pro-life, pro-choice

As the mother of three planned-for and greatly loved children, I consider myself vigorously prolife. I also happen to be pro-choice.

The debate over abortion often seems to have gone so far off track that we need to invent a whole new language in order to deal with the questions that are on the table.

The wingnut right has captured the term pro-life and twisted it to their own political ends. There are a great many liberal-leaning parents who, I daresay, also consider themselves pro-life. Conversely, is there anyone out there who is actually pro-abortion? I would doubt it. Yet there is no acknowledgement of this reality in the public discourse. I would imagine there is a sizable majority out there who could live very comfortably with the "safe, legal, and rare" designation.

The core issue in the abortion debate is obviously not abortion; the argument is, in fact, more about the way our government views the rights of women, not to mention the rights of the individual. Are women the legal equals of men? Once a woman has reached legal adulthood does she have the right to choose if and when she will bring children into the world? Does she have the right to keep her choices private?

I keep hearing republicans say that "elections have consequences." Latest polls suggest that a majority of american voters prefer that Roe v. Wade remains the law of the land. I suspect most reasonable people view this issue in the same way they viewed the Schiavo debacle - with extreme discomfort at the spectacle of the government's intrusion into an area of life that should be kept private, out of the reach of the government.

This is what puts me into a blind rage: the idea that the likes of Rick Santorum, Tom Coburn, and John Cornyn, sanctimonious, self-righteous prigs that they are, believe they have the right to dictate my daughter's options.