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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsA prolife young man came to my door with a flyer.
I was in a good mood, so I talked to him about why I'm pro-choice:
1. women don't go through 7 months of pregnancy misery and suddenly wake up and make an appointment for an abortion like it was a pedicure.
2. I explained that the vast majority of abortions are first term, and later term abortions are usually due to fetal anomalies incompatible with life.
3. Continuing a pregnancy and raising a child with disabilities can bankrupt a family, and state help isn't consistent between states.
4. I don't want a Washington lawyer who doesn't know the ok of pregnancy, like what an ectopic pregnancy is, making that decision for me and my doctor.
5. If the government can tell you that you must have a baby, then they eventually will have the power to tell you that you can't.
6. I claimed the "prolife" mantle, explaining I am for a woman and her family making these decisions, not the government.
He had an enlightened look on his face.
brush
(53,841 posts)Hekate
(90,787 posts)Deuxcents
(16,317 posts)badhair77
(4,220 posts)You never know when you may hit a nerve and change a mind.
YDogg
(6,682 posts)Otto_Harper
(509 posts)He probably got beaten for his troubles, and then shunned from his community.
Wounded Bear
(58,704 posts)Ilsa
(61,698 posts)about this policy issue. So, I think he was trained or brainwashed or just stupid. He claimed Ds had extreme abortion proposals in the works.
Wounded Bear
(58,704 posts)OAITW r.2.0
(24,581 posts)Have an honest dialogue. They are the ones that ask for the conversation - one on-one - give it to them. Show them the illogical of their premise.
wryter2000
(46,081 posts)I got an older man who thought doctors and women were depriving perfectly healthy babies of food at birth so they die. I just told him politely that doesn't happen, and if it did, they'd be guilty of murder without banning abortion. He didn't become irate or fight back, but I don't know that he believed me.
OAITW r.2.0
(24,581 posts)We that know different have to explain it to those that are easily duped. Deflate the zeal and the motivation to be humiliated resolves itself.
RVN VET71
(2,697 posts)As we learned recently when the debate audience laughed at Russian Ron Johnson.
The laughter alone will not unseat the cold-blooded sociopath, of course; but it sure warmed my heart's cockles to see and hear it!
MOMFUDSKI
(5,637 posts)The key word here is young MAN. He can be pro-life until the cows come home because it will never affect him like it does a young WOMAN. This whole subject leaves me livid.
wryter2000
(46,081 posts)But what if they lose a sister or mother or wife to an ectopic pregnancy? Besides, what 20 year old man wants to have to support a baby for the next 18 years? I don't mean that to sound trivial. It's not.
Karadeniz
(22,570 posts)scarletlib
(3,418 posts)wryter2000
(46,081 posts)Or having to wait for a miscarriage of a dead fetus, risking the woman's health and life.
Rhiannon12866
(205,929 posts)ShazzieB
(16,503 posts)Last edited Tue Oct 18, 2022, 04:32 PM - Edit history (1)
Most contemporary Americans do not take the risks of pregnancy and childbirth anywhere near as seriously as they should.
There was a time when giving birth was a total crapshoot, and everyone knew it. For most of human history, no woman who got pregnant was able to take it for granted that either she or the baby would survive the birth, much less both survive and go on to live healthy lives. The dangers were, of course, greatest for poor women, but no one was exempt. (Case in point: Princess Charlotte of Wales, whose father would later become King George IV, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Charlotte_of_Wales_%281796%E2%80%931817%29?wprov=sfla1)
Modern medicine has now progressed to the point where, with proper medical care, few women die as a result of childbirth and pregnancy, and even babies who are quite premature can often be enabled to survive. This has lulled far too many people into assuming that those risks have been eliminated altogether, which has led to uninformed lawmakers enacting abortion bans that are predicated on the misconception (pun intended) that having babies is a "perfectly safe," routine activity which poses few, if any, risks to either mother or child.
These lawmakers see no need to provide exemptions for risks that they regard as non-existent, and they are both shocked and skeptical when anyone tries to point out situations where saving a woman's life literally depends on terminating the pregnancy she carries.
People who have never entertained the notion that an abortion might ever be necessary to protect a pregnant person's health, much less prevent them from dying, often have a very hard time grasping the fact that this can and does happen, much more often than they ever imagined possible. And so, as the saying goes, here we are.
MiHale
(9,775 posts)70sEraVet
(3,512 posts)"If the government can tell you that you must have a baby, then they eventually will have the power to tell you that you can't."
That line conjures images of China's ' one child' policy.
I hadn't heard that line before. Well done!
orleans
(34,073 posts)GoneOffShore
(17,340 posts)to tell you that you must donate a kidney, or blood, or bone marrow.
GreenWave
(6,766 posts)...natural abortions and fetal partner reabsorptions. So if there is a god controlling nature, that god is really aborting like crazy!
SunSeeker
(51,678 posts)GreenWave
(6,766 posts)I was worn out from pumpkin harvesting. Should have slept it off, sorry.
One ultrasound tech said she thinks it happens more than 75% of the time,
mopinko
(70,206 posts)there were def 2. i felt them, and up to 5 mos i was measuring double, like w twins.
didnt get a us til late 7 mo, and there was only 1. was equal parts saddened and relieved.
this pregnancy followed immediately after i miscarried a set of twins.
just wasnt meant to be. but i get a pang every time i see a pair of twins, esp identical boys. there's an indian couple on my block w a pair of skinny little boys that tickle me but always bring that twinge.
honestly, i wouldnt have survived 2 of this boy, tho it's hard to say how he would have turned out w a twin.
Delphinus
(11,840 posts)I wish I could be more like you. Thank you for educating me!
aggiesal
(8,923 posts)Just because you're pro-choice does not mean you're pro-abortion.
It means your #6 above.
FakeNoose
(32,745 posts)Also ask these guys why only the men go door-to-door canvassing for anti-abortion, and not the women?
Joinfortmill
(14,455 posts)Demovictory9
(32,475 posts)progressoid
(49,998 posts)Maybe there's hope for him.
Heather MC
(8,084 posts)Bravo.
I have no patience for a man who doesn't understand that his place and his ONLY role is to just be GRATEFUL, Every time we women CHOOSE to put our lives on the line to bring life into this world.
And I would have instructed him to go home and hug his mama because she chose to have him.
And that's the only reason Must Always Be ONLY THE BIRTHING PARENTS CHOOSE TO PUSH🤷🏾?♀️
spanone
(135,871 posts)barbtries
(28,811 posts)Last edited Sun Oct 16, 2022, 10:35 AM - Edit history (1)
roe, roe, roe your vote!
I'm glad you claimed the "pro-life" moniker. I am on a crusade to get everyone to quit conceding that to people who don't care about women or even currently living human children. "Anti abortion" "Anti Choice" "Pro forced birth" - these can all be employed to describe these assholes.
Ilsa
(61,698 posts)other children, is at risk.
paleotn
(17,947 posts)PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,895 posts)Then ask if he'd ever been pregnant as a result of rape, or incest. Ask him if he'd ever had an ectopic pregnancy. Then ask if he'd ever been pregnant, and the fetus was diagnosed with a condition incompatible with life.
I think it needs to be pounded home to these men that if they can't get pregnant, they have no standing here.
Oh, and all the "pro-life" women who have abortions absolutely need to be outed.
Maggiemayhem
(811 posts)It is a wedge issue that was successful and now they are shifting to trans children. That study was done by a Christian organization referring to 7 out of ten women.
Beartracks
(12,821 posts)I paraphrased your quote to be able to share it in my subject line, but wow:
that is a chilling, sobering thought.
==============
evolves
(5,403 posts)#1 is worth the price of admission.
WinstonSmith4740
(3,056 posts)You need to add a corollary to #5. If you allow the government to tell a woman what she can and can't do with her body, you allow the government to tell a man. I've found it especially stops men in their tracks. Expect a lot of "deer in the headlights" responses.
czarjak
(11,289 posts)Oldtimeralso
(1,937 posts)Do you believe in capital punishment and everyone has answered did so in a positive way. I then went on to point out that they were hippocrites, and most still didn't understand. Those that did accused me of asking a trick question.
The Jungle 1
(4,552 posts)They are not going to stop because a law is passed.
The abortions will just be dangerous and women will die.
Native Americans preformed abortions with goose quills.
There are many things we could do to reduce the number of abortions.
Just some of the arguments this old man uses.
DFW
(54,436 posts)I would have just asked him if he was a vegetarian (they always answer "no" ), and then asked him if he opposed the death penalty (they always answer "no" ), and then told him he needed to call himself other than "pro-life."
niyad
(113,550 posts)penalty? Pro gun contrrol? NO? Then do not talk to me about "pro-life".
niyad
(113,550 posts)conscience.
Voltaire2
(13,151 posts)judy
(1,942 posts)We should stop using right-wing language.
The man is not "pro life", he is "anti choice".
Language matters a great deal...
calimary
(81,454 posts)He's probably only heard all the demonization of women who dare to demand autonomy over their own bodies.
He's probably been steeped in the propaganda and has never even had even the most minimal exposure to the other side of the issue.
You gave him A LOT to think about!
BRAVA, Ilsa!!!
I'm actually saving a copy of this. It's SO simple, so comprehensive, so well-thought-out, and so well-presented. Plus, it has the added benefit of being TRUE. THANK YOU! We can all make good use of this list!
Pepsidog
(6,254 posts)recently that most abortions are first trimester, medically induced by taking a pill.
CrispyQ
(36,509 posts)They never think #6 will happen.