If you are anything like me, your Facebook feeds or Twitter timelines are swimming with conflicting opinions about all things abortion. With the recent anniversary of Roe v Wade and the change in New York's abortion law, it has become so readily apparent to me that people do not understand the real definitions of pro-life and pro-choice movements.
It seems that now more than ever, platforms and partisanship have become an almost mundane part of our society. People tend to generalize about beliefs based on political beliefs without researching the actual platforms. As a result, reading about people's thoughts on abortion has, for a lack of better words, driving me insane.
Without further ado, the ACTUAL difference between the pro-life and pro-choice movement.
First, let's start by defining pro-life. Simply put, people that believe in pro-life believe that life begins at conception and that abortion should not be legal. They believe that abortion is murder and that it should not be allowed under any circumstances. This tends to be a conservative belief but it is not as widespread as people believe.
Pro-choice tends to be the term that is often misinterpreted. Pro-choice encapsulates every other belief pertaining to abortion. I have read a lot of things where people call themselves pro-life but that they also understand that others are in unique situations and have no room to judge. Being pro-choice does not mean that you are pro-abortion. It simply means that you empathize with those in different positions and believe that, regardless, they should have the free will to make their own decisions.
There have been many leaps and bounds for women's rights in the United States. However, with that comes a war on contraception and the attempt to shame women for their sexuality. The push against abortions is only one way that the government is trying to stifle women and their choices.
I believe that the only way to combat this phenomenon is a general understanding of others circumstances along with widespread sexual education that teaches more than just abstinence.
