A linguistic trick of affirming the right to abortion while simultaneously devaluing it.

[D23MIURG23]

97. I don't see why having a pro-choice stance necessarily entails...

affirming that both choices are equally good in all cases.

"Saying it should be "rare" indicates - clearly - that it is happening more than it should be and that there are 'good' and 'bad' abortions."

No. Safe, legal, rarer would indicate that abortion is happening more than it should be. The word rare a general description, and not a comparison to anything that has been defined. The speaker could be indicating that the incidence of abortion is already rare enough if we are judging the statement in isolation. Furthermore, nothing about that statement indicates anything about 'good' or 'bad' abortions.

Abortions are invasive medical procedures, and therefore all abortions are bad. Having an invasive medical procedure always carries a non-zero risk, and some amount of suffering, and should be prevented whenever possible. I happen to think that cardiac bypass surgery should be "safe, legal, and rare" for exactly the same reason. Obviously you shouldn't be denied a medical procedure you need, or one that you have elected, in order to spare yourself a greater hardship. That doesn't mean that if the right wingers start arguing against open heart surgery on biblical grounds, that we have to counter by arguing that there is nothing negative or dangerous about having ones' chest cavity opened on an operating table. We would be better off insisting that such procedures should happen when they need to happen, and that in cases where they can be prevented by lifestyles that involve healthy eating and exercise, they should be.

It may well be that the public perception of abortion as a negative thing helps the forced birth people, but it doesn't follow that we have to address that by ignoring what abortion actually is. We can just as easily raise awareness of the fact that abortion sometimes saves the lives of women who are having complications in their pregnancies, and re-emphasize the fact that abortion is an issue for doctors and their patients to hash out, without the meddling of congress.