Yesterday around 1,000 people gathered in Pioneer Square for a Right to Life rally “memorializing” 40 years since the Roe v. Wade decision. Among the crowd of people were several Portlanders holding yellow signs describing some sexual methods and resources that are proven to reduce unwanted pregnancies:
This was some mischievous culture jamming on the part of some local “pro-life, anti-abortion” folks. The signs play on an language dynamic that’s bedeviled abortion rights’ supports for decades, leading Planned Parenthood to declare last week that it’s no longer using the term “pro-choice.”
This means Planned Parenthood has essentially declared linguistic bankruptcy. They’re filing Chapter 11 on the whole “pro-life” “pro-choice” semantic mess and hoping to start from scratch. But can Americans really move away from labels as shorthand for the personal, complex issues behind reproductive rights protests and policies? Describing how we all feel on the issue would take a paragraph each. Despite Planned Parenthood’s ambitious effort to move beyond labels altogether, I expect that if “pro-choice” is out, a new label will emerge to take its place. Any ideas?
“Sane.”
I have no problem with any of those signs. If the pro-life movement are indeed so worried about abortion they should be the biggest advocates for sex education, easy access to birth control, etc. Instead, they push abstinence-only, and ally themselves with moralizing religious wackos.
A pro-life movement that made a big push to avoid unwanted pregnancy the centerpiece of their whole deal would be fantastic, even if I am pro-choice. Getting unwanted pregnancies down as low as possible should be what everyone is working towards.
From a purely logical marketing standpoint I want the anti-abortion movement to switch their brains over from punitive restrictions to financial incentives. Why not make pregnancy and single motherhood less of a financial hell/career suicide?
‘pro-foresight’
I’ve never minced words about supporting abortion rights. I’m also in favor of access to sex education and birth control, which the wackadoos have been working hard to eliminate, as Blabby points out.
I guess I can back the “Oral sex prevents abortion” signs. Very rational and utilitarian. I didn’t understand the “Men/women regret abortion” signs. Made no sense in my mind cos my partner and I have ZERO regrets. I also didn’t agree with the signs stating “As long as abortion is legal, the psychotically insane can kill/abort our children with guns”. That’s just weird melding of two different issues that do not correlate.