and I want a pony, too (no, I don't)

[serene]

There's an abortion debate on a listserv I'm on that has, surprisingly,
stayed civil. I've just agreed with a pro-abortion(*) guy who said that
if we focus on late-term abortions, we're letting the scare tactics of the
religious right carry the debate.

My response:

In general, I have to agree with you. I am personally opposed to very-late-term abortion, but I think that the anti-abortionists (I don't think they're actually pro-life) use late-term abortion as a heartstrings-tug so that they can impose more and stricter controls on the most common abortions, those that happen early.

(Full disclosure: In my ideal world, there would be no -- or very very few -- abortions. My ideal world has free birth control, good sex ed from an early age, stigma-free access to prenatal care and adoption, and lifelong universal health care. I'm not holding my breath.)

*I say "pro-abortion" and "anti-abortion" because I find "pro-life" and
"pro-choice" to be so full of spin that they can't make it out of my mouth

Comments

[kightp.livejournal.com]

Your ideal world matches mine in this regard.

Until then, I remain a woman's-right-to-choose absolutist, but I can usually keep a civil tongue in my head when talking about it.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

I think "a woman's-right-to-choose absolutist" describes me well, too. I am opposed to abortion on ethical grounds, I won't lie about that, but I am FAR MORE opposed to letting the government impose its wishes on women's choices in this matter. (How I used to put it is "Even if I think abortion is wrong, I don't think it's a death-penalty offense, and you're condemning women to death if you criminalize abortion.")

[kightp.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's even a "spend time in jail" offense.

There are lots of things I think are ethically wrong, but I don't think most of them should be against the law.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

I think we're in violent agreement here. :-)

[kightp.livejournal.com]

Imagine my surprise. (-: