Pro-choice

Pro-Choice is a common self-description used by people who believe that a woman should have the absolute legal right to have an abortion.

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To some, "pro-Choice" is a loaded term: it contains the connotations that people who oppose the political opinions it describes are against "choice", which is a highly valued concept in the United States and Western world. Both "Pro-Life" and "pro-Choice" are examples of political framing: they are terms which purposely try to define their philosophies in the best possible light, while by definition attempting to describe their opposition in the worst possible light (being anti-life or anti-choice). Opponents of this view sometimes refer to people who are pro-choice with pejorative terms such as "anti-life" or "pro-abortion." Pro-choice individuals object to this nomenclature, and frequently claim that calling them pro-abortion is inaccurate because they do not favor abortions. Rather, they view abortion rights as part of the broader category of reproductive rights for women.

Related Topics:
Loaded term - United States - Western world - Pro-Life - Framing - Reproductive rights

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Additionally, opponents of abortion often argue that "pro-choice" is a misnomer, because pro-choice activists oppose legislative measures such as "Informed Consent" or "Right To Know" laws, even when such laws merely delay rather than restrict a woman's legal right to choose abortion. Some medical practitioners, and many advocates of what is considered from the pro-choice perspective as a female patient's right to choose abortion, consider informed consent restrictions an inconsistent and arbitrary governmental intrusion into an open, informed and confidential patient-practitioner relationship. They argue that since informed consent is the precursor to all medical treatment, any legislative requirement for additional "facilitation" in this instance amounts to a compromise to the physician's or practitioner's skill and discretion.

Related Topics:
Informed Consent - Medical treatment

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Some pro-choice activists believe that abortion should be a last resort, if the mother is unable to raise the child or give it up for adoption, or if the pregnancy risks endangering the life or health of the mother. They also feel that pro-life activists distort this point of view, suggesting that pro-choice activists somehow wish for abortion to be considered a common form of contraception. For moderates on both sides, the subject of abortion as an absolute last resort often provides common ground for reasonable debate.

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