Women’s Rights Equals Women’s Choice

Today, my college campus has been infected by blatant sensationalism and fear mongering. The anti abortionists are here with their enlarged photos of shocking, bloody abortion imagery, which they claim those of us who are pro abortion try to hide from the general public. Oh no, dear reader, I'll show you.

 Ok, there you go. A nice abortion picture of a fetus in its ninth week. This is the kind of imagery that has been plastered all over campus for the past few days, the kind of imagery that has invaded our public space. Do you feel sick when you look at the picture? Outraged? Small and scared? Good. That's exactly what the Religious Wrong wants you to feel.

This is what I hate the most about the use of sensationalist imagery. First, they show a picture prominently featuring fingers and toes, characteristics that immediately draw the average viewer in emotionally. A being that has recognizably human features is relatable on a visceral level. Secondly, they place a quarter in the image to show you the size of the fetus, thereby underscoring its alleged status as defenseless and in need of outside protection and intervention. Often they compare these images to slaughterhouse video, implying that human babies are just as easy to destroy and throw out with the trash as are chickens or cows. (The fact that animals are so easy to disregard is a rant for another day) But in reality, spaces where these images are displayed are the real slaughterhouses, emotional fattening grounds where the objective is to prep the casual observer for easy harvest.

There are no rights that come without blood. The anti abortion group who came to our campus claim in their pamphlet, entitled Why Abortion is Genocide, that "[pro abortionists] cannot look at their handiwork or the handiwork they defend. Across the country, they shrink from the photos of babies killed in abortions…They are, at least to my mind, like the Germans who refused to think about what was happening at Dachau and then vomited when they saw–and never wanted to see again." (qtd in Why Abortion is Genocide, Ben Stein)

I disagree. I will look at their imagery all day long, and still be pro abortion. Why? Why would I, someone who genuinely loves and appreciates children, feel that way? Because my rights are worth more than the life of an unborn fetus. The rights of all women everywhere are more important than thousands of aborted fetuses. Period. End of sentence. Done.

Groups like these claim to be for fetus rights, but the reality is much different. What they are really advocating is the continued oppression of women. If they truly were against abortions, wouldn't they be the staunchest supporters of birth control methods that prevented egg fertilization? Where are the pro lifers when the fight over condoms in highschools is being fought? Where are they when pharmacists attempt to refuse birth control on moral grounds? Shouldn't they be jumping for joy over something like the Pill, which prevents pregnancy and thereby lowers abortion rates? Instead groups like the one on campus care little for the reality of their cause. They are not for fetus rights. They are anti women and anti sex.

If any of you make a habit of perusing this sort of hate literature, it might become apparent to you that the thereotical woman who is a neccesary participant in carrying and birthing a child is never mentioned. She becomes nothing more than a faceless, mechanized incubator, incapable of feelings, wants, or even rights. The pin up girl for the anti abortion movement never speaks. She does not move of her own accord, but exists to be positioned like a mannequin by hordes of (usually) white men. Her vagina and uterus are rented out to her; she never owns.

Our world history is built on multiple oppresions, but I feel comfortable suggesting that the most pervasive oppression is that leveled against women, across societies, across time. In South Dakota there is now no caveat for abortions if the child is the product of rape, but I say to you now that to force a woman to carry the unwanted result of a rape is to continue to rape her.

The fact that so many suppossed pro lifers are men ought to tell you something, and that something is chilling. As someone who was raised a woman, and as someone who can still bear (and might possibly do so in the future) children, I say with great pride and unshakable certainty that I am the author of my own destiny, and anyone who tries to remove my right to govern my own body is my enemy.

*Thanks to <a href="http://www.lake-desire.com/newgameplus/">Lake Desire</a> for the last photo.

About this entry

You’re currently reading “Women’s Rights Equals Women’s Choice,” an entry on Ever More Hideous

Published:
May 4, 2006 / 10:40 pm
Category:
abortion, civil rights, religious wrong
Tags: