Jeff at Feminist Allies has some interesting comments about being pro-choice. I'm still musing about the various terminology--pro-choice vs. pro-life vs. anti-choice vs. pro-abortion...I hope to break these terms down more at some point, but what do you think they all mean? I definitely identify as pro-choice (as will most of you reading this), but a friend recently gave me a good definition for what "pro-choice" is really about.
This young woman grew up in a fundamentalist evangelical home, and still identifies with that to some degree. She believes that abortion kills a soul, and yet she recently decided she actually was "pro-choice" because she doesn't believe that the government has any business regulating women's bodies based on a religious principle. She is very clearly against abortion, but she is very clearly for "choice", and it is the concept of choice that drives my position as well.
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For the most part, I have quit (or at least, am trying to quit) using the phrase "pro-life" for a variety of reasons.
Mainly, it is a cheap way to frame the debate, by making it sound as if opponents are "anti-life." Cheap framing techniques are kind of expected anymore, but that doesn't mean I'll play along.
Most importantly, it doesn't reflect the values of the anti-choicers. Being "pro-life" has nothing to do with condom use, Plan B, or birth control. It has everything to do with being against capital punishment and war.
"pro-life," when applied to women, really means being "anti-choice." Whether that choice was abortion, or simply BCP, you can bet anti-choicers want to block those options.
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