“Abortion is a Motherhood Issue” Judith Arcana
Arcarna’s language made me at first think that she was going to argue against abortion. She used baby repeatedly to refer to the fetus which is usually not a tactic used by pro-choicers. She highlighted the issue of motherhood, which usually pro-lifers focus on. Though this approach was novel for a pro-choicer, I found it ineffective. The huge question of the abortion debate is when life – life as a separate entity – begins for the baby/fetus. If it begins very early on, it is a baby (which indicates a separate being from the mother) and its right to life is fought for. Arcarna took this stance on the fetus/baby but then argued that regardless it is still the mother’s choice. She says, “Abortion is a matter of life and death…we all knew that” and then still supports the choice for death. I cannot accept this. She brought up examples from other cultures and times where women sometimes kill newborns and make “the decision to end a just-begun life.” She compares this to abortion but then justifies both by saying that “Matters of life and death belong[] in the hands of the mothers.” Though an interesting take, it is one I cannot agree with. I believe that no one, even a mother, has the right to take another individuals’ life. I can accept the logic of the pro-choice argument if it begins with the premise that the fetus is not a separate entity and is still reliant on the mother and therefore part of her. I still think that life begins earlier, but I can see the logic. In Arcana’s argument, I can also see the logic, but it deeply unsettles me.
“How it All Began: I Have Had an Abortion”
What surprised me most was the tenor of the time conveyed by this piece. For most of my life, I have grown up knowing that abortion was legal. This was not the world these women inhabited. The sheer amount of support surprised me; 4,000 women protested in Paris.
“Roe v. Wade”
This court ruling established that the fetus is not a person under constitutional law. This seems somewhat arbitrary to me. Though I am sure scientific support was used in the proceedings, I would like to see more given in the reasoning. Even still, the issue of when life begins is a somewhat indefinite one, which leads to the main controversy over abortion. This sentence of the Rationale struck me as being ambiguous, “The state can regulate the woman’s actions in cases where the law serves as ‘compelling state interest’” The dissenting opinion brought up the point that this could move the courts to being simply another form of legislation. I can see how this could happen and am curious about what a “compelling state interest” example would be.
April,
ReplyDeleteThank you for conveying your views about abortion in this post. I think the argument Arcana was trying to make was that, in her experience with other mothers and as a mother, she has found that many factors play into the decision to abort a child (welfare of mother, welfare of child, etc.) and that it is not a decision made lightly. This argument is difficult to uphold because it is solely based on one person's experience (albeit with other women) and there are certainly women who become pregnant irresponsibly and make irresponsible decisions about the life of the child as a result. I am not completely sure what my stance is on abortion (I know that I would not have an abortion, but I do support the choice of an abortion for women who were raped). Every time a woman consents to sexual activity, she is aware that there is a possibility of a resulting pregnancy. I recognize that people make mistakes and children should not suffer at the expense of others' mistakes (whether it be termination of life or poor quality of life), so I am still considering my stance, but I agree that her argument, though cleverly written, is too narrow and subjective in scope to encompass all the issues inherent in abortion rights debates. Maybe if we read one of her longer pieces/books, we could get a better idea of how her personal experiences fit into a larger and more inclusive argument supporting women's choice.
“How It All Began: I Have Had an Abortion”
ReplyDeleteWhile reading this article two things in particular jumped out at me. The first was a subtle line that talked about the expectation of women in society. “At that time, the much propagated double burden was beginning to peak :Hold down a job on the side and at the same time be a perfect housewife, good mother, smooth lover” (Freedman 357). The reason this excerpt jumped out at me is because it is interesting to see what was expected of women depending on the time in history and the place in which the piece was written. This expectation is not synonymous to Germany in 1981. This particular expectation seems to have continued throughout the rest of the 20th century and into the 21st century in all of the civilized world. The other interesting part of this article had more to do with the article’s actual purpose. The author discussed how amazing it was that so many German women came forward about their abortions. I couldn’t agree more. I also have to add by saying that not only it is amazing because of the legal issues that these women could have faced, but it is also amazing because there is a humiliation factor involved with coming forward about an abortion. Even in our pro-choice society today no woman is proud about getting an abortion. This makes the bravery shown by these women in Germany even more impressive.
Judith Arcana in “Abortion is a Motherhood Issue” talks about how getting an abortion is much like any other decision that needs to be made by a mother. I could not disagree with Arcana more. Arcana begins her article by talking about the relationship between her uterus and herself and how that givers her the credentials and credibility to speak on the subject. She then goes on to talk very graphically and unnecessarily about the evolution of her vagina throughout her life and it’s current condition. I thought this to be unnecessary and added very little if anything to the article. She goes on to discuss how making the decision to get an abortion is much like making the decision to make your child go to Sunday school or whether or not to allow your child to sleep in your bed with you. I think this comparison is unfair for many reasons. I believe the decision to abort a fetus is far more important than any of the decisions that Arcana mentions and it is offensive to downplay it as much as she does. While I agree that the decision to get an abortion is a motherly decision, it is not in the same category as the simple everyday decisions that Arcana compares it to. This entire article seems to be implying that getting an abortion is not something that a mother should be ashamed of and instead should be a decision that she is comfortable with. I agree with this thought process but I do not believe that the rationale by which Arcana arrived at this conclusion is sound.
April - although I have different views from you about abortion, I completely agree with your issues with Arcana's argument. As you say, it is hard to justify a woman's right to control her body while at the same time saying that she is making a conscious "motherhood decision" to kill her "baby." The way that she explains abortion implies that she, and her fellow clinic workers, were willing accessories to murder. Perhaps she tries to employ this novel tactic of calling a fetus a baby and a pregnant woman a mother in order to strengthen the pro-choice camp by saying that even in this circumstance, a woman should be allowed to choose abortion. However, my pro-choice stance stands on the grounds that a zygote/fetus is not yet a "baby" but a mass of cells. If I believed this cellular mass to be a "baby," and a woman in the earliest stages of pregnancy to be a "mother," as Arcana argues, I could not support filicide. So, even though we seem to fall on opposite sides of the issue, we can agree that Arcana's logic is unconvincing and even defeats the position that it seems she is trying to support.
ReplyDeleteLead Post:
ReplyDeleteWomen’s Health and Reproductive Rights
Judith Arcana, “Abortion Is a Motherhood Issue”
Arcana begins her article by describing the relationship between abortion and mothering. In her first section, Arcana very graphically depicts her cervix or “female pluming” throughout the years. She then talks about her accomplishments; she has published two books, essays, various articles, poems etc… From this, Arcana segues into discussing abortion, contraception and miscarriage, and how they are categorized as distinct from mothering. While this separation can be strategic, used to fend off anti-abortion attacks, “sometimes, though, the separation occurs because we have lost sight of the fact that abortion is not only about women getting pregnant, but also about babies growing inside of women’s bodies”(225). Here, she says that when this happens, abortion is no longer tied to women taking the responsibility of the lives of their children. Arcana makes a lot of other interesting remarks geared towards abortion. For instance, she distinguishes the words baby from fetus or embryo; a baby is the correct terminology for a pregnancy that is accepted, while a fetus or embryo not. I have noticed that on several occasions Arcana refers to a fetus as “it.” Moreover, she says that choosing whether to have it is an enormous burden; women who choose to abort their babies face dreadful decisions, regardless of religious beliefs. According to this article, women of different races, classes and religious affiliations choose abortion. The article also says that it can be a simple and comfortable procedure.
Arcana describes our society as “woman-hating” and “mother-blaming.” She says that long ago, women were supported by their societies in their decisions in matters of life and death. Women weighted the probability of their child’s health and happiness against their ability to care for them. In her conclusion, Arcana addresses the need for women to openly speak out about their abortions in “open recognition of their our joy or sadness, our regret or relief- in conscious acceptance of the responsibility for our choice”(227).
Anonymous, “How It All Began: I Have Had An Abortion”
The excerpt begins with powerful words. Words spoken at the first Federal Women’s Congress in which 450 women gathered; the second German Women’s Movement. These women did not know it then, but they were participating in the rebirth of feminism. However, magazines like the Brigitte claimed that German women and magazines were not aggressive; they did not take a feminist’s stance like their American counterparts, there was “no anger”(356). Conversely, were angry and that anger was directed towards the anti-abortion law. In 1971, 343 French women declared that they had abortions and demanded the right for all women to have free abortions. This movement quickly spread, but more women were needed to participate. The author writes, “from the total of four women’s groups remaining, three were prepared to go along with it”(357). In less than a month, these three groups gathered about one-half of the 374 signatures needed. These 374 women, who declared their abortions, broke the silence around abortion; while risking stigmatization. In the end, the campaign caused the notion of abortion to lose some of its taboo.
“ On November 1971, women took to the street in almost all Western countries for the right to abortion and self-determination of women. In Paris alone, over 4,000 demonstrated”
-In 2011, pro-choice organizations are stronger than ever