Pro-life versus Pro- Choice

Andrea Smith Academic scholar, feminist, and activist. Associate professor in the Department of Media and Cultural Studies at the University of California, Riverside. Focuses on violence against women of color and their communities. Specifically Native American women. 15 years active participation in the reproductive justice movement.

Pro-life Main argument –A fetus is a life, hence abortion is crime/murder. –The sanctity of life –Only “ethically pure” position What else do you associate with the Pro- life paradigm?

Smith’s objections Criminalization of abortion –Not an appropriate response to social issues. –Prison Industrial Complex system Increases rather than decreases crime rate Easier access to drugs Harder to find employment when released Money used to fund prisons could fund educational and social programs. Who/what supports the prison industrial complex system (prisons)?

“’Punishment’ does not follow from “crime” in the neat and logical sequence offered by discourses that insist on the justice of imprisonment, but rather punishment- primarily through imprisonment (and sometimes death) is linked to the agendas of politicians, the profit drive of corporations, and media representation of crime. Imprisonment is associated with the racialization of those most likely to be punished. If we strive to disarticulate crime and punishment then our focus must not rest only on the prison system as an isolated institution but must also be directed at all the social relations that support the permanence of prison.” (Smith)

Pro-life and criminal justice system Main goal to reduce the number of abortions and hopes to criminalize women that have them. –No evidence that imprisonment will reduce the number of abortions. Ineffective strategy for solving the surrounding circumstances that lead to social problems. “In the name of life, the Pro-life movement supports one of the biggest institutions of violence and death in this society.” (Smith) Is criminalization ever a good response to social issues? Can imprisonment of criminals ever be a good idea? How do prisons control populations and communities of color?

Pro-choice Main argument –A fetus cannot be classified as life –Focus of policy should be to protect women’s rights to make decisions about their own bodies. What do you associate with the Pro- choice paradigm?

Smith’s objections Argues that Pro-choice is an “individualist, consumerist notion of “free” choice that does not consider all the social, economic, and political conditions that frame each choice.” Capitalism – Tied to possession of resources – Creates hierarchy of women who are able to make legitimate choices. – Women with more resources are able to make more choices. Women with less resources are able to make less choices. Federal Government – Hyde Amendment : no federal funding for abortions – Family caps for TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) recipients. Pharmaceutical companies – Push certain contraceptives on the public through multi-million dollar ad campaigns.

Choice? “Choice” also became a symbol of middle class women’s arrival as independent consumers. Middle class women could afford to choose. They earned the right to choose motherhood, if they liked. According to many Americans, however, when the choice was associated with poor women, it became a symbol of illegitimacy. Poor women had not earned the right to choose.” (Smith) Reproductive choice if they can afford it, or if deemed legitimate choice-makers.

How do capitalism and the federal government work together to limit women’s control over their own bodies? Are there any other mechanisms in society that do this?

Solution Reject dichotomy of Pro-life and Pro-choice Make a larger social justice strategy which empowers marginalized women who are oppressed under the capitalism and criminalization aspects of both Pro-life and Pro-choice. –Main issues to address Repeal of Hyde Amendment (no federal funding for abortions) Stop the promotion of dangerous contraception Decriminalizing women who have addictions Ending welfare policies that punish women Other issues that speak to the intersections of gender, race, and class in reproductive rights. Are there any other issues that should be addressed in this new framework outside of Pro-life and Pro-choice? What are your ideas of different frameworks than Pro-life and Pro-choice in reproductive rights issues?