comments about 'those people' who 'murder babies'. I was transfixed in awkward horror, not wanting to openly disagree with her and start an argument, but not wanting to have silence interpreted as implicit agreement. I don't actually remember what I said. The incident crystalized something for me about Christian identity. I would have thought it would be unforgivably rude and confrontational to start talking about my opinions of abortion over a casual meal. Why didn't she? Why didn't she know that not all Christians share her point of view? Why is it acceptable in many mainstream Christian contexts to express viewpoints that I think would be clearly flagged as inflammatory at the hockey arena or the knitting circle?

Why did I spend time wondering whether stating that I am prochoice was too.... something... on my own blog.

The blog prompt is: why prochoice? I'm prochoice because when I was 21 and pregnant, I needed a choice. And I'm glad that choice was not complicated by abortion being illegal, or unsafe, or expensive, or far away. The institutionalization of choice allowed me the support and freedom to focus on what I believed and needed to do. And now that the daughter I carried to term is 14, I need her to have choices. I pray that she never has to wrestle with decisions around unplanned or unwanted pregnancies. But women have always strategised around pregnancy and childbirth. I'm grateful to be living in a time and country where our choices include safe, health plan covered, accessible (more or less) abortion. I've seen autopsy pictures of bleedouts from coat hanger abortions. I've written letters and been dragged out of the parliament building. I've held the hand of my best friend in the recovery room. I've raised a child whose father removed himself for ten years.

I'm not looking for an argument. I'm pushing my comfort zone around saying this out loud in a public/faith oriented space. I am prochoice.

crossposted to beachpsalms

Comments

[thursday-kat.livejournal.com]

*raises glass in honor*

nicely done, that was very well stated imho. it is such a controversial issue here and for so very many people it is completely black or white.

i too am pro-choice, have been since high school at the very least. i remember participating in an after school program that looked at current issues. it could have been a wonderful, insightful sort of thing but it was rather unfortunately run by a woman who believed that hers was the only opinion that counted. how that leads to open discussion i'll never know.

anyway, the point of that was that we had a day where we discussed abortion and i ended up getting into it with her a bit about my beliefs and such. at the time, i felt very strongly that abortion should be legal for any woman who had suffered rape/abuse and that everyone should get a "get out of jail free" card. she told me that i could only have it one way, that i supported it or not and that there were no gray areas. it pissed me off but had the side effect of making me pay more attention to what was going on in the world around me.

i've grown since then, learned more, thought more and realize that i'm prochoice all the way. and that's what it's all about, giving a woman the right to choose a course of action for something very personal to her. i've sat in a waiting room, waiting to see if i was pregnant or not, mind whirring with possibilities, will i won't i will he stay should he go could i do it, do i want to do it etc. i can't imagine not even being given a choice. it's so frustrating to watch everything sliding backwards...

that was terribly long, probably rather pointless and possible unintelligible. sorry. and i'm in a situation where i'm as far away from christianity as you can be before you hit athiesm so it's undoubtably different for you, all things considered. i apparently just wanted to share (as i so often do :P) but i agree, pro-choice vs pro-life are just not things you talk about at dinner with strangers.

[beachlass.livejournal.com]

*hugs for you*

Not even remotely pointless and unintelligible.

It's complex, and all gray, as far as I can see, nad inextricably tied to our experiences of being pregnant, worrying about being pregnant, worrying about our friends being pregnant.

[lepah.livejournal.com]

i have tried to make a point of being intentional about the fact that i believe absolutely in choice, and that i am not ashamed of my abortion. i have been thinking a lot about this lately, and i'm not sure where or how to draw the line between my personal experience and my political conviction. thank you for bringing this up in a ?public? forum. and thank you for holding my hand *gets weepy*

[beachlass.livejournal.com]

I don't know why we need to draw a line between our convictions and politics, especially around abortion and pregnancy which is intensely personal and experiential and interpersonal and moral and... just hugely complex and emotional.

And I would hold your hand any time, my dear. I would fly across the continent, cross borders, take ferries, drive for hours... if you needed me. *loves you*

[lepah.livejournal.com]

*loves you*
i guess i'm more wondering about how to be intentional about talking openly about my experience, and being mindful/respectful of ??social situations?? y'know?