In which I bravely decide to weigh in on the timeless Abortion issue (or: Procrastination Unlimited)

Quebec vs. Canada. Israel vs. Palestine. Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice. Mac vs. PC. All timeless struggles between two diametrically opposed sides, both self-righteously validating, inflexible, both simply irreconcilable. (Well, except for the last one, I guess.)

I walked by Sidney Smith hall, the main Faculty of Arts and Sciences building to see the makings of yet another interesting day in the life of U of T. At the far side of the long open space in front of what is now the new student space, large placards mounted on poles in a horseshoe arrangement. Closer to the main entrance, a table manned by bright-eyed and rather friendly looking kids no older than me, wearing pink buttons. The placards in the back paint a very ominous picture, comparing abortion to animal rights abuses, etc. And that's when it clicked. Ah ha, these are the guys who've been making waves comparing abortion to the Holocaust. And I say "guys" in a very literal sense; as I remarked to some of my fellow classmates in BIO 328, I found it...interesting that all of the people manning the anti-abortion booth were, all, well...male. The Pro-Choice table on the other hand, had around two girls (I know one was at the booth) present...it's one of those "things that make you go hmmmm..."


I know I'm right, because you know I'm right

I had a really nice conversation with a girl in my class about the whole thing who's very opinionated about...well...a lot of things, I think. Anyway, she said a lot of things about her justification for approaching people who don't agree with her, but what really stuck to me was just how assured she was of the correctness of her position. No, I wouldn't call it arrogance, because with the badge of "arrogance" comes the connotation of condescension, and her expression of her correctness came in a very matter-of-fact style of expression, with no malice implied.

I'm not mentioning this because I think ill of the way she views discussions...far from it in fact, but talking to this girl really brought up in my mind the importance of cross-talk between two sides of any bitter conflict.


If debating you is wrong, I don't wanna be right

I'm what you would consider a fence-sitter in the whole abortion thing. I think that abortion is simply inexcusable as a "lifestyle choice", an easy way out of a situation that perhaps, could have been avoided. (I was going to list a hypothetical example, but I decided not to because I really don't want to sound judgemental on the whole "premarital sex/dating thing", and besides I think it's fairly intuitive as to what I'm talking about.) On the other hand, there are a lot of extenuating circumstances in which abortion may be not only understandable or allowable, but even justifiable: rape, incest, and life-threatening medical situations where the mother or the child's life may be at stake.

Another potential situation where I think abortion should be allowable is for children with potentially debilitating and highly destructive birth or genetic conditions. Tay-Sachs Disease comes to mind, as my Classics mentor in high school had a daughter with Tay-Sachs. Mothers with drug or alcohol addictions also count.

Unfortunately, this position doesn't hold much water, I'm afraid, with either side of the debate. To one side, I'm still an atheistic feminist baby-eater...to others, I'd probably be just another man who thinks they know better than a woman about what a woman should do with her body.

Having been blessed with a set of friends in my life that have been grossly biased towards the feminine persuation, and having been raised a devout Roman Catholic, I'd like to think that I understand what both sides are saying. And I think that's important, because, as I said to this girl's friend in class, there is always some truth and meaning to what The Other Side is saying in a debate (yes, this includes you, Creationists/Intelligent Design-ists). Yes, I think that it's just disgusting for a man to think that they know better than a woman about how they should think of, and look at their own body. I mean, hell, I don't have a vagina*, and my penis doesn't bleed every X number of weeks. Oh yeah, and I don't have to carry and pop out a screaming mass of humanoid out of my rear end. I don't know anything about being female...and I don't profess to know.

On the other hand, I've met people who would have no problem having sex and aborting the baby if it posed a "threat" to their future plans in life. And to me that just seems wrong. People seem to forget over and over that actions have consequences, and what makes humans truly human in this context is our understading that we need to take responsibility for what we do in life. A child is a tremendous responsibility, one which should never be trivialized or taken lightly.


This is the part where I start to sound like an 1980s ABC Afterschool Special

I think the solution to all of this is quite simple, and doesn't involve any of the vitriolic bile-filled conflict: increased funding and support for effective, no-nonsense sex education. Make it mandatory even in Catholic and private schools. They too have to abide by Province-wide standards, don't they? Why not make it part of that? Teaching students about sex empowers them to make informed choices about sex. This isn't like giving clean needles to crack addicts...this is like telling people to do research on candidates during an election before they vote. Knowledge is power. And empowerment is critical in making an informed choice. If two people decide to sleep together, they'll know what they're getting themselves into. I don't think it'll make the issue of abortions go away, but it'll help towards some resolution at least.

But it isn't going to work until both sides are willing to do some talking. And of course, there's the rub. How do you get them to talk?

I don't have an answer to that, but I will say that there is a time to stand your ground, dig your heels in, and revel in the incontrovertible righteousness of your position, and there's a time to say that something has to change; that obviously open warfare between two immovable sides is totally futile. Both sides can be both right and wrong. For one side to win, the other side doesn't have to lose.



*PS: Damn you Renay for getting me so used to saying the word "vagina" with a straight face. If only you know how much trouble that's gotten me into with people...

PPS: Ang and Kavitha - the addendum with your posts to the first Carnival of the Snoggers is coming...seriously.