Now. I accept that there are individuals who are opposed to abortion for consistent moral reasons. And I accept that those individuals are not opposed to birth control, to sex education, and to funding for women's health organizations. But I have a real problem with such individuals trying to defend pro-life positions on pro-choice sites, at least if they aren't also putting themselves out to argue, vehemently, with the leadership of the movement they claim to support. And I have a real problem with people who seriously want to prevent abortions calling themselves "pro-life," to be honest, because that label is used by political organizations that are opposed to women having sex and that actively pursue policies that increase, rather than decrease abortion. If I had a serious moral problem with abortion, I think that I would try to find myself another label specifically in order to distance myself from what is clearly a well-known and well-organized movement that, for better or worse--okay, let's be honest: for worse--has claimed "pro-life" to describe policies that clearly aren't.

The "pro-life" movement is demonstrably anti-woman. It is demonstrably more concerned with punishing women for having sex than it is with preventing abortion or saving children. Arguing otherwise demonstrates either ignorance or shockingly bad faith.

And if you care so much about the issue, there's no excuse for such ignorance. Which leads me to suspect that those who call themselves "pro-life" are full of shit, frankly. If abortion bothers you, get off your butts and form a real pro-life movement, one that works to actively prevent unwanted pregnancy, to support women who are forced to make hard decisions between carrying a pregnancy and protecting themselves from poverty (this includes young women who abort in order to continue their educations--being a h.s. dropout, or even a h.s. graduate, is not a really great move if you hope to make a living wage), to support single mothers with real, concrete, material initiatives.

Get over here with the feminists and start working to make motherhood a truly respected and supported institution, not a shit sandwich that ya'll talk about as if it were chocolate. I am telling you people, we pro-choice feminists are doing more all the goddamn time to promote real respect for motherhood, real options for young women, real opportunities for women's economic independence--and therefore, real support for women with children and real help for women who don't want kids to avoid pregnancy in the first place--than the goddamn "pro-life" folks.

And if you can't see that, then I feel pretty goddamn entitled to say that the real problem is that no, you don't trust women.