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Original poster

Feminists Against Abortion?

89 replies

DontCallMeFrothyDragon · 08/09/2011 12:27

OK, hoping someone can fill me in here. I was wondering what the arguments against abortion could be, from a feminist perspective? I've always been pro-choice, so I'm a bit confused as to any desire to take away a woman's choice whether to abort an unwanted pregnancy.

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Original poster
DontCallMeFrothyDragon · 08/09/2011 14:28

Sorry, a bit paranoid sometimes Blush

Should stop apologising so much I suppose.

I just don't understand the desire to make anyone carry on an unwanted pregnancy, or one which could harm them either physically or mentally. I had a pro-life friend who started saying "oh, there's always adoption," but that comes from someone who hadn't been adopted, so was unlikely to understand the torment a lot of adoptees go through as they get older (Another thread, another story - I think) Surely taking a pregnancy to full term and handing the baby over has the potential of being even more traumatic than an abortion? I'm not saying abortion is an easy choice by any means, btw.

That BB blog post had me in tears, btw. Thanks for the link, edd.

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JosephineB · 08/09/2011 14:13

Oh I wasn't having a go at you DCMFD! Shock

Really sorry that it came across that way.

I think a lot of pro-life arguments are more about controlling women than they are about concern for the foetus (not all - but a lot) and this is especially true when it comes to inconsistencies about whether abortion is murder.

There's a good article on this issue here

Original poster
DontCallMeFrothyDragon · 08/09/2011 13:18

Blush Sorry, Josephine. I'm kinda new to the whole pro-choice/pro-life argument, and dividing them wasn't my intention.

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JosephineB · 08/09/2011 13:04

I think if you believe that abortion is murder, it is more logically consistent to be against abortion irrespective of the circumstances than it is to pick and choose as to who has a 'good enough' reason for an abortion. The latter position seems more anti-feminist to me: dividing women into 'good' and 'bad' catehories.

(FWIW I am pro-choice)

Original poster
DontCallMeFrothyDragon · 08/09/2011 13:00

Thank you edd. Now having a read.

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Original poster
DontCallMeFrothyDragon · 08/09/2011 13:00

I agree, Hester. But it always makes me wonder why a feminist would insist anyone to continue those pregnancies in particular. That's the biggest confusion for me.

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edd1337 · 08/09/2011 12:59

archiveofthebitingbeaver.wordpress.com/2008/05/

I think her story is on that one. The one where she gets humiliated

hester · 08/09/2011 12:54

You see, as a feminist I don't think rape victims and 14 year olds are good arguments for abortion rights. Because I think ALL women should be entitled to those rights, and women should be spared the social judgements about what are 'good' and 'bad' reasons for abortion.

leicestershiregirl gives, to my mind, a standard anti-abortion argument, not a specifically feminist one (though she is a feminist). I think a feminist anti-abortion argument has to put the woman at the centre of its concern, not as peripheral.

Just let me be clear again that this is a hypothetical argument for me. I am a bog-standard pro-choice feminist Grin

edd1337 · 08/09/2011 12:54

one min i'll try find it

Original poster
DontCallMeFrothyDragon · 08/09/2011 12:52

edd, do you have the link to that blog post, per chance please?

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Original poster
DontCallMeFrothyDragon · 08/09/2011 12:48

What about rape victims? Failed contraception? Some 14 year old girl who's been sexually abused?

Should they be forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term? Especially as, for the rape victim and sexual abuse victim, it could lead to further damage?

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edd1337 · 08/09/2011 12:47

Benefits and social housing will only fuel the newspapers fire about benefit scroungers

I agree that more help needs to be put in place though

If you get chance read biting beavers blog about when she was pregnant and went for an abortion

leicestershiregirl · 08/09/2011 12:39

I would describe myself as an anti-abortion feminist, simply because though I am for women's rights in every way I believe foetuses are human beings. What are they if not human? Better sex and relationship education - and improved benefits, social support and housing as the poster above said - are the answer to unwanted pregnancies.

hester · 08/09/2011 12:31

There are some feminists who are anti-abortion. From memory, their perspective is that abortion is a violating and aggressive act against women's bodies and against the sanctity of motherhood, that it is entirely for the convenience of men who since the 1960s have been given licence to have sex without responsibilities, sex that is disconnected from love, responsibility or concern for women or children. That abortion is psychologically damaging for women, but our society will not allow women the space to discuss that, to heal, or to demand the social changes (in benefits, social support, housing etc) that will make abortion less necessary for so many women.

It's not my perspective, but there's some good points in there.