Abortion: when people say “I’m not pro-life or pro-choice” and “Don’t use abortion as a contraceptive”

When people say “I’m not pro-life or pro-choice”

Citizens of the Republic of Ireland have approved changing their constitution to be pro-choice in a referendum.

            Pro-choice: women having the right to have an abortion if they choose to.

            Pro-life: opposing abortion and euthanasia.

This is great news for women, giving them control over their own bodies. In a world full of rules (as is only right), everyone should have full autonomy over their body. Abortions are, of course, sad and terrible, but bringing an unwanted child into the world isn’t sensible in the slightest.

Over the course of the referendum, I saw people saying they were neither pro-life nor pro-choice because, whilst they personally wouldn’t have an abortion, they respected other people’s right to do so.

            This is quite literally the definition of pro-choice: respecting the choice of individual women, even if it’s not the same choice you’d personally make.

So these individuals claiming they’re in a grey area because they’re not pro-life or pro-choice are in fact advocating that they are pro-choice.

When people say “Don’t use abortion as a contraceptive”

People say abortion shouldn’t be used as contraception. Yet in reality is abortion could never be used as contraceptive. It can’t be done.

            Contraception: a method used to prevent pregnancy.

            Abortion: removing a foetus during pregnancy.

If contraception is to prevent pregnancy from happening and abortion happens during pregnancy, abortion cannot be a contraceptive. Prevention can’t be used to end something because prevention means something doesn’t even start in the first place!

Unless, grasping for some justification, abortions are involved in time-travel. Just the silliness of this goes to show how ridiculous it is to claim abortion is a contraceptive.

Of course, the sentiment of “Don’t use abortion as a contraceptive” is clear: you shouldn’t just throw a life away. However, what’s being said is not what’s meant that can only cause problems in communication.

Sex and Gender are Different (as compared to Ethnicity and Citizenship)

Whilst the majority of British citizens are white, someone being another ethnicity does not make them any less a British citizen. The distinction between ethnicity and citizenship is simple: ethnicity is a physical aspect of someone’s identity whereas citizenship is a psychological aspect of someone’s identity. Sure, the two can correlate but it’s not an exclusive relationship.

The same comparison can be made of sex and gender.

Sex, like ethnicity, is a physical aspect of someone’s identity; gender, like citizenship, is a psychological aspect of someone’s identity.

Sure, being cisgender (where one’s sex and gender are labelled the same) is most common but there’s no reason why this is the only option. Grass is a common plant but that doesn’t make it the only plant; the sky is mostly blue but this doesn’t make it the sky’s only colour. Whilst the world is getting better at recognising this separation, some people are lagging behind.

Part of the problem is that ‘male’ and ‘female’ are used to describe both sex and gender.

If we had separate words, the distinction would be easier to make. Arguments occur because ‘male/female’ are used to describe gender by one person and sex by another.

In essence, they’re arguing over separate things. Yet this isn’t an excuse: it’s the individual’s prerogative to decide how they identify, not that of anyone else. If someone chooses to identify by their gender identity, let them.

If it isn’t hurting anyone then it’s not a problem. It’s as simple as that.

Some complain, saying this sex-gender differentiation means ‘men can’t be men’. Not so. The whole point is that no-one’s identity is denied.

It’s encouraging men to be men, women to be women and anyone to be who they are. It’s the individual’s prerogative to have free will over their mind and body. Be what you want. If a strong part of your identity is your male physique then go for it. This isn’t to stop you but to encourage you, to encourage everyone.

No-one has to declare their identity to the world. It can be hard, scary and dangerous. So if you know someone who has done so, don’t make their life difficult. There’s no need for that.