There’s been a big deal made about Palin’s choice to have her baby, even though early testing revealed Down syndrome. The press and pundits have pointed to this as evidence of her pro-life stance. The hidden (or perhaps, not so hidden) implication is that anybody who is pro-choice would have decided differently. Those of us who are pro-choice should be very offended by this.
The message being sent is that we, who are pro-choice, would never carry a baby to term if it were remotely inconvenient. We cannot let this go unchallenged. The pro-choice position is not about what we would choose individually, it’s about recognizing that the choice for somebody else is not ours, but instead belongs to them. It’s realizing that it’s not about thinking what it would be like for me to be in somebody else’s shoes, it’s about imagining what it would be like to be that other person (not just wearing their shoes).
I can’t imagine that anybody would argue (except apparently all those people who are) that the pro-choice stance means somebody should have an abortion each and every time a pregnancy is inconvenient or not perfect. It’s a call for the government to protect the privacy and right of people to make their own medical decisions. More important, however, it is a perfect illustration of a key difference between the republican and democratic ideals: the difference between basing policy on sympathy (or lack thereof) or basing it on empathy.
As much as I love the fiery attacks that paint republicans as cold-hearted, self-interested, narrow-minded pigs, the truth is that these people (ok, most of these people) are good people who really do care. The difference as I see it is that they have sympathy, but haven’t yet achieved empathy. It's a fine, but important point. Generally speaking, the values of the republicans are based on a what-would-I-do-in-that-situation mentality. Indeed, if my wife and I were in the position of Sarah Palin and her husband, and a prenatal screen revealed Down syndrome, we most certainly would have made the same choice. Does that mean that everybody else has to decide as I would? If a majority of Americans feels the same way, do we impose that on the rest who don’t? The apparent difference between Governor Palin and me is that I answer no to that question, but she thinks that everybody should do exactly what she would do, think exactly how she thinks, and she’s going to pass and enforce laws that make sure of it.
The positions taken by democrats on issues like these are not based on sympathy for the person in some situation, but are instead based on empathy. Specifically, that we should never impose what we would do, with all the events in our lives that make us who we are, on somebody with a completely different set of life events and values. We cannot tell people that they MUST choose the way we would. Being sympathetic is great and an important part of being human, but being empathetic is a bigger step.
In any event, the current implication that a pro-choice person never would have done what Palin did is offensive and those making that argument should be ashamed of themselves.