While mulling over some mental playbacks of abortion debates that I’ve participated in, I recognized a tragic fact: most of the time we’re debating about nothing for longer than we’re debating about what abortion really is. And when we finally get to what someone actually believes a person is, it’s too late to assume they still have the ability to hear you refute that the “mass of tissue” has a heart and a brain. The following are some prime examples of off-the-rocker arguments.
1. The Woman’s Choice
Me: “Why are you pro-choice?”
Them: “I believe that it’s a woman’s right to choose.”
Me: “Choose what?”
Them: “To have an abortion.”
Me: “What’s abortion?”
Them: “The removal of a fetus from a woman.”
Me: “So there’s two individuals involved- a fetus and a woman?”
Them: “Yeah, I guess.”
Me: “What’s a fetus?”
Them: “A mass of tissue.”
2. The Woman’s Body
Me: “Why are you pro-choice?”
Them: “Because I think women should be able to control their own bodies, not the government.”
Me: “But the government also makes people stop at red lights.”
Them: “So?”
Me: “So why should I have to stop at red lights? I should be able to control my own vehicle.”
Them: “But the vehicle isn’t apart of you, so it’s not like the government is trying to control you as a person.”
Me: “Since preborn humans are separate beings from their mothers, ending abortion wouldn’t control the women, it would save the lives inside the women.”
Them: “But it’s their right to do what they want.”
Me: “The preborn babies after they’re born and get presented a future? Yes, I totally agree with you.”
Them: “No, the women should get to do what they want.”
Me: “Like buy a Coke and drive a car? I completely agree.”
Them: “You’re missing the point.”
Me: “Well, what’s the point?”
Them: “The thing inside the mother is just a mass of tissue.”
3. The Blatantly Uninformed
Me: “Why are you pro-choice?”
Them: “I just don’t see anything wrong with abortion.”
Me: “Based on…?”
Them: “What do you mean?”
Me: “What did you see, read, or learn that made you say to yourself, ‘abortion isn’t wrong’?”
Them: “Oh- I just was talking to some friends and stuff.”
Me: “So you’ve never actually seen a tiny, preborn aborted person with it’s limbs floating around in a blood-filled metal tray?”
Them: “Ew, what are you talking about?”
Me: “You’ve never read medical texts describing the vacuum style suctioning of a fetus’ skull being smashed to make it fit out of the mother?”
Them: “Will you stop? You’re crazy.”
Me: “Why am I crazy?”
Them: “You make abortion sound like murder.”
Me: “Isn’t it?”
Them: “No, there wouldn’t be any limbs floating around because a fetus is just a mass of tissue.”
4. The Attached 2%
Me: “Why are you pro-choice?”
Them: “Victims of an assault shouldn’t have to carry around a reminder of the violent crime for the rest of their lives.”
Me: “Okay, so we’re focusing on the two percent.”
Them: “What?”
Me: “Two percent of all abortions are reported as due to sexual assault or incest.”
Them: “So you don’t care about two percent just because it’s a low number?”
Me: “I never said anything about not caring about human beings, especially those women who face such tremendous amounts of pain, anguish, and difficulty.”
Them: “But you said you’re against abortion.”
Me: “Yeah, I’m against killing. But I’m also for a lot of things- like helping women in need, helping newborns, children, new fathers, and everyone in between.”
Them: “You don’t care about women enough to let them choose abortion.”
Me: “I wouldn’t ‘let’ a twenty-year-old man stab a toddler to death either. Do I still sound like a lunatic for not liking murder?”
Them: “That’s not even the same thing.”
Me: “How come?”
Them: “A fetus isn’t a toddler, it’s a mass of tissue.”
5. The Over Crowded
Me: “Why are you pro-choice?”
Them: “The world would be overpopulated without abortion.”
Me: “Have you ever been to Nevada?”
Them: “Um, no?”
Me: “It’s pretty boring here unless you live in Vegas or Reno or something.”
Them: “Why?”
Me: “‘Cos you can drive for hours and never hit so much as a rest stop. The place is basically a stretch of lonely land.”
Them: “What does that have to do with abortion?”
Me: “Nothing, just like your claim that abortion is necessary to control the population has nothing to do with what abortion actually is.”
Them: “And what it is?”
Me: “The dismembering of human being.”
Them: “But it’s not a human being- it’s a mass of tissue.”
the novel of my life 