In the debate over abortion rights, it is time to get rid of the false dichotomy between being either pro-life or pro-choice. There are two completely different issues at play here – how you as an individual feel about abortion and what the role of government should be in codifying those personal beliefs into public law. If you encourage abortion under most circumstances, that puts you at the pro-abortion end of scale. If you believe that abortion should only be performed under the most extreme circumstances (e.g., ectopic pregnancies), that puts you at the pro-life end. The second- separate issues is your view of the role of government in mandating your belief. That produces a separate axis of being either pro-choice (not the governments role) or anti-choice ( government gets to control your uterus) Here’s a test. See how well you do.
1) The government of China introduced a one-child policy in 1978. While this policy has been implicated in a huge number of forced abortions, a survey taken in 2008 indicates that 76% of the Chinese population supports that policy. How would you describe their beliefs?
a. Pro-life and Pro-choice
b. Pro-life and Anti-choice.
c. Pro-abortion and Pro-choice.
d. Pro-abortion and Anti-choice.
2) Thomas just found out that his girlfriend of six hours, Jenny, is pregnant. Thomas thinks it’s a really bad idea for Jenny to keep the baby for a lot of reasons, and is encouraging Jenny to get an abortion, but still acknowledges that ultimately it is Jenny who should make the decision. How would you describe Thomas?
a. Pro-life and Pro-choice
b. Pro-life and Anti-choice.
c. Pro-abortion and Pro-choice.
d. Pro-abortion and Anti-choice.
3) Here are two statements made by the Episcopalian Church.:
"All human life is sacred from its inception until death. The Church takes seriously its obligation to help form the consciences of its members concerning this sacredness....We regard all abortion as having a tragic dimension, calling for the concern and compassion of all the Christian community. While we acknowledge that in this country it is the legal right of every woman to have a medically safe abortion, as Christians we believe strongly that if this right is exercised, it should be used only in extreme situations. We emphatically oppose abortion as a means of birth control, family planning, sex selection, or any reason of mere convenience."-69th General Convention 1998
"Resolved, That this 71st General Convention (1994) of the Episcopal Church express its unequivocal opposition to any legislative, executive or judicial action on the part of local, state or nation governments that abridges the right of a woman to reach an informed decision about the termination of pregnancy or that would limit the access of a woman to safe means of acting on her decision."-71st General Convention 1994
These statements indicate that many Episcopalians are
a. Pro-life and Pro-choice
b. Pro-life and Anti-choice.
c. Pro-abortion and Pro-choice.
d. Pro-abortion and Anti-choice.
4) According to the 2008 Republican Party Platform, “Faithful to the first guarantee of the Declaration of Independence, we assert the inherent dignity and sanctity of all human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution, and we endorse legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment’s protections apply to unborn children.” How would you describe their beliefs?
a. Pro-life and Pro-choice
b. Pro-life and Anti-choice.
c. Pro-abortion and Pro-choice.
d. Pro-abortion and Anti-choice.
Answers below the fold:
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