Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Right to abortion is an extension of the "no means no" principle

Via a New York Times report from Jackie Calmes I encountered this exposition of current thinking among many defenders of women's abortion rights.
Apparently the frame that names the right to abortion "pro-choice" no longer communicates to younger women who've never really imagined themselves as living with restrictions on their potential. But just about all of us understand that we can't know everything that goes into a woman's decisions about bearing, or not bearing, a potential child.

We have not walked in her shoes.

I think abortion decisions are extensions of the principle that "no means no." Sometimes, in some circumstances, "yes" is what we want and thrive with. Other times "no." Who knows where in that continuum a woman is standing at any point in time? She does! That's good enough for me. People around her will have their opinions, but ultimately she has to walk in her way.

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