And Now For Something Completely Different...

A discussion on a friend's blog lead to this blog post:

http://skepticalob.blogspot.com/2009/06/sex-discrimination-feminists-can.html

The idea that this happens really bothers me. It makes me think that maybe we shouldn't tell if this is what people are going to do with the information. A baby is a baby and to use gender/sex as determinate for it's validity is horrific to me. I have always had trouble with pro-choice, pro-life - trouble with both sides. They both seem so extreme. One justifies abortion in all cases and one does not recognise that there are situations where that is the best course of action. I am a moderate on this and am glad that I never had to face the decision. I hope I never have to and I hope that if any of my friends come to me for comfort and advice facing that kind of decision that I can be a good friend and give them the support they need regardless of the outcome.

Comments

Justen said…
I wouldn't say the pro-choice side is for abortions in all cases. Generally, the majority of the people on the pro-choice side are for women having the choice to do it, but not for abortion to be, say, used as a form of birth control and are certainly not advocates of abortion for sex-selection of babies.

Typically I've found those on the pro-choice side are more willing to be open to case-by-case basis whereas the anti-choice side (I hesitate to call them 'pro-life,' as many 'pro-lifers' are also 'pro-capital punishment,' a clear hypocrisy in their self-labelling) have a strict no-abortion policy, health of the mother, welfare of the family, whatever the case be damned.
11/25/2009 2:00 PM
Finster said…
As someone who is in the middle of the spectrum I am hesitant to align myself because the "extremes" are the loudest... do you know what I mean? I hate 'issues with sides' because nothing in this world is black and white and sides tend to pretend it is. I think all issues are shades of grey and the whole side thing creates an atmosphere where we can't even discuss and find a rational 'working' solution for our society.

There are idiots on both 'sides' of this issue - I have met them both.
11/25/2009 2:25 PM
Annemarie said…
This was a really interesting post Kristen and I think I'm in agreement with your views. The most inconceivable thing I find with the whole issue is that there are so many people who don't at some level understand the concerns of the people in the other camp.

I find the lack of understanding to be rather evenly distributed. Given my current milieu I directly see more of this from those who hold the pro-choice position but I think that's mainly because pro-choice is the more common belief. Anyone pro-life will naturally mute their statements in the face of overwhelming acceptance of the other side. Also, there's probably some reinforcing and intensifying of a position when there's a lack of counter point. I'm sure the reverse happens in other social settings.

This blog entry had some unexpectedly well expressed views framing both sides of the debate - I don't know if that is because the blog has a medical basis. There were new ideas expressed (new to me anyway) and less name calling than I'm used to.
11/26/2009 1:21 PM
Annemarie said…
Here's an interesting article discussing some of the the grey areas albeit with a declared pro-choice stance:

http://nymag.com/news/features/62379/
12/01/2009 10:48 AM
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