It's Time for an Abortion Pride Movement
Everybody is proud these days. While “pride” as a collective concept may have originated with the Gay Rights movement of the 1970s, now marchers in the St. Patrick’s Day parade are as likely to sport pins boasting “Proud to be Irish” and my Jewish friends are as proud to be Jewish as my Muslim friends are proud to be Muslim—although I always wonder if they wouldn’t be equally proud if they had been born into the opposite faiths. Recently, I even spotted a bumper sticker on a jalopy that declared: “Proud to be humble.” While the Book of Proverbs may warn us that “pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall,” the political and social reality today is that pride is a necessary prerequisite for acceptance and equality. That is why the moment is ripe—more than ripe—for an Abortion Pride Movement.
The anti-abortion movement already has its own pride movement. If one reads about reproductive issues in the conservative media—which I often do—one is bombarded with tales of mothers who have sacrificed personal and professional opportunities to bring fetuses to term. The implication is that while bearing a child when one is ready is a blessing, bearing a child when one is not prepared garners one extra moral credit in the cosmos. Similarly, while having a healthy baby is a cause for joy, some opponents of abortion profess that having a baby with a devastating or even fatal birth defect is proof of the mother’s fortitude and character. If one believes that human life begins at conception, this is logically the case. However, if one believes that life begins after conception—as do a wide majority of Americans, if polls on such issues as embryonic stem cell research are to believed—then the suffering caused by transforming an unwanted embryo into a living baby, who will either endure debilitating disease or will enter a deeply inhospitable home environment, is not at all a cause for pride. It more is akin to deciding that the world is flat and then boasting of not falling off the edge.
In contrast to women who have foregone abortion, women who have chosen to terminate their pregnancies are rarely encouraged to take pride in their decisions. That is unfortunate. In the current political climate, deciding not to bring a fetus to term, if a woman is unready to parent, or if that fetus is likely to lead a life of great physical suffering, is a courageous and noble moral choice. Recognizing that thirteen or fourteen years old is rarely a wise age to embark on the process of parenting takes personal insight—but it also requires wisdom, at that young age, to terminate a pregnancy and so spare a child from growing up with another child for a parent. In short, women should not merely have the right to end unwanted pregnancies, they should have the right to be proud of having done so. Surely, there is enough suffering in this world already without adding infants with Tay-Sachs disease and Lesch-Nyhan syndrome to the mix. Women who step up to the ethical plate and have the strength to say, “This is the wrong time,” or “This is the wrong fetus,” should hold their heads high in the streets.
That is not to say that terminating a pregnancy may not prove a difficult choice. Even if one believes that fetuses are not human beings, one might take a risky or inopportune pregnancy to term for a host of reasons: fear that one may be too old to try again, a desire to reach common ground with a spouse or partner, etc. But the difficulty of making a personal decision should not be mistaken for doubt regarding the morality of the conclusion. While choosing to terminate may be difficult for women under many circumstances and for many reasons, if they have made the correct choice for themselves, they should be proud that they have done so. And our society should be proud of them too. Our message should not be merely toleration or resigned acquiescence, but genuine joy that someone has made a decision for their own and for the collective good.
Somehow, many supporters of abortion rights have been lulled into accepting the rhetoric that abortion should be “safe, legal and rare.” That may be good language for winning elections, but it does a profound disservice to the millions of women who have abortions in this nation each year. Abortions should be safe and legal. That goes without saying. But rare? Abortions should be as frequent or as infrequent as are unwanted pregnancies. I dream of the day when women are not afraid to walk the streets with pins reading, “I had an abortion and it was the right decision,” and when station wagons bear bumper-stickers announcing, “Thank me for having an abortion when I wasn’t ready to be a parent.” I admire those individuals who work to ensure a women’s right to choose. But choice is a merely a foundation. Ultimately, women—if they so desire—should feel comfortable expressing public pride in their brave and wise choices.
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HOW ABOUT WOMEN DON'T KILL THEIR BABIES!!! like seriously, all you pro- abortion ppl make me sick to my stomach you are unnatural, uncaring.... the girls and women that were injured or killed because they had to go to less then reputable sources is horrible( kind of like karma though don't you think? since she had the choice not to let this man with his rusty knife touch her or her innocent unborn child).... but who cares about their babies??? poor woman! where's the sympathy for their life???, you may not think that the child will have the best life, or it's not the right time, well opt for adoption, having a life to live, is better then not having one at all. c'mon ppl can u for once think about someone other then your self....
muma says "it's okay, kill my baby, it's my body! my right to choose if my child lives or dies."
it may be your body sweetheart but it's not your life!, you are merly an incubator. You don't own their life!!!!!!!!
Oh wait yes you do the government says thats okay thats alright, here come into our clinics and we will assit you. THAT TO ME IS ACCOMPLICE TO MURDER!
Can you tell I don't buy into the argument pathetic people love to use? that a fetus/embyro/zygote is not a human being. If a baby dies in it's mother womb, either by someone killing it, intentionally or not, it's consider manslughter or murder depending on the circumstances. Did you know that...?
Huh.. ? Why is it considered murder...? because mother says "my child is going to live!" all of a sudden like magic the baby has equal rights.!!!!!
But if muma can't hold her own and op's for abortion, it's okay she justify's in her thinking, that her baby /fetus/embryo/zygote/spark of life...WETF!!! becomes less then human(something that can be killed because"i'm not ready")....because mother says "it's not the right time. " If you buy that crap your either mentally retarded(then it's not your fault you cannot grasp entirities of certain concepts), or a horrible human being who should have been aborted themselves(oh wait i'm against that!) that way they could actually expericence it and tell us what it's like not to have a life to live(seeing as how they support babies being murdered, it's hypocritical to think other wise) or have been given the basic freedom to come into this world like everyone else. Oh wait they can't possibly because that would mean they never lived!!!!!!!
These are merly stages we must all pass in order to live. for all you dummies i'm going to start backwards from old age that way you have to count a senior adult as a person. instead of ruling out that a zygote is subhuman. I assure when you reach the end of this time timeable you will find that everyone starts at conception.
senior adult->adult->young adult->teenager->child->
toddler->infant->fetus->embryo->zygote-> CONCEPTION
Yup it plays a huge part in whether a person is or isn't.!!!
That goes for you too! you were once a zygote!!!!. just like you were an infant.
It's a really basic conecpt decent people understand! I pity the rest of you selfish people.
damned fools!
Just because you are capable of bringing something into this world does not! i repeat does not! give you the right to kill it.
I could choose to kill a person walking down the street, i would go to jail. now an expectant mother, the one who is supposed to care for, nurture this human life force inside of her. Is the one who wants to destroy it.? and she's not to blame, it's her choice, and it's my choice if i want to kill a person who was lucky to make it out of the womb. tell me where the logic is.?
One, you might try spelling "people" and "you" right.
Two, so you're saying that people who are victims of rape and get pregnant shouldn't have the right to get rid of the constant reminder of what they had to go through? So they don't have to tell their child that their father is a rapist? Oh no. They should be forced to have the child just like she was forced to have sex with a cruel stranger.
I agree that pride can be a step on the path towards equality and justice, but we must be careful that we don't push down others as we move forward. This article devalues people with diffabilities and stigmatizes teenagers who choose to have children . These are two groups of people who themselves also need to build a stronger pride movement. I don't think that we should be building pride at each others expense. In solidarity we are stronger.
All who do, please make your statement of how pleasant your abortion was, what was it like seeing your mangled babie's corpse lying beside you while they put the pieces back together, and did you feel any remorse at killing a part of yourself?
As someone who has won many fiction awards, Mr. Appel should know how to use language correctly and precisely. This entire article is premised on equating the term "pride" with "lack of shame." These are not the same thing. Women should not be ashamed to have abortions if it was the right thing to do, but to be proud and wear a pin? This is asinine, only a man could have written this article.
I do like the spirit of this article. Those who chose abortion and are satisfied they made the right decision are subjected to endless attacks by the anti-abortion movement, and this should not be the case.
I think pride takes it a bit too far, though. I doubt anyone is proud of abortion, any more than they are proud of having a tooth pulled.
We know that belief is a powerful force, and people become convinced by their beliefs that they have the right to judge others and control their lives. Culture breeds a lot of bullies.
I am a proud (godless) American who hopes to live long enough to see abortion shame end. Many women who have chosen to have abortions spend the rest of their lives wishing they could have raised the child. But they knew at the time that they weren't capable of it. This is the first time I've read this viewpoint and I'm grateful to the writer. Women who have chosen to get abortions shouldn't have to live their lives with negative feelings about it. There are too many unwanted children in the world now. I will never believe a zygote has rights. This will always be a controversial subject, but unless you or someone you love has been in this position, then I don't think you're capable of making a truly informed judgment.
a zygote has rights!!! if the mother is prepared to carry it to full term. Didn't know that? now you do. they are only considered an illegitamite person, if the mother decided to murder it by means of abortion . You had to add godless?(pathetic) when a life is terminated in womb or out of womb it is a negative expericance!
you think it's positive? ,you think shame from murder will end?
( wish in one hand and crap in the other, see what gets there first) your about to look at the glass half full now?, huh are you? what about the babies glass...? Oh ya it doesn't have one because mother killed it! for the GREAT reason "they weren't capable". Your a sad excuse of a human being.
p.s. to legitamize my comment to you I have known people who have had abortions, so my comment is based on experiance. thank you for making this world ugly you are truly a disappointment to us all!
I know many women who have been in this position - none of them walked away from an abortion feeling hunky-dory enough to slap a bumper sticker on their car saying how proud they were.
This wasn't because they lived in an area that condemned such acts. It's because by the time a fetus is the size of a sea monkey inside your uterus your brain is already pumping hormones into your body to give an attached feeling to the baby .
It's an evolutionarily built in by-product of being pregnant. Telling women to ignore this feeling is telling them to deny their nature.
Jake Appel isn't suggesting that women shouldn't feel shame - it's that they should feel pride. Why? They're getting a shot in the stomach. They didn't do anything worthy of recognition.
Hey! I got a shot in the tummy for rabies once! Do I get a parade?
If, in your personal life, you believe having an abortion is the right thing to do and you, in fact, have an abortion, you have every right to feel pride. It is a completely justified emotion for acting on what you value. So too the individual who believes it right not to have an abortion who follows through with their values. "Pride" is merely the proper emotion one feels when one has achieved what one values. The general concept of "pride" contains no built-in distinction between whether one's values are rational or irrational. Naturally, one can justifiably feel pride for having achieved an entirely irrational value just as one feels pride for achieving an entirely rational value. The focus ought to be on the rationalism of one's values, NOT on the issue of the emotion "pride".
The only ugliness I happen to attach to the issue of "pride" is the notion many individuals harbor that one ought not feel anything at all when achieving what one values - the notion that some feelings are ugly and therefore are inappropriate to a human life.
Rubbish.
All sorts of silly arguments are made for why one ought to feel no pride at all, however, none of them have ever been adequately supportable arguments. Feelings - all emotions - are a fundamental characteristic of what it is to be a human being. One will never adequately argue that a human being ought to carve out and dispose of an essential part of who and what they are. One will certainly never successfully argue the suppression of pride. To do so, you would have to argue why a human being ought not achieve what they value and perhaps why they ought not have values at all. As for the arguments against irrational thought and behavior, those successful arguments are many and continue to multiply daily.
Regardless of the rationality of your values, you have every right to feel pride for acting on your values regarding the decisions you make for your own life, your own body. That pride is not misplaced. Misplaced pride would be pride in suppressing the liberty of another to make their own choices regarding the conduct of their own body. Such pride is misplaced because it is the pride of an irrational uncivilized brute - NOT the pride of a civilized rational human being.