I’m a Pro-Life Democrat
February 13, 2008by Samantha Sanders
Yup. I admit it. I am pro-life.
It took me a long time to come to this realization. Ever since high school, when I realized I was liberally-minded and decided to be a Democrat, I always considered myself pro-choice. I was a member of the Model United Nations team, where about 90% of our members considered themselves Democrats and almost all of my friends were of the pro-choice camp. My girlfriends and I were feminists on the rise, aspiring to attend George Washington University and be politicians on the Hill, or lobbyists for the National Organization of Women.
Even then, it always irked me when someone would refer to my pro-choice stance as “pro-abortion.” I was deeply offended that someone would assume that just because I believed in a woman’s right to choose, that I would “support” abortion. I mean, c’mon. Who actually “supports” abortion? In my opinion, I think most people would prefer an alternative and I doubt many people would enthusiastically encourage someone to have an abortion. At least, I wouldn’t. Despite that queasy feeling I got in my stomach every time someone called me a “pro-abortionist”, I continued to consider myself pro-choice… until about my sophomore year of college.
I was driving South on the Florida Turnpike, returning to UCF from a trip to Gainesville. That’s when I saw it – a billboard with a beautiful baby fetus with the words: “A baby’s heartbeat begins at 3 weeks.” A couple minutes later, another one: “A baby’s brainwaves begin at 8 weeks.” If any of you have seen Juno, my reaction was reminiscent to when Su-Chin tells Juno (who’s on her way to an adoption clinic) her baby already has fingernails. I continued driving for a few minutes and then I thought, Really? A Heartbeat? That soon? But, most women don’t even realize they’re pregnant until well after that.
And from that moment on, I knew I was pro-life. However, I don’t consider my stance to be at all conservative (and I now get offended when people assume that) – I still support a woman’s right to choose, and I believe an abortion should be definitely permitted in cases of a mother’s health, rape, or incest, and in some cases, when it comes to very young girls becoming pregnant. However, I do not support abortions based on social reason, and I believe states should enact general restrictions and guidelines that can be applied on a case-by-case basis, depending on a doctor’s or a judge’s recommendations.
But, these are *my* beliefs. My values. My choices. I have no flippin’ clue what it feels like to be pregnant. Let alone be pregnant at 14 years of age. Or be pregnant and alone. Or be pregnant and scared shitless. I wouldn’t even dare to claim that I would *never* have an abortion, because frankly, how can I be sure? I’d like to think I wouldn’t, and I’d like to think that most women wouldn’t. But, I would never want that decision to be made for me, and I certainly would never inflict that kind of demand on another woman.
So, yes. I am pro-life… personally. I am also pro-choice… politically. I think it’s possible to be both.
The term “pro-life” was designed to have exactly the effect it seems to have had on you. It’s a classic, conservative over-simplification of an extremely complicated issue.
To your credit, at least you seem to recognize that you aren’t in a position to judge another woman’s choice. Unfortunately, you’ve gone so far as to suggest that states should place restrictions on the reasons why women choose to have abortions. May I ask you how you plan to regulate that? Politely worded surveys to be handed out at abortion clinics (not adoption clinics), perhaps? Five-day waiting periods while a judge reviews the case?
I challenge you to recognize your similar inability to properly propose legislation, identify the places where abortions take place, and form well-reasoned political or moral ideas without the aid of a series of billboards from the radical Christian right.
The fact of the matter is that “pro-life vs. pro-choice” is a false dilemma. These are verbal tools that both sides use to sway weaker, less intellectually capable voters.
Just in case anyone is confused by these ridiculous labels, pro-choice means you believe that each woman should have the right to make up her own mind about whether or not to have an abortion. Basically, some people think it is wrong, and some people don’t. This means that pro-choice-ers don’t believe it should be legislated (no restrictions whatsoever). The fact that you want to place restrictions on it makes you pro-life both socially AND politically, and that IS a conservative viewpoint, whether you like it or not.
I am a generally pro-life Democrat but agree that abortion rights is a complex issue. Most Americans don’t fit neatly into either the pro-choice or pro-life category.
Democrats for Life have promoted an execllent plan that would provide a stronger safety net for expectant mothers. The best way to resolve the abortion controversy is to develop strategies to reduce the abortion rate without passing more restrictive laws.
http://rightdemocrat.blogspot.com/2007/12/casey-introduces-pregnant-women-support.html
Ok guys. I allowed these comments to be posted because I generally don’t want to regulate what people have to say.
However, the first two comments are attacking not only the viewpoint of the blogger, but also the blogger themselves. You can post your opinions and even disagree with the blogger, but we will not tolerate personal attacks.
It’s hard enough for us to find people who want to write blogs,and we don’t want anyone to feel like they can’t express their opinions out of fear that they’re going to be put down.
If you feel that you have a better argument, then write a blog and send it in.
I would imagine that this blog post took some courage, and I for one can appreciate that since I’m an evangelical Democrat. I have to defend my progressive political views all the time in my conservative circle of friends and neighbors. I’m also pro-life both personally and politically. However, my definition of pro-life is much more inclusive. I’m pro-life because I’m against an un-just war. I’m pro-life because I oppose the death penalty (as Ghandi said – “An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”)
However, I’m also against abortions in general. A national organization or pro-life Democrats was founded several years ago called Democrats for Life.
All the best… Adam Parish.
AdamParish.org
“Faithfulness comes before effectiveness.” -Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Democratic Party needs to have more pro-life members.The Republicans are nice to their pro-choice members.Why can’t we do the same?
Hi Samantha-
Kudos on speaking your mind. I think most of the mixed response you’ve gotten is for very good reason. For most people, this is a black-and-white issue. If you believe a fetus is not a child, then it’s not a child regardless of whether a mother “needs” an abortion or simply wants one. If you believe that the fetus is a full-fledged human, then no justification trumps that child’s right to exist.
I’m pro-life. My position has never been about wanting to tell someone else what they can and can’t do. I think we’re sometimes seen that way. I just can’t stand the thought of an innocent human life being taken (since that’s what I believe it to be) in any circumstance.
Is it a life, or isn’t it? This short question is what polarizes our nation, because each answer (yes or no) leads to drastically different conclusions. Depending on your answer, there can either be no acceptable abortion, or no unacceptable abortion.