Because it seems like it has to be said over and over

[rzep]

Just because I am pro choice doesn't mean I'm pro abortion. I'd rather that no one has to have one, because their birth control options and education helped them prevent any kind of unwanted pregnancy in the first place. But it's a good option to have available just in case

Comments

[fairgoldberry]

Currently, birth control fails. I believe 100% effective birth control is just as likely as eradicating gestational health issues. That is to say, a worthy scientific goal for 'someday'. Same with eradicating serious birth defects and ending rape. Interesting that you hit on that one, when there were several other things I said needed to happen to end abortion that also aren't a reality.

Frankly, I advocate research into tubal ligation and vasectomy, and their reversal, to make 'sterilize EVERYONE at puberty (for free) and unsterilize them (also for free) when THEY decide they're ready to have kids' a viable option someday. Male and female, so that both partners have to consciously choose "Yes I am ready to be a parent" before it can happen. I figure 100% effective 100% reversible surgical sterilization is as realistic a wish as ending spousal rape or removing the stigma for single parenthood.

The reason I'm pro-choice is that I'm well aware those things are *not* the reality. But they're the reality I want to live in, so they're the reality I work towards. While I work towards it, I protect the things, like the right to choose to continue or terminate a pregnancy, that are necessary in the absence of that reality.

Love,
Rowan

[centerlightpop]

Oh, I think I only touched on the birth control issue because, unlike some of the items that you mentioned (such as ending rape/molestation), it sometimes seems generally accepted as something that we have "already achieved"... in the sense that, if someone is educated and uses it correctly, there shouldn't be a need for abortion.

I just wanted to add to the discussion that even if everyone was on a reliable form of birth control, and using it 100% correctly, 1%-2% of people would still become pregnant. And that doesn't account for human error, or accept that not all people are able to use regular forms of birth control (i.e. someone who is unable to use hormonal birth control, and can't tolerate an IUD... the options become slim at that point). I'm not sure if I'm responding to you/Chris, or if the mention just triggered something that has bothered me in the past in other discussions... in any case, I just felt like putting it in words :)

Hope that clarifies why I picked up on that particular item... I do see where you're going with the rest of your thoughts (though I'm not sure I would ever, in any future circumstance, advocate mandatory sterilization... but I do wish for a future where something similar was possible... being able to flip the "on" switch when you're ready to take on parenthood... but that's an issue for a future far away... :D)

K.