Abstract

PIP: The article attempts to approach the abortion issue in a rather unconventional manner. Instead of picking a side and then trying to support it, the author demonstrates first how most people in the US are fence sitters on the issue of abortion. They support neither side with very much intensity, although most of them are currently facing the pro-abortion side. From there the author argues that the activists on both side are so extreme in their views that they both lose their legitimacy. The anti-abortionists do not seem interested in improving the quality of life for anyone other than unborn fetuses and as such they do not really seem to be "pro-life". On the other hand, pro-abortionists focus too much on the autonomy of women and seem to ignore the fact that an abortion is the ending of a potential human life. They do not put the value of the fetus into their "pro-choice" views, it is only a choice for a woman to make about her body, not a choice of one person's right over the rights of a potential person. It is this fundamental extremism that the author cites as the source of the furor over abortion. If both sides were more tolerant of each and chose sides. It is this fundamental extremism that must be replaced with persuasion if either side is to truly achieve a victory. The author's personal belief is that abortion on demand must be ended in this country.