Monday, November 17, 2014

Pro, by Katha Pollitt

About 2 chapters into Pro, I thought to myself how much I would like to send the book to each and every member of the Louisiana state legislature and force them to read it, a la A Clockwork Orange. Everything she wrote just made so much sense, about power, women, healthcare, quality of life, and so on. She tied together in one bundle all of the various surveys, research, ideas, and commentary that have been put forth regarding reproductive justice issues. Everything she said made sense! Then I realized that my idea would never work because the other side does not traffic in facts or reason but rather emotion, propaganda, and subterfuge. You can’t reason with unreasonable people.

I came to the understanding that Pro isn’t really targeted at the pro-forced-birth contingent, but rather the opposite side of the aisle. Pollitt presents a case for, pardon my use of jargon, reframing issues of abortion and reproductive justice and not running away from the pro-abortion label. Honesty is called for rather than attempts at managing public relations. Time to shout out that abortion is about healthcare, economics, and, above all, the right to self-determination. Slut shaming and outright lies need to be called out whenever they occur and by whomever. The last two paragraphs sum up her thesis (which is sort of the point of a concluding statement, isn’t it?):
“For those who are troubled by America’s high abortion rate, the good news is that we already know what will lower it: more feminism. More justice. More equality. More freedom. More respect. Women should have what they need both to avoid unwanted pregnancy and childbirth and to have wanted children. For motherhood to truly be part of human flourishing, it has to be voluntary, and raising children—by both parents—has to be supported by society as necessary human work. Motherhood should add to a woman’s ability to lead a full life, not leave her on the sidelines, wondering how she got there.

For this to happen, the old paradigms have to go: pregnancy as the punishment for sex, and women as endurers of fate or God’s will, biologically destined to a lesser life and needing a man to survive. But even in feminist heaven, there will be abortion, as there is in even the most prosperous, enlightened countries in the world. Because life will always be complicated, there is no perfect contraception, and there are no perfect people either. We need to be able to say that is all right.”
My one beef with the book: its lack of an index. Non-indexed nonfiction works make my head hurt.

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