Pro-life or anti-choice?

A few weeks ago, the DC ran an opinion piece by Hans Zeiger, anundergrad at Hillsdale College in Michigan. His piece characterizedabortion as murder, claimed that tax dollars are used to fundabortions, that Planned Parenthood’s abortion clinics are”exceptionally profitable,” and that the”contention of the pro-abortion movement is that life has nointrinsic value, and if possible, we ought to avoid it.”

A person who is pro-choice typically believes that the decisionto carry a pregnancy to term should remain between a woman and herdoctor. As many people who are pro-choice have children of theirown or adopt children, and respect a woman’s right to havechildren when and if she chooses to, I find that this view valueslife rather than discards it. Being pro-choice is not beingpro-abortion or anti-life. On the contrary, it places a decidedemphasis on life, including that of women who become pregnant, anda decided emphasis on who gets to decide when to give birth.

I’m pro-choice and I support Planned Parenthood in itsmission to provide all people access to information and low-costhealthcare services. An organization that promotes people’sfreedom to make their own decisions regarding reproduction, PlannedParenthood provides invaluable services to people around theworld.

As a public affairs intern for Planned Parenthood of Houston andSoutheast Texas, it was my pleasure to sort through hundreds ofletters from people who use our services. Teens wrote to thank usfor helping them gain access to birth control, women thanked us forproviding abortion services, and other women thanked us forreferring them to adoption agencies and providing counseling.Fathers were grateful for our talks with their daughters abouthealthy sexuality, boyfriends appreciated our caring for theirgirlfriends, and people thanked us for keeping their mothers ingood health. All in all, Planned Parenthood encompasses a widearray of services and places its emphasis on helping women preventunwanted pregnancies — that is, working to prevent unplannedpregnancies that may end in abortion.

I also support Planned Parenthood’s stance that women havethe right to seek and obtain medically safe, legal abortions underdignified conditions and at reasonable cost. Planned Parenthoodworks to keep the cost of abortion low so that women from allincome groups, not just those who are wealthy, can have access toabortion services. Its abortion clinics frequently make no profitor are actually in debt. If they do make a profit, the additionalfunds go to keep family planning clinics open during the fourthquarter, when government funding for pap smears, birth control androutine check ups runs out.

If Zeiger were familiar with the law, he would know that federaltax dollars do not fund abortions. The only exception comes withMedicaid funding, which will pay for abortions in the case of rape,incest or a threat to the woman’s life. Otherwise, fundingfor abortions comes from private donors or the individualsthemselves and is kept separate from family planning funding.

Let me make a distinction between being pro-life and beinganti-choice. Someone who is anti-choice stands in the way of awoman exercising her legal right to choose to have an abortion andseeks to restrict other people’s access to information andservices. Someone who is pro-life may feel that abortion is morallywrong, but rather than blocking women’s ability to choose, heor she works to provide supporting services so that pregnant womenhave other options. Clearly, Zeiger falls into the category ofanti-choice in the extreme and promotes his cause with propagandadesigned to mislead others. Rather than using his timeconstructively to reform foster care, provide resources for womenwho choose parenthood, or educate people about how not to becomepregnant in the first place, Zeiger spends his time blocking aclinic whose purpose is to educate and inform the generalpopulation about the issues we are all fortunate enough to hearabout in Wellness.

While I am staunchly pro-choice and will always work to protecta woman’s right to choose, I also work to ensure that womenand men have access to all of the information they need to makeresponsible choices. Abortion, while a necessary option, occursafter conception, and I believe there is plenty of middle groundfor pro-life and pro-choice activists to cover together to preventpregnancy in the first place. However, Zeiger is less interested inprogress than in obstructing the rights of others. Individuals froma wide range of perspectives continue to support Planned Parenthoodin its mission to provide quality reproductive information andhealth care to all people, and to make adoption and parenthood aviable option for women who choose these routes.

Incidentally, I am disappointed in The Daily Campus forpublishing Zeiger’s editorial without response or comment,particularly as he is not affiliated with our university. Hiscolumn, published with no competing claims or attempts atperspective, is an affront to our campus newspaper.

Sarah Thomas is a junior English major. She can be reached [email protected].