Dear Claire, thank you for the dispatch. I am Catholic, but still identify myself as pro-choice. For the simple reason that this country is made up of many different people. I may not want an abortion, but I can see how I can judge others and tell them what to do. I am impressed by your passion and your encouragement to get others out there doing more than praying. Buying diapers is greatly appreciated, but where are you going to be after you've prayed for her and brought her diapers? Parenting is a lifetime endeavor.
I'm also glad to see REAL women's health boiled down to reproductive issues. I always thought that cardiac issues would be REAL women's health because until recently it was the #1 cause of death among women.
Finally, why must people villainize the other side. As a pro-choice individual, I've never thought (and neither any of the pro-choice people I know) that anti-abortion people, "hate women." That is one of many, many characterizations. It is certainly not the only. You do yourself a great disservice when you speak in hyperbole. I've heard some anti-abortion say that pro-choice people want to give women the right to abort full term babies or they want to treat it like it is birth control. You may find those people, but they are certainly not all or even a majority. There is something wrong in this country where the Left cannot speak to the Right, the pro-choice and the anti-abortion. If we continue to vilify each other I don't believe we will ever get to where we need to be.
I would really like to see the energy displayed on both sides used to make sure that mother has policies that will support her not only when she is in crisis mode, but also for her child should she decide to go that way. Just one more thing, I have NEVER met a woman who didn't think long and hard before having an abortion and who has ever forgotten what happened. Also, none of the women I know have ever been threatened or counselled to have one. Again, I don't doubt that what you say has happened. I just disagree to the extent. Please let's stop treating each other as monsters and dig in and to some REAL work for REAL women. Thank you for your essay.
Thank you Claire, for continuously speaking the truth - it is wrong to end a human life.
I have often felt we are arguing different sides of the same coin. Pro-lifers are focusing on the act of abortion itself, while pro-choicers ignore and minimize the act and focus on what we are allowed to tell other people to do. Rich, given the past two years, in my opinion, but I digress.
How do we bring the discussion to specificity? I don’t know. I’ve spoken to pro-choicers who agree that abortion is never an “easy” thing, should be used as a last resort, etc. Something in them recognizes the heinousness of the act itself. But, they argue, I can’t tell others what to do. Sometimes I feel like I’m trying to convince people that bagels always deserve cream cheese, while they are trying to convince me that biscuits should never have jam. We’re all talking about breakfast, yes, but in unrelated ways that don’t connect.
I very much appreciate your well-thought out (and interestingly timed!) piece on how to talk about pro-life points. I’ll be referencing it often in the days to come.
Thanks for all you do, God bless you and your family. And yes, we have shit to do!
While I remain pro-choice from a legal standpoint, I really appreciate many of your points. We have work to do in supporting our sisters, no matter how the abortion rules play out. Thank you for promoting discourse and positive action even with a topic as difficult as abortion.
Dear Claire, thank you for the dispatch. I am Catholic, but still identify myself as pro-choice. For the simple reason that this country is made up of many different people. I may not want an abortion, but I can see how I can judge others and tell them what to do. I am impressed by your passion and your encouragement to get others out there doing more than praying. Buying diapers is greatly appreciated, but where are you going to be after you've prayed for her and brought her diapers? Parenting is a lifetime endeavor.
I'm also glad to see REAL women's health boiled down to reproductive issues. I always thought that cardiac issues would be REAL women's health because until recently it was the #1 cause of death among women.
Finally, why must people villainize the other side. As a pro-choice individual, I've never thought (and neither any of the pro-choice people I know) that anti-abortion people, "hate women." That is one of many, many characterizations. It is certainly not the only. You do yourself a great disservice when you speak in hyperbole. I've heard some anti-abortion say that pro-choice people want to give women the right to abort full term babies or they want to treat it like it is birth control. You may find those people, but they are certainly not all or even a majority. There is something wrong in this country where the Left cannot speak to the Right, the pro-choice and the anti-abortion. If we continue to vilify each other I don't believe we will ever get to where we need to be.
I would really like to see the energy displayed on both sides used to make sure that mother has policies that will support her not only when she is in crisis mode, but also for her child should she decide to go that way. Just one more thing, I have NEVER met a woman who didn't think long and hard before having an abortion and who has ever forgotten what happened. Also, none of the women I know have ever been threatened or counselled to have one. Again, I don't doubt that what you say has happened. I just disagree to the extent. Please let's stop treating each other as monsters and dig in and to some REAL work for REAL women. Thank you for your essay.
Thank you Claire, for continuously speaking the truth - it is wrong to end a human life.
I have often felt we are arguing different sides of the same coin. Pro-lifers are focusing on the act of abortion itself, while pro-choicers ignore and minimize the act and focus on what we are allowed to tell other people to do. Rich, given the past two years, in my opinion, but I digress.
How do we bring the discussion to specificity? I don’t know. I’ve spoken to pro-choicers who agree that abortion is never an “easy” thing, should be used as a last resort, etc. Something in them recognizes the heinousness of the act itself. But, they argue, I can’t tell others what to do. Sometimes I feel like I’m trying to convince people that bagels always deserve cream cheese, while they are trying to convince me that biscuits should never have jam. We’re all talking about breakfast, yes, but in unrelated ways that don’t connect.
I very much appreciate your well-thought out (and interestingly timed!) piece on how to talk about pro-life points. I’ll be referencing it often in the days to come.
Thanks for all you do, God bless you and your family. And yes, we have shit to do!
Well stated.
Thank you, Claire. Amazingly said and hits everything I wanted to say but could not articulate.
While I remain pro-choice from a legal standpoint, I really appreciate many of your points. We have work to do in supporting our sisters, no matter how the abortion rules play out. Thank you for promoting discourse and positive action even with a topic as difficult as abortion.
Thankful for you.