The abortion debate makes me standoffish. Yes, it’s a controversial topic, but I’ve never liked how it provokes such strong reactions from people—murdering abortion doctors or using illegitimate methods of abortion to get rid of an unwanted baby girl, for example. For those reasons I’ve tried to remain distant from the abortion debate. It has caused heated and sometimes violent reactions. Despite such strong opinions, debates on abortion, in my experience, often end in stalemate with neither side thinking differently about the issue; no ground ceded, the same vapid arguments made. It’s frustrating.
I’ve been trying to figure out what it means to be open-minded and I think it’s important to consider the context you’re in when thinking about hot-button issues like abortion. I once had strong leanings towards the pro-choice side and, to be sure, I still am for a woman’s right to her own body. As an American, I believe that choice does lie at the fundamental level of individual freedoms.
Being in India last semester, however, has given my understanding of abortion nuance. Until then the right to abortion came from a myopic understanding of human rights in an American context. Abortion was an issue that I identified as a position rather than a human problem. The patriarchal society where the preferential abortion of baby girls has caused a huge gap in the male/female ratio was shocking to me. It gave me a humanized understanding of the issue that I hadn’t noticed before.
It is interesting that you mention cultural perspective in relation to abortion. I believe you are right Wade, especially when you talk about viewing Abortion through an American cultural lens. But I think that that is vital to the conversation. This is not to mitigate the importance of preferential female abortions in India, but the debate here is about American abortion laws.
I understand that you are reflecting on the cultural assumptions that you had when thinking about Abortion, and how you viewed it as an American, but isn’t that the point in this context?
I also agree that Abortion has more depth to it than the traditional, frustratingly dogmatic, debate speaking points you hear about in the U.S, but would another cultural perspective be helpful here? Not to mitigate its importance, but I think we need to sort out what our own culture thinks about Abortion, even in its most basic terms, before we look to other places for examples about its practice, when that cultural tradition is not particularly applicable in our cultural tradition.
Regarding Wade’s post… I completely agree that the topic of abortion always sparks heated arguments and discussions and very rarely does anything beneficial come out of it. I also think it is awesome how your experience opened your eyes to a different side of the issue, that is really cool.
Regarding Jon’s comment…Although I understand where you are coming from saying that the American abortion debate may be different than the same debate in India, I sort of feel as if this is the whole idea of taking the person out of the problem. The person, be it American or Indian, has nothing to do with the over all problem which is abortion. Abortion in the U.S. is the same as abortion in India, yes the reasons for the abortion may have different underlying reasons, but it is still abortion; It is still a debate as to whether or not it should be allowed, under what circumstances, who regulates it and at what point (or how far along) is the option of abortion gone out the window?
The cultural perspective of abortion is interesting, because it sheds light on other societal issues, such as the patriarchal structure of Indian society that pressures women to have boys instead of girls. In that instance, I would argue that the women are still unable to make their own decisions because of the constraints of their culture where women are viewed as less than men.
As far as the abortion issue in America goes, since it is a controversial topic it is evoked because the trend in American politics, and this is due to the media, is to be conflictual. Americans divide themselves into two polar sides on issues and refuse to hear the other side.
My own personal issues are convoluted, mainly in part because I am adopted. Being adopted I realize that there are options other than abortion, but I still respect a woman’s right to do what she wants with her body, but even this has limits. Where do we draw the line?
In the conversations we had in class about this issue, it was clear to see all of the different emotions that played into this controversial issue. I agree with Wade in the fact that it is hard not to be standoffish when it comes to talking about abortion. Whenever someone brings up the issue, you know there are going to be two sides to the story. What I thought to be very helpful in our class discussions about abortion was having the mediators make sure both sides understand where they are coming from. I was happy that this was something that we talked and had an organized, open-discussion about in class because outside of class, these conversations can be very hard to keep clean.
I find the abortion debate to one of the most controversial issues of our time. I totally agree with Wade’s comment regarding how heated the abortion can become when discussed. However, I don’t understand how one can be “standoffish” because the topic relates to everyone in some way or another. Therefore, despite how controversial it is one has to pick a side abort or not, which I can understand would make some uncomfortable. I believe that the debate simply has to do with an individual’s values. I think that no one would be able to argue whether or not they would abort a child until they are placed in an extenuating circumstance that would look to an abortion as a solution. Abortion is complicated and complex and in my opinion should be left up to the individual’s whose body would have the abortion because they would have to live with whatever decision they chose therefore, it should be their decision who matters.