In Which I Am Apparently Not Pro-Choice
Many months ago, a friend of mine posted an entry asserting that anyone who would make a "I'm pro-choice, but..." statement or otherwise has any reservations about their reproductive rights stance should not truly consider themselves "pro-choice". I didn't say anything at the time; I was even less courageous about my advocacy than I am now, and everyone else commenting was falling over themselves in agreement. I didn't have the time, energy, or confidence to speak up then. I guess I still don't entirely have the confidence since I'm saying this here and now rather than at the time or somewhere they're likely to read it. Better late than never, I suppose.

I am pro-choice, but I believe that the right to choose NOT to terminate a pregnancy is as important as the right to abort.
I am pro-choice, but I believe that that choice can never truly be made freely when whole categories of people are devalued and dehumanized.
I am pro-choice, but supporting the right to abort does not necessitate believing that every choice to abort is morally right.
I am pro-choice, but I don't believe that some types of people are more worthy of being born than others.
I am pro-choice, but I won't assume that a disabled person is being exploited if I see them protesting with a pro-life crowd.
I am pro-choice, but I don't believe that fetuses are interchangeable, or that choosing to let a child with a disability be born is somehow depriving a hypothetical non-disabled child of existence.
I am pro-choice, but choosing to abort because "people like that are just burdens on society", "have no quality of life" or "shouldn't exist" is misguided and misinformed, if not flat-out evil.
I am pro-choice, but I don't think non-disabled doctors or parents are in the best position to evaluate a prospective disabled person's quality of life.
I am pro-choice, but I don't think we SHOULD screen for every possible gene just because we can.
I am pro-choice, but I don't think we're doing the species any service by arbitrarily eliminating parts of it.
I am pro-choice, but it's abhorrent to shame a woman for choosing not to abort.
I am pro-choice, but the right to choose whether or not to have a child isn't necessarily synonymous with the right to choose what kind of child to have.
I am pro-choice, but I die a little inside every time someone on my side argues the non-personhood of a fetus using Utilitarian philosophy.
I am pro-choice, but I consider the current Downs Syndrome abortion rates as tantamount to genocide.
I am pro-choice, but I see signs that the slippery slope is getting slipperier and slipperier.
I am pro-choice, but I disagree with the very idea of a "wrongful birth".
I am pro-choice, but anti-eugenics.
I am pro-choice, but if I ever again witness someone saying that it's wrong or evil or child abuse to allow a disabled child to be born, I will not keep silent.


I am pro-choice, and I long for the day when all lives will be seen as having equal dignity and value.