Running head: PRO-CHOICE SUPPORTERS

Pro-Choice Supporters and Their Stereotypes

Brooklyn Evans
University of Kentucky

PRO-CHOICE SUPPORTERS

Abstract
Pro-choice supporters believe women should have the right to make decisions regarding their
body without any one telling them how to make these decisions. The pro-choice culture mainly
advocates for a womans right to an abortion. The pro-choice opinion is a woman should be able
to decide if she wants to bring a child into the world. Advocates for pro-choice want to keep
abortions legal and safe for so women do not go back to preforming illegal back alley
abortions. Many pro-choice supporters do not believe human life begins at conception, but they
believe human life begins when the fetus is able to survive outside of the womb. Although they
believe abortion should be legal, they also believe there is a point in a womans pregnancy when
abortion should no longer be an option. Pro-choice supporters also advocate for birth control, sex
education, and contraceptives.

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Pro-Choice Supporters and Their Stereotypes

Pro-choice supporters have only one goal, to defend womens rights to make their own
choice with their body. Abortion has always been a controversial topic and often times leads into
a heated debate between pro-choice and pro-life supporters. Those who disagree with pro-choice
beliefs stereotype pro-choice supporters in many ways by assuming what they believe and why
they believe it, when they think human life begins, and what type of people they are.
The term pro-choice started appearing in the early 1970s during the famous Roe vs.
Wade trial. This case brought much of the controversy still seen today on the subject of abortion
and this is the time when Americans started taking sides on the issue, classifying themselves as
pro-choice or pro-life. According to a recent Gallup poll, about 41% of Americans define
themselves as pro-choice (Calmes, 2014). This is the
lowest it has ever been in American history and this
number continues to gradually decrease.
Pro-choice is advocating for a womans right to
decide what she wants to do with her body. We're
protecting and expanding reproductive

Photo by Crescenzo found at

http://rocredandblack.org

freedom(Abortion, n.d.). The one thing pro-choice

supporters defend the most is a womans right to have an abortion. Abortion is the process of
terminating a pregnancy by destroying the embryo. Supporters believe no one should have the
right to tell a woman that it is her responsibility to have a baby, especially not the government.
Abortion is a choice that should be carefully and privately talked about with the woman and her
doctor. As said by an employee at Planned Parenthood, I dont think anyone else should be in

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control of one persons decision or at least in that aspect (Name withheld, personal
communication, 2014). Many pro-choice supporters argue that it is a womans body therefore it
is the womans right to decide if she wants to carry a child or not.
Pro-choice advocates believe that making abortion illegal would be dangerous for not
only the fetus but the mother as well. Before abortion was determined legal, women would turn
to dangerous, unsafe ways to terminate the fetus. According to Dr. Daniel Mishell, former
worker at Harbor General Hospital in Los Angeles, Women frequently died from using coat
hangers or knitting needles or radiator flush to induce abortions (Morrison, 2014). If abortion
were to become illegal, women would return to using these harmful ways of terminating their
pregnancies. Abortions preformed by a trained
professional are the safe, legal way for women to
terminate her pregnancies. Abortions are one of the
safest procedures in medicine, with a death rate of
less than .01 percent (Millstein, 2014).
Contrary to common belief, abortions are

Photo by Mandel NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

extremely safe for a woman to have. The image above is from a pro-choice rally in Washington
D.C. where a pro-choice supporter is advocating to keep abortions safe, legal and accessible. If
abortion rights were taken away, pro-choice supporters believe back-alley abortions would
become more common. Pro-choice supporters have the womans best interest in mind, they do
not want women to think harming themselves is their only option in a situation of an unplanned
or unwanted pregnancy.
Pro-Choice supporters are commonly asked, When do you think human life begins?
This is the main topic pro-choice and pro-life advocates disagree on. The answer a person gives

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to this question is almost always going to answer if they are pro-choice or pro-life. Most people
believe pro-choice advocates would answer, When the baby is born but that is simply untrue.
Most pro-choice supporters believe life begins when the fetus is able to survive outside the
womb. Unlike pro-life supporters, pro-choice supporters do not believe life begins at conception.
They believe at conception, the embryo is just thatan embryo. Although pro-choice supporters
do not believe human life begins at conception, almost all believe there is a point in a womans
pregnancy when the baby is considered a human and abortion should no longer be an option.
Current U.S. law prohibits a woman from having an abortion after the second trimester. Pro-life
and pro-choice advocates have disagreed on this question for centuries.
For one of my interviews, I went to Planned Parenthood to interview an employee.
Planned Parenthood is a health clinic with its main focus on pregnancy prevention. When I first
walked into Planned Parenthood the workers were very open and friendly, then I explained to
them what my purpose of being there was and they were suddenly not as friendly. I assumed that
most of the people who walk into Planned Parenthood not for a consult or appointment are
usually protesters who do not agree with abortion. I then explained I was only there to ask some
questions about their beliefs and my views and beliefs would be kept out of the interview.
Some people, usually pro-life advocates, often claim abortion is murder. This is a very
powerful statement and it can lead to many arguments. When I interviewed the employee at
Planned Parenthood, I asked the controversial question, Do you believe abortion is murder?
She had a hard time answering this question, although it is a question pro-choice supporters hear
often. She replied Personally I dont think it is, if you do it legally in the right amount of time
(Name withheld, personal communication, 2014). After a certain point in a womans pregnancy
pro-choice supporters believe abortion should no longer be an option.

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Pro- choice supporters believe that only after a certain point in a womans trimester they
consider it to be murder. The person I interviewed believes that when the heart and lungs are
fully formed, the baby is considered a human. When the baby is able to survive outside of the
mothers womb, she believes it is then murder. She also explained to me that there are laws
limiting the time you can have an abortion, you must abort the baby before the second trimester,
after that an abortion is illegal. The interviewee feels if a woman has an abortion in a legally
mandated time she does not consider it to be murder.
Many believe that if you are pro-choice you cannot be a Christian. If you see someone
who is clearly religious you would probably not classify them as pro-choice at first glance, you
would most likely believe they are a very passionate pro-life supporter. Common belief is
Christians do not support sex education programs, contraceptives, and certainly not abortion
procedures but this is not always the case. Most people assume pro-choice supporters are
atheists, but this is found to be untrue. According to Jay Johansen, author of Pregnant Pause, in
recent years many religious groups have been coming out in the pro-choice position (Johansen,
2001). The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) is an example of a religious
organization that classifies themselves as pro-choice. The RCRC is an organization that supports
women making their own reproductive choices and prays with them while they are making such
a difficult life changing choice. Pro-Choice Christians believe it is a womans right and
responsibility to choose what she does with her body. During an interview with David Masci, a
researcher on Religion and Public Life, Rev. Carlton W. Veasey stated, God has given you that
responsibility, that option to make decisions (Masci, 2014).
Pro-choice advocates are also perceived as morally corrupt people, this is a stereotype put
on pro-choice supporters by those who do not believe in abortion. Non pro-choice supporters see

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abortion as unmoral and murder of an innocent human being. While pro-choice advocates
believe not allowing a woman to make the choice of having a child or not is the real unmoral
action. If you dont want to have a child you absolutely have the right to not have a child and if
you want one you absolutely have the right to have one (Name withheld, personal
communication, 2014). Pro-choice supporters believe forcing a woman to have a child she does
not want is unjust. Ultimately, their opinion is that it is the womans decision if she wants to
bring another life into the world and she should not be told or forced into making this decision.
Pro-choice may support a womens right to have an abortion but that doesnt mean they
themselves would have an abortion. In their opinion women should have the right to choose what
they do with their bodies without the government or anyone else telling them what they can or
cannot do. Pro-choice supporters do not necessarily want woman to have an abortion, but for the
woman to know that it is her choice to make, and the option of abortion is there for her if that is
what she decides.
Pro-choice is frequently associated with supporting the right to have an abortion.
But there is more to the definition of pro-choice than just abortion rights. Pro-choice supports
birth control, contraceptives, and sex education for teens. They believe it is important for people,
mainly woman, to have prevention and educational resources available to them. They believe it
is important for young woman to know their options when it comes to sex. Pro-choice supporters
push and advocate for sex education to be mandatory in all high schools. They also push for
contraceptives and birth control to be available to young adults. Planned Parenthood is one of the
main advocates for sex education and is a heavy promoter for all men and women to have access
to their rights to sex education and contraceptives.

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For my second interview, I interviewed a close friend that also goes to the University of
Kentucky, Sarah Allen. Sarah was very willing to do the interview because being pro-choice is
something she extremely passionate about. Sarah knew we had opposing beliefs before the
interview, which made the interview easier and less awkward than the first interview with the
employee at Planned Parenthood. The questions were easier to ask because Sarah knew I was not
looking down on her culture or judging her beliefs.
During the interview Sarah told me a stereotype of pro-choice supporters that I had not
given much thought. She told me a common stereotype associated with being pro-choice is that
they do not value human life. This takes us back to the question When does human life begin?
Sarah responded to one of my questions with this statement, You cannot value a humans life, if
you do not believe it is a human yet (S. Allen, personal communications, October 10, 2014). I
found this response to be very interesting because the way one person perceives the value of life
could be a completely different perception than someone else by only one small belief.
There are always extremists in every belief and there will always be disagreements inside
of the same belief. Not all pro-choice supporters believe the same things, it varies from person to
person. Some may believe abortion should always be legal, some believe abortion should only be
legal in certain situations. Others, like the employee I interviewed at Planned Parenthood, believe
after a certain time in a womans trimester abortion should no longer be an option, which is the
current law. Other pro-choice supporters disagree with the current law and believe abortion
should always be an option in a womans pregnancy. Not all advocates have the exact same
belief, but all have relatively the same goal in mind.
Although this experience did not change my view on any of the subjects discussed, it did
open my eyes and eliminated some stereotypes I previously had about pro-choice supporters. I,

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like most people not apart of the pro-choice culture, stereotyped the pro-choice community as
un-Christian. After researching the pro-choice culture, I didnt realize how many groups and
organizations there are that openly proclaim themselves as Christian pro-choice supporters.
Although I believe abortion should never be the option a woman should take for an unplanned or
unwanted pregnancy, this experience opened my perspective on what would happen if abortion
were to be made illegal. As previously mentioned, one of the reasons pro-choice supporters
believe abortion should be legal, is for the womans health and safety. They do not want women
turning to the same dangerous ways women in the past.
I also assumed, like many others, that the pro-choice community only focused on the
right to have an abortion. While researching more about the pro-choice culture, I found that they
advocate for sex education in schools, for contraceptives to be available to everyone, and for
birth control to be available to women. These things the pro-choice community are pushing for,
will ultimately reduce the unwanted and unplanned pregnancy rate.
Those who are not apart of the pro-choice community stereotype pro-choice supporters.
The pro-choice culture can be seen as unmoral, un-Christian, and many do not understand what
they believe and why they believe it. Pro-choice advocates for women to have the right to decide
what she wants to do with her body, no one should have the right to make decisions for her.
Many Christian groups have been classifying themselves as pro-choice and supporting women
while making this decision. The pro-choice community continues to advocate for abortion,
contraception, birth control, and sex education.

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10

References
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Calmes, J. July 28, 2014. Advocates Shun Pro-Choice to Expand Message. Retrieved from
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http://rocredandblack.org
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Morrison, P. March 25, 2014. The Coat hanger, symbol of dangerous, pre-Roe abortions, is
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