#it wont leave me alone

One of the fundamental problems with the pro-life/pro-choice debate is that the two sides aren’t actually opposites. They’re not on opposite sides of one issue, they’re just two different beliefs. And they’re not on the same level, either, because one of those beliefs is shared by everyone, and the other isn’t.

You’ll see pro-choice arguments that agree, for the sake of argument, that the pro-life belief is true. You won’t see pro-life arguments that agree, for the sake of argument, that the pro-choice belief is true. Because pro-life advocates don’t actually disagree with that belief in principle, in fact, they share it. The idea that people have bodily autonomy is already something we all agree on. It’s why we’ve outlawed things like slavery and assault.

Take away the pro-life belief that a fertilised egg is a full human being with full rights, and you’re out of arguments for banning abortion. Take away the pro-choice belief that everybody has the right to decide what happens to their body, and you’re out of arguments for allowing abortion, but also for banning rape, assault, enslavement, and a whole host of other awful things. Whoops.

The problem that pro-life has is that while they certainly share the underlying belief of the pro-choice stance, their own belief is not shared by everyone else. And in order to “win” the argument, they need to somehow prove and justify an exceptionto a principle that we all agree on, without getting rid of or invalidating that principle itself. And ultimately, the only way to do that is by bringing the pro-life belief into it and taking that as fact - which, since it’s a belief, you can’t. And since it’s not shared by everyone, they won’t accept it, so you’re back to square one.

Awkward.