Activism & Abortion (was Re: Abortion)

Yoshie Furuhashi furuhashi.1 at osu.edu
Wed Feb 10 09:02:32 PST 1999


Doug wrote to Angela:
>>activism, by definition, includes answering such questions daily.
>
>Yes, I was imagining running into a Catholic in an anti-war, or anti-death
>penalty, or pro-debt-relief coalition, and having the abortion issue come
>up. (This isn't very far-fetched at all, since such groups, at least in the
>U.S., are full of religious Christians.) What should one say to him or her?
>"Oh, that question's closed, you're a reactionary to bring it up!" With
>that, Marxism's reputation for dogmatic arrogance wins another convert.
>Though I strongly believe that abortion should be free on demand (like any
>medical service, except maybe liposuction), not everyone does, and in
>politics, few questions are closed.

There are different kinds of activism: activism where a tiny minority of people are trying to call people's attention to the injustice & oppression which the majority seem unaware of or indifferent to; and activism where a politicized minority of the oppressed group are trying to say to the fellow oppressed, for instance, 'black is beautiful,' 'gay is good,' 'we are here, we are queer, get used to it.' There are other types, but with regard to abortion, we are definitely not talking about the former. The situation is closer to the latter (though not identical to it).

More often than not, the main point of activism is not to speak with your temporary opponents (much less enemies), but to fortify the spirit of the people who are already inclined to the slogan, political program, or whatever cause you are advancing but who feel too isolated to voice their opinions publicly.

We already have a pro-choice majority. Now, the question is how to throw off the oppressive moralist language that has made them quiet (even about their own need/desire/experience of abortion). That is why I have been saying that we must get rid of moralist questions and answers (or problematics if you will).

Yoshie



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