Provocation: Abortion

EVENT: CONNOR

It's been a couple days, and I'm afraid it's going to be a few more: I'm back at the hospital, 40 hours per week as of tomorrow.
More on that later.

I don't have the time tonight to read/research political stuff (my "Pyramid politics" thing will have to wait), but I'll open a couple cans of worms for chewing in the meantime.

Tonight I'll tackle abortion.
Tomorrow I might try the Greens.

* * * * *

Assumptions are endemic... people look at you, your affiliations, your basic ideas, and they assume all sorts of things. They must be correct sometimes, but then, I am often surprised how often people are incorrect. Something that has come up several times in the last two weeks for the first time in years is where I stand on the abortion debate. As an artist and socialist, most people assume I am unequivocally pro-choice.

This is simply not true.

I believe my view is nuanced, and don't like throwing myself into either camp. When cornered, I describe myself as being reluctantly pro-choice. The way I prefer to state my belief is that:

A) I believe an embryo is a human, and given the availability of contraception, there are more responsible ways to remain childless than the termination of life.

B) At the same time, raising a child is extraordinarily difficult today, particularly given the circumstances many abortion-seekers find themselves in. There is discussion about whether our society is a level-enough playing field, but it seems to me to be a broken playing-field. Why should we rain fire and brimstone on a single mother when we will feed that child water laced with mercury and lead (East St. Louis), leave thousands of cihldren homeless every winter night (Chicago), and consign them to neighborhoods with homicide rates rivalling Baghdad today (Flint)?
In fact the groups clamoring most noisily against abortions are the very same groups for tax cuts for the rich, no universal health care, no Affirmative Action, the cutting of social programs... all programs which are likely to reduce the number of abortions.

C) In short, the best way to address abortion, is to raise the standard of living for poor single mothers, who would often risk a dangerous illegal abortion above the risks and implications of motherhood today. That means more spending, more social programming, and better social programming.

I don't like to call myself pro-choice, because I belive an embryo is human and life is sacred, but I hate to call myself pro-life, because pro-lifers advocate restriction but don't involve themselves in solutions.

The bottom line, however, is that I currently oppose banning abortion.
You might expect that this view would put me most at odds with pro-lifers, but actually, the pro-choice crowd in my life has been more vocal in their opposition. And this is my lead in to...

THE POINT

Conservatives, as a group, while they fall into a couple "different" camps... particularly the Religious Crowd and the Wall-Street Crowd, they have a lot in common: they are white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant, (male, suburban and rural) America. And this is a tremendous strength, because much is shared in the foundations of this group. It lends itself to organization. Conservative America draws strength from the fact they represent the segments of society with the most in common.

Liberals, as a group, represent the margins of society. Not necessarily numerical margins in every case, but non-dominant groups struggling for assertion... the point of connection, in fact, often is the margin. Take for example, libertarian feminists, many who vote Democratic, who would happily do away with Affirmative Action. Compare this with the African American community, which has a strong religious base often vehemently opposed to homosexuality. Or look at the tension in my hometown, all vigorously democratic, where members of the black community and the labor unions view each other with more dislike and distrust than crusty suburban conservatives. Liberal America is weakened from the fact that dissent proceeds from separated margins.

I believe that this weakness could potentially be a great strength, if only we were skilled listeners... if only we were really open to hearing each other. The wide-openness of liberal America is a field of potential, if only we can avoid that conservative, that very human pitfall of hoping everyone will be like us. In short, the margins must be made aware of each other. There must be recognition and far-sightedness. The solidarity I've heard so many auto-workers site as their strength must be genuine and extend. We must learn to listen and stand solid together in spite of distinct differences.

As it is, I have had several conversations with pro-life friends, and because of my point of view, more conservative than most of my friends, these have been discussions instead of shouting matches or stony silence. I'm able to ask my questions from a point of connection: Should this really be outlawed? Would it work? And moreover, are we responsible, ourselves, do we have a share in the creation of a world in which so many seek abortion? What obligations does that imply?

I find it regrettable than many of my friends respond to my views on abortion with anger and dismay.

I believe that my centrist stand on this issue makes me an asset to progressive America.

I believe that an open, flexible, and conversational progressive movement is the best rejoinder to conservative ossification.

~ Connor