In the midst of Right to Life Week here at Georgetown, we are left wondering if you can find anyone on this campus who supports abortion. There are plenty of pro-choice students, but pro-choice isn’t pro-abortion. Abortion is a horrific act and we would all be happy if no one had to endure it. The sad reality is that women are still harassed and raped in our society, choices still need to be made, and a society that respects life must also support decisions that are made for a good life.
While we applaud GU Right to Life for opening debate on the subject, we must take issue with their methods. The sort of displays and propaganda we have seen across campus this week further reinforce the starkly oversimplified discussion of one of the most complex and important debates facing our society.
Abortion policy cannot and should not be boiled down to pro-life and pro-choice; this sort of easy categorization, sadly typical of the American political landscape, undermines the real discussion that must occur. Couching it in the language of life and death only enlarges the problem.
The issue of fetal rights is perhaps the most bizarre offshoot of this discussion. Fetuses are not people, not citizens and do not deserve rights. We are respecting the “life” of a bundle of cells more than that of its mother. Abortion is not the ultimate exploitation of women; rape is. To truly value life would be to respect women and their rights.
Separating the issues of abortion and murder is also important-the two are not equal. Supporting, or even having, an abortion is not the same as devaluing life. Religious organizations are eager to jump on this issue, but more and more often the social missions of these organizations, missions that are more central to their teachings, fall short of need. The value of life is better served by volunteering at a soup kitchen or elementary school.
Abortion is a deeply private choice, and not a decision that posters or pink and blue flags will make easier. Our society, not to mention our University, lacks the language to deal with the decision process or the anguish of an abortion. Have you ever talked with someone who has undergone an abortion? Value life: engage the issue and talk to someone who has had an abortion.
Supporting life is a noble and worthy goal, but the support of life must be all encompassing, and can even, in some cases, mean supporting the unfortunate necessity of abortion.
