Reproductive Rights?

There’s been a lot of talk about ‘reproductive rights’ and ‘bodily autonomy’ in the media recently, and I think a bit of clarification is in order, don’t you?

For those who aren’t aware, a piece of pro-life leaning legislation was signed earlier this May, and American actress Alyssa Milano had a bold response:

“Our reproductive rights are being erased. Until women have legal control over our own bodies we just cannot risk pregnancy. JOIN ME by not having sex until we get bodily autonomy back. I’m calling for a #SexStrike. Pass it on.”

So . . . eliminating the right to abortion is eliminating your reproductive rights, you say? Let’s take a moment to break it down and actually think about this.

Let’s start with rights. We all know what a right is. According to Oxford dictionary: “a moral or legal entitlement to have or do something.” Like the right to vote! Easy enough.

Ok, next: reproductive. Pretty sure we’ve got this down too, but just to be sure, Oxford defines reproduction as “the production of offspring by a sexual or asexual process.” No surprise there.

Now to put two and two together! I know, this is painfully elementary, but it’s evidently necessary for our current culture.

By definition, reproductive rights must simply be the entitlement to produce offspring. Yes?

Now let’s put it in context. According to Milano, our entitlement to produce offspring (reproductive rights) is being erased if we don’t have access to abortion.

Something isn’t right here . . .

Abortion only takes place after reproduction. It must. Before reproduction, there is no abortion to be had!

The fact is, reproductive rights do NOT require access to abortion. Abortion requires reproduction, but reproduction does not require abortion.

While we’re here, let’s talk a bit more about the relationship between reproduction and abortion.

If reproduction means new offspring is produced (in this case another human being), and abortion happens afterwards, this can only mean that abortion is ending the life of a human being. From the moment of conception, a unique, unrepeatable human person with a rapidly growing body is present!

A common response to this argument is the right to family planning; that we ought to decide for ourselves when and how many children we would like to have. But as we already discussed, once reproduction has taken place, a human being is already present. Family is already present.

To be blunt, the right Morino and many others seek is to end the life of their children. Whether or not someone wants a child does not change the reality of what is present in the womb: a human being.

Now you may be wondering: what about the claim that it’s just a fetus, not a human being?

We only call it a fetus because of its size, just as we call a two-year-old a toddler, a fifteen-year-old a teenager, a twenty-year-old a young adult, and so on. The categoric name we give a person does not change the fact that it is indeed a human being. It just specifies the age of the particular person.

And ironically, the right to family planning and “bodily autonomy” is exemplified by this so called “Sex Strike.” By choosing not to have sex, you’re exercising your reproductive right to choose not to bring new life into the world. But again, if the choice has been made to have sex and reproduction is successful, you are no longer choosing whether or not to have a child. A child has already been created.

Okay, while I haven’t exhausted all possible angles, let’s pause and refresh ourselves here. To reproduce is to create life, and abortion only takes place if a life has already been produced, thus access to abortion is not relevant to reproductive rights. It’s a rather uncomplicated argument, really. But in a culture that strives to justify the horror of abortion, it has become surprisingly complicated if we don’t think things through.

So my word of advice before signing off is this: don’t take everything you read at face value. The media has lots to say about lots of things, and tends to hijack and misuse words and phrases (like reproductive rights). Don’t let them fool you.

So before you believe what you read or hear, take a moment and think. We human beings are the only creatures with an intellect, a unique capacity to reason. Take advantage of this incredible gift of your intellect, and don’t be afraid to speak up when things don’t add up. Especially when millions of lives are at stake.