Anti-choice feminist
Without exactly planning to go that way, I've been pulling more feminist stuff into my reader lately. In general I find I agree with most of what is said and I think I learn quite a lot. But there seems to be this sticking point. Every time abortion is mentioned, my back goes up. There is this idea that you can't be feminist and anti-choice. You can, I know because I am.
I was, for example, reading this: http://www.lawsonry.com/642-the-mean-girl-myth-why-we-cant-all-just-get-along and I was pretty much with her until she said "The abortion issue is, the way I see it, the most fundamental feminist issue when it comes to politics". I had to do a double take. Even aside from the fact that I disagree with her stance on this issue, there are so many other issues more deserving of that title. But anyway, on to the disagreeing!
The 'right' to an abortion is referred to as a 'reproductive right'. I really dislike this term, because, as far as I am concerned, once you are pregnant, you have already reproduced. As soon as the sperm and the egg have combined and created a brand new set of human DNA, that entity is, in my eyes, a brand new person, equipped with their very own set of human rights. As Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. said "The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins." There is a hierarchy of human rights. And the right to life is right at the top of it. Whatever right you want this 'reproductive right' to fall under, be it the right to freedom, bodily integrity or something else, that right is trumped by the unborn's right to life.
I am fully aware 'the unborn child is a person from the point where it has its own DNA' is not a provable fact, but an opinion. I am fully aware that the debate on abortion is a very complicated issue and I don't think anyone has ever had their mind changed on it based on a discussion on the internet. It is an emotional discussion, based on opinion and even more liable to confirmation bias than most. All I'm saying is that which side of that line I fall on makes no difference to whether or not I believe that men and women should be treated equally. None at all.
No one gets to tell me I'm not a feminist because I disagree with them on something.
It is possible to be anti-choice because you are sexist against women. But it is also possible to be anti-choice and a feminist. I know, because I am.
I was, for example, reading this: http://www.lawsonry.com/642-the-mean-girl-myth-why-we-cant-all-just-get-along and I was pretty much with her until she said "The abortion issue is, the way I see it, the most fundamental feminist issue when it comes to politics". I had to do a double take. Even aside from the fact that I disagree with her stance on this issue, there are so many other issues more deserving of that title. But anyway, on to the disagreeing!
The 'right' to an abortion is referred to as a 'reproductive right'. I really dislike this term, because, as far as I am concerned, once you are pregnant, you have already reproduced. As soon as the sperm and the egg have combined and created a brand new set of human DNA, that entity is, in my eyes, a brand new person, equipped with their very own set of human rights. As Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. said "The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins." There is a hierarchy of human rights. And the right to life is right at the top of it. Whatever right you want this 'reproductive right' to fall under, be it the right to freedom, bodily integrity or something else, that right is trumped by the unborn's right to life.
I am fully aware 'the unborn child is a person from the point where it has its own DNA' is not a provable fact, but an opinion. I am fully aware that the debate on abortion is a very complicated issue and I don't think anyone has ever had their mind changed on it based on a discussion on the internet. It is an emotional discussion, based on opinion and even more liable to confirmation bias than most. All I'm saying is that which side of that line I fall on makes no difference to whether or not I believe that men and women should be treated equally. None at all.
No one gets to tell me I'm not a feminist because I disagree with them on something.
It is possible to be anti-choice because you are sexist against women. But it is also possible to be anti-choice and a feminist. I know, because I am.