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May 23, 2012 |
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Pro-choice is a common self-description used by people who believe that a woman should have the absolute legal right to have an abortion, or that one can choose on issues relating to the life or death of themselves or any part of their body. Additionally, opponents of the right to an abortion often argue that "pro-choice" is a misnomer, because pro-choice activists oppose legislative measures such as "Informed Consent" or "Right To Know" laws, even when such laws merely delay rather than restrict a woman's legal right to choose abortion. Some medical practitioners, and many advocates of what is considered from the pro-choice perspective as a female patient's right to choose abortion, consider informed consent restrictions an inconsistent and arbitrary governmental intrusion into an open, informed and confidential patient-practitioner relationship. They argue that since informed consent is the precursor to all medicine|medical treatment, any legislative requirement for additional "facilitation" in this instance amounts to a compromise to the physician's or practitioner's skill and discretion. Some pro-choice activists believe that abortion should be a last resort, if the pregnant woman is unable to raise the child or give it up for adoption, or if the pregnancy risks endangering the life or health of the woman. They also feel that pro-life activists distort this point of view, suggesting that pro-choice activists somehow wish for abortion to be considered a common form of contraception. For moderates on both sides, the subject of abortion as an absolute last resort often provides common ground for reasonable debate. Some pro-choice moderates, who would otherwise be willing to accept certain restrictions on abortion, feel that political pragmatism compels them to fight against any such restrictions, as they could be used to form a slippery slope against all abortions. The term "pro-choice" is often used interchangeably with "pro-abortion." Proponents for the usage of "pro-abortion" cite that "pro-choice" is a loaded term implying the negative opposite "anti-choice" instead of "pro-life". Both "pro-choice" and "pro-life" are examples of political framing: they are terms which purposely try to define their philosophies in the best possible light, while by definition attempting to describe their opposition in the worst possible light (being "anti-choice" or "anti-life"). Opponents of the pro-choice view sometimes refer to people who are pro-choice with what can be considered pejorative terms such as "anti-life" or "pro-abortion". Pro-choice individuals object to this nomenclature, and claim that they approve of life, instead emphasizing that an unwanted child ruins the life of both mother and child. This emphasizes their support for increasing the quality of people's lives by having each child be born to a woman who is willing and able to raise the child, rather than just increasing the quantity by causing more births. Their belief is framed in the broader category of the individual liberty and absolute "reproductive freedom". One view on how to resolve the dispute is simply to accept the terms each group uses for itself. Frequently, this approach is adopted by news organizations as applied to abortion advocacy groups, but rarely as applied to abortion opponents. The Oxford English Dictionary lists the usage of "pro-choice" at least as early as 1975, around the time when the question of the legality of abortion became increasingly discussed after Roe v. Wade (the term "choice" is used to describe options towards abortion in the case as well). Within the term pro-choice exists a spectrum of political opinion, ranging from the view that all abortions should be legal, to the view that abortions should only be legal until a certain date in the progression of the pregnancy (such as the third trimester, which is the approximate gestational age at which a fetus can survive outside of the mother's body). In its 1973 landmark case of Roe v. Wade, the US Supreme Court held that abortions were permissible during the first and second trimesters of a woman's pregnancy, but that they could be restricted during the third trimester unless the woman's life or health were at risk. People who believe the opposite often refer to themselves as Pro-life|pro-life. Within that term also exists a spectrum of political opinion, ranging from the view that all abortions should be illegal, to the view that abortion should only be legal in certain rare circumstances, such as pregnancy by rape or incest, or when there are fetal deformities or medical complications to pregnancy. Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America are the leading pro-choice advocacy and lobbying groups in the United States, though most of the major feminist organizations are involved in the issue on the pro-choice side as well. In the United States, the Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party tends to be more pro-choice than the Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party on the issue of abortion rights. Category:Abortion This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Pro-choice".
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