[lbo-talk] ABORTION

[Wendy Lyon]

On 04/02/2008, Dennis Perrin <dperrin at comcast.net> wrote:
> > I changed the subject line thinking of a hypothetical reader -- some
> > 19-year old college student who finds herself pregnant and the victim of
> > too much balderdash about what a heavy decision abortion is. Maybe
> > googling Abortion will bring her to this post and someone telling her --
> > go it! You're fine. Get rid of it and lead your life.
>
> Coming from someone who's had many abortions, and thus knows the score, this
> is sound advice.

Whatever about Carrol's own experience, his point is a valid one. In
the documentary 'The Abortion Diaries' one of the young women notes
that she has found many 'pro-choice' people to be almost as judgmental
about her decision as the antis. This insistence on seeing abortion as
a Really Awful Thing, irrespective of its legal status, has several
important consequences: it reinforces the position of those who think
that it *shouldn't* have legal status; it contributes to the stigma
which discourages medical practitioners from making it available even
where it is legal; and it contributes negatively to the psychological
impact of abortion on women by subtly (or not so subtly) suggesting
that their decision, even if justified under their circumstances, was
still sort of wrong. You really shouldn't underestimate the
significance of these effects.