When The Anti-Choice Choose

[plumtreeblossom]

The hypocrisy makes me seeth with the heat of a thousand suns. How dare someone have a procedure that they would deny to another woman? And why does it not surprise me to even see this?

"The only moral abortion is MY abortion"

Comments

[oneagain.livejournal.com]

Goodness. Atleast some women changed their minds as a result.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

That was the only saving grace, that a few changed their stance after walking a mile in someone else's shoes. The ones who were back out on the protest front the next week were the ones that really got to me.

[audioboy.livejournal.com]

*shakes head sadly*

The sad thing about exposing hypocrisy like this is that it's totally lost on the people who should learn from it. As was said several times, their situation is different. They're not the same as those wanton Heathen trollops who daily march into the clinics to have their babies butchered.

*sigh*

[mangosteen]

There's a certain circular logic to it.

1. Bad only things only happen to bad people.
2. I am, by virtue of being a Virtuous Person, am not a bad person.
3. Therefore, my abortion isn't a bad thing.

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

I've encountered this logic before... specifically, in people who completely fucked me over and then refused to admit that they had done anything wrong, that they had consciously profited from my destruction.

This is why I want the symbol for "integrity" as a tattoo. Not "honesty." Integrity.

[mangosteen]

If you're talking about Chinese characters, there's no one symbol for integrity. It's a two-character word.

To wit:
操守
Pronounced "tsao-sho".
The characters mean "exercise/operate" + "abide/guard", which works out to "integrity/moral strength".

Source: www.zhongwen.com , plus personal knowledge.

(Then again, you might not be talking about Chinese characters at all, and this was awfully presumptious on my part, but it was a fun exercise anyway :)

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

Presumptious? Heavens no! I've actually been looking and looking for someone who could help me confirm ifthe image I have for integrity is correct. Because it's two characters, I'm worried about getting a combination that doesn't really mean what I want -- like "honesty" or "structural integrity" -- or maybe translates literally as integrity, but is a combo no one would ever actually use.

Unfortunately, I can't see the characters in your comment. Are they the same as the ones in my image? I "bought" it online, but I don't know that I trust the source, so I'm looking for second opinions. I've had a professor of Asian studies who is a hobbyist Chinese calligrapher take a look at it, and he thought it was a good translation of "integrity." But we're talking about something I'm gonna put on my body permanently, so I definitely want a few more opinions (and also to hear if there's something else wrong with it, like it's really a font instead of hand calligraphed!).

(Mare, sorry for spamming you!)

[ayelle.livejournal.com]

I just tried looking at the website you linked to (very helpful!). The characters are different from the ones I have... but prettier... and I know I've seen them before. They were my best guesses (based on web searches) before I tried the online calligraphy store where you had to pay to have things translated -- for some reason I thought that'd be more trustworthy. I had my doubts when they initially sent me the wrong character, making it obvious that the image was stock and not made specifically for me, as promised. It was quite cheap though, so I don't really care about the money, I just wanna make sure I have the right characters...

[a-chara.livejournal.com]

sigh. hypocrites of the worst kind.

[androidqueen.livejournal.com]

*shrug*

it never surprises me when people are hypocritical.

hypocrites

[thorbol.livejournal.com]

First, a disclosure: I am "pro-life" on abortion, in the style of Nat Hentoff. I regarded myself as "reluctantly pro-choice" for a long time, but about two years ago it seemed to me that I could not morally, logically continu to have that view. Sometimes, I feel as reluctant about my current view as I did about the old one. I'd be utterly relieved to find that there's a more logical beginning of personhood than conception, but I don't know of one, and I reject simple arbitrariness on the point.

I agree about the hypocrisy, and with other criticisms of a lot of self-styled "pro-life" people. Some of these folks do seem to behave as if the right to life begins at conception and ends at birth. And recalling a journal entry some months ago by somebody I'm pretty sure will see this, I certainly hope that, if I retain this view at the time, I'll have the moral courage to forego or refuse medical treatment that requires the destruction of embryos. (If I fail, it won't make my views bad, just me.)

I take the view that individuals--adults, at least--should be able to do what they want, except where it infringes on the equal right of others to do the same. The only justification for restricting abortion for me, then, is that it fucks another human being over: without the right to life, no other rights ever exist. That view also means, however, that I oppose laws requiring people to buckle up or wear bike helmets, even though I think those are very wise safety precautions, since it's up to me, nobody else, to decide what I want to do about my safety. It means I'd eradicate these numerous, abysmal drug laws that bar me from deciding what medicines I will use or what I will get my buzz from. But some of the most passionat "pro-choice" people I know are about equally ardent in supporting all manner of governmental drivel that, purportedly, is meant to protect us from our own decision-making. (They always make some noises about the "cost" of "irresponsible" behavior to society as a whole, but invariably we can deal with whatever real costs there are with less wreckage of liberty.) If I'd thought about it, I'd have expected people avid about "choice when there IS a dispute about whether another person's involved to be even more "pro-choice" on the many things when there's no doubt at all that it's only your own body in question. As it is, I find very few people who really are, generally, "pro-choice."

I note, by the way, that this small-l libertarian streak of mine prompts me to part ideological company with those "pro-life liberals" who also oppose right-to-die laws. I figure the law should recognize that my life is mine to end when I choose, unless I'm proven truly unable to decide the matter. (The key for any such law is to ensure that it is one's own choice, not the choice of somebody who finds your demise convenient.) I mention this only to make it clear that I try to take as few anti-choice positions as I logically, morally can.

Finally, for some non-right-wing "pro-life" items, you can go to

http://www.prolife.liberals.com

I've found a lot of things there quite helpful.

[thesynergizer.livejournal.com]

how very thought provoking.


i am the opposite. i believe abortion is murder, and would never have one. i grieved for my miscarried babies, but i am pro-choice.

it is not my place to make this decision for other women. i've seen enough terrible mothers to know that it may be better for a baby to die before being born than for a child to be neglected or abused.

also, i know that back-alley abortions are inevitable, and i would rather these women get proper medical care and be able to have children in the future, if that is their choice.