Abortion: Or Things I Don't Understand About the Pro-Life/Anti-Choice Movement

So I got to thinking this morning about abortion and women's rights and the whole pro-life/anti-choice movement. I know it sounds aggressive to call it anti-choice, but let's be real, the movement as it exists now basically just wants to ensure no woman has the option to get an abortion. I don't really want to get into the discussion of whether or not abortion is moral or not, because frankly, it has nothing to do with the fact that a woman should be able to make decisions about her own body. But obviously I'm a screaming liberal.

What I was thinking about was the hypocrisy of the "pro-life" crowd. Obviously, this does not apply to everyone, and I am certain there are people who oppose abortion who actually give a shit about the "sanctity of life" beyond talking about it. Can anyone explain to me why the group who screams about how a woman should not have the choice to terminate a pregnancy are the same group that:

*Opposes universal healthcare - Now the reasons why a woman might get an abortion are varied and no one's business but her own, but given that the average cost of an uncomplicated pregnancy and delivery can run around $6-8000, I'd say inability to afford pregnancy may be one factor. Why is the pro-life movement not jumping all over providing every woman in America with free healthcare for her and her child? If we're really in it for the sanctity of life and with the mother's best interest at heart (as is always claimed), why are these same people arguing for free market healthcare? They're SO OPPOSED to Obama's mandated healthcare (which, by the way, includes an essential benefits package that includes pregnancy/delivery), when they ought to be applauding his efforts to provide for mothers and children.

*Promotes abstinence only education (STILL!) - I love that you can make the claim that abstinence-only education is science-based, as though that makes it somehow at all effective. News flash: it doesn't. So I get it, you want to protect kids from scary diseases and unintended pregnancies. Great, so do I. Maybe we should all get on board with actual sex education and free/cheap access to contraceptives (because kids are TOTALLY GOING TO HAVE SEX, REGARDLESS). If people are better educated about sex, they will be safer and make better-informed decisions, leading to fewer pregnancies because they didn't use condoms/don't believe in condoms/think condoms are evil.

*Barely says a peep about adoption - I did not even know promoting adoption was part of the GOP's platform until I read it earlier. Now I'm all for adoption. Adoption is great and more people should adopt. There's a ridiculous number of kids in foster care and that's really sad. Why is this not a bigger part of the pro-life agenda? Rather than spending 110% of their time/money/energy trying to BAN ALL ABORTIONS, maybe they should focus more on encouraging adoption or raising quality of care in the foster system. 

*Totally loves fertility treatments - MOAR BABIEZ! Yes, babies are cute, but just encouraging everyone to have all the babies doesn't help the fact that there are already a shit ton of babies in this world, many without homes. Not saying we should go banning fertility treatments, but it's just interesting to me that the goal of the pro-life movement seems to be to have as many babies as humanly possible.

*Really dislikes government assistance programs - They really don't love welfare and food stamps and all the programs that help those icky poors. So a woman who has a bundle of kids and can barely afford to support them should definitely be forced to have another if she gets pregnant (and let's not forget that being poor tends to go hand-in-hand with lack of education, lack of access to contraceptives, etc). This makes total sense.

*Claims to love women - I mean, REALLY. You don't get to try and pass policy that would force a woman to carry her rapist's child and claim you love women. You don't get to force women to undergo a trans-vaginal ultrasound before getting an abortion and claim you love women. You don't get to try and differentiate between "different kinds" of rape, as though some are more or less traumatic than others. These policies are solely designed to shame/scare women into following your moral code and that, frankly, disgusts me. (That is my one super-pro-choice point.)

Basically, I just don't understand how you can with one breath claim to be pro-life, but then do nothing to support that life once it is created. Show me that you're working towards policies that nurture people, that care about the babies that are already born, that treat women like equals, that have the best interests of people (NOT corporations) in mind.

Then we can talk about you calling yourself pro-life.