> --Am I dodging the question of how to come up with a convincing,
> effective "soccer mom" argument in favor of abortion rights?
> Yep.
and
cbcox at ilstu.edu writes:
> This would be so if politics were a formal debate with a judge who
> carefully considered all the arguments. But politically in this case it
> is essential simply to _ignore_ the opposition. This is not a case that
> can be argued. We have to simply create the facts on the ground.
I have often felt that a rhetorical approach that talked turkey with the public, and that paid less deference to the maudlin rhetoric of the anti-choice forces, might make some headway. The Guttmacher Institute has reliably estimated that about 44% of the adult female population in the US has an abortion at some point in their lives. There are over 1 million abortions performed per year in this country. Each one of these women has family, friends, spouses, and so on who presumably support or accept her decision. One would think that this alone provides an enormous built-in pro-choice constituency.
This is not, however, borne out by the polling on the subject, which shows on the whole only qualified support for choice. Large majorities support choice only in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life or (physical) health of the woman. Such cases are statistically few and far between, though: the vast majority of all abortions are "elective" in nature. Obviously, a great many people are doing one thing and saying another. This is the secret that needs to be brought out into the open and exploited to the hilt. If I may so cynically characterize the mind of the American people on this subject, most people are against abortion except when they or someone they know wants one. This is the real meaning of the word "ambivalence," which is invariably used to describe the poll results on abortion.
It's not a question of scoring the public for its hypocrisy, which obviously won't get one very far, but rather of leveling with people about the reality of abortion in this country. Let's have fewer soft-focus images of happy families walking on beaches and chipper young women extolling "choice," and more straight talk. This is a medical procedure that close to half of all American women are going to need at some time. The task is to bring into closer alignment what people say they want (and how they vote) with what their actions say they _really_ want, which is for abortion to remain safe, legal, and available to those who choose it.
Jacob Conrad
P.S. And while we're at it, how about throwing a dose of good old-fashioned left-wing anti-clericalism into the mix as well.