How the Pro-Choice Movement Saved America: Freedom, Politics and the War on Sex. A review.

If you have been reading this blog for more than 5 minutes, you may be wondering to yourself why I would pick up this book in this first place. Why would a half of a blond republican couple, a Jesus-loving conservative Christian, want to read a book written by Cristina Page, vice president of NARAL Pro-choice New York and former executive director of NOW-NYC? Why would she even care what she has to say?

Well, critical thinking for one. It's always a nice brain exercise to read a well-footnoted book with exactly the opposite ideas as one's own. It really gets your brain thinking about exactly why and how they are completely wrong about what they are saying. Second, I wanted to understand where the "other side" is coming from. It's not enough to know that they are pro-choice, I wanted to know why.

In the first sense it failed because in order to logically argue, I think you have to start with at least one or two points on which you agree. The only thing Page and I agreed on was her preface. In it she gives a brief summary of how she came to understand the pro-life movement's ideology. She started out talking about her search for "common ground" in both side's spoken agreement with the idea of reducing the need for abortions and ended with her realization that there isn't any common ground because when discussing pro-choice versus pro-life, we aren't just talking about two different movements but two different agendas based on two very different sets of values. And that is about all we agree on - the fact that we can't and won't ever agree because we aren't starting off at the same place.

She spends the rest of the book oscillating between "revealing" the secrets about how pro-lifers think and taking illogical leaps with them. It was odd, the way she stated some things made it clear she thought it would seem unimaginable to the reader, as if she really wanted to follow every fact she stated with "Can you believe they think that way?" or even more so "Can you believe they admit to thinking that way?"

Many of her readers might actually have been astounded at what she said. About 50% of the time, I could easily believe that is how pro-lifers thinking because well, it's how I think. The other 50% of the time, I too was astounded - at how she took point A and got to point B. Such as, I don't think abortions should be legal, therefore I am against sex and think it is disgusting.

That second part was interesting too because in expanding on those beliefs and describing what they would mean to society if left unopposed, she revealed her way of thinking very clearly. And, much the same way she was shocked that pro-lifers would reveal their true feelings, I was almost shocked she would reveal hers. I suppose that again comes from our different sets of values. She doesn't feel the need to hide her delight in how, because of the pill, "Sex no longer had to be packaged with commitment devices..." anymore than I feel the need to hide my sadness in that fact.

So in the end, it failed at my second goal too because I realized I did understand how the far left pro-choicers thought all along. It was hard for me to completely grasp because it's based on values I won't ever be able to comprehend but I really knew it the whole time. What I really want to understand is what pro-choice Christians think. Because they should have the same values and foundation as me but they end up with the same outcome and belief as them, and to be honest, I just don't see how they do it. My initial thoughts on the subject would not put them in a good light but I'm willing to try and understand their reasoning. If anyone has any books on that subject, I would be interested.

That is were I probably should end this post, but I can't. I just have to point on the few stupid things I noticed while reading the book. Those statements that were almost laughable. I say almost, because the topic is just to sad for any real LOL moments, but these were close nonetheless. I'll limit myself to just two, although I could probably go on all day.

1) One of my favorite paragraphs:

Increased access to and use of modern contraception can lead to dramatic improvements in infant and maternal survival rates. In Finland, one country in which contraception is inculcated in the culture, 75% of women use birth control. In Finland, the life time risk of a mother dying in childbirth is 1 in 8,200 and 4 our of 1,000 Finnish infants do not make it to their first birthday. Compare this to Niger where 4 % of women use birth control. In that African country, 1 in 7 mothers die in childbirth, and 156 of 1,000 infants die before reaching age one.

Somehow I think there might be some other differences in those countries that are influencing those mortality rates.

2) She also brings up those wanting to spread information about how condoms don't protect against HPV (by requiring labels that state that fact), labels them the "anti-condom brigade," and dismisses their arguments because while "The HPV virus is common and worrisome...it is usually harmless. Most often, the human body defends itself from HPV and it disappears with no ill effects." Plus those strains that do cause problems can "usually be treated". She goes on to say that "just having one of those strains doesn't mean you'll get cervical cancer" and "cervical cancer in relatively rare" and "is actually on the decline in the United States" and is "highly preventable if detected early, which is what a Pap smear does". Interestingly, this book was written while the vaccine was still in trial periods so it is only briefly mentioned later in the book with the statement that it has the potential to be the "biggest vaccine ever." So is HPV a problem so big that it's vaccine's effect would surpass that of the smallpox or polio vaccines or is it a relatively insignificant problem that we needn't bother about? At the time, Page couldn't seem to make up her mind, although I'm pretty sure she wouldn't so vehemently dismiss HPV if the book was written today. I can't even go to the doctor without being offered a disposable MP3 player that will tell me all the dangers of the HPV virus and the benefits of the vaccine. Perhaps when talking about movements manipulating science, she should take the plank out of her own eye.