Posted by Eugene Volokh:
How Far from the Truth?
A [1]New York Times article on how some Democrats are suggesting that
the party de-emphasize abortion in its political message contains this
quote:
And Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, said
Republicans had "been successful at painting the view of the
pro-choice movement as abortion on demand -- and nothing can be
farther from the truth."
Really? To the best of my knowledge, the leading players in the
pro-choice movement do indeed favor abortion on demand, or something
very close to it. According to [2]the Random House Unabridged
Dictionary, "abortion-on-demand" means "the right of a woman to have
an abortion during the first six months of a pregnancy." As best I can
tell, the views of leading pro-choice organizations, such as NARAL
Pro-Choice America, are quite close to that.
The groups may say "before viability" rather than "during the first
six months," and I suppose this might, depending on the state of a
particular fetus and the progress of medical technology, be something
of a difference -- but not a very great one, given how close viability
and six months tend to be. (I suspect, incidentally, that most
pro-choice advocates would insist that even post-viability abortions
be legal when needed to protect the woman's life, physical health, or
psychological health, with the latter category seeming like a pretty
broad escape hatch). Also, while I'm not positive whether most leading
pro-choice groups would allow any restrictions at all on minors'
access to abortion, I'm pretty sure they oppose parental consent or
even parental notificaiton requirements. So their position seems to be
either abortion-on-demand or very close to it.
Now one may well argue that abortion on demand, or abortion on demand
with these two narrow exceptions, is the morally, constitutionally, or
pragmatically correct position. But it seems to me a mistake to deny
that the pro-choice movement's view, or at least the view of many
leading groups in the movement, is pretty close to that position --
and even more of a mistake to fault people for being supposedly
untruthful when they characterize the pro-choice movement's position
that way.
References
1.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/24/politics/24abortion.html?ei=5090&en=9463c93133acc75f&ex=1261544400&partner=rssuserland&pagewanted=all&position=
2. http://www.infoplease.com/dictionary/abortion-on-demand
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