Planned Parenthood Moving Away From "Choice"

[Redfairen]

"I'm neither pro-choice nor pro-life," said one woman in a focus group commissioned by Planned Parenthood. "I'm pro-whatever-the-situation is." Said another, "there should be three: pro-life, pro-choice and something in the middle that helps people understand circumstances [...] It's not just back or white, there's grey." A recent research push by the organization found that large numbers of Americans feel this way — uncomfortable with both the pro-life and pro-choice labels. And so Planned Parenthood's newest messaging will be moving away from the language of choice.

Polling conducted on Planned Parenthood's behalf appears to show some dissatisfaction with the labels. In one 2012 poll, 35% of voters who identified as pro-life also believed Roe v. Wade should not be overturned (7% of pro-choice voters, meanwhile, thought it should be). And in an online survey of recent voters, 12% said they were both pro-life and pro-choice, and another 12% said they wouldn't use those terms. When asked for their moral opinions on abortion, 40% of those voters said "it depends on the situation" — far more than called the procedure either acceptable or unacceptable.

"It's a complicated topic and one in which labels don't reflect the complexity," said Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards at a press briefing Wednesday. But, she said, the group's polling showed most Americans could get behind a more nuanced statement of principles: "It is important that women make their own decisions about pregnancy, and that politicians do not."

Planned Parenthood Executive Vice President Dawn Laguens said the word "choice" itself might be causing problems. "When 'choice' got assigned," she explained, "women didn't have as many choices" in any area of their lives. Now that women have more rights and freedoms, she said, maybe "'choice' as word sounds frivolous."

http://www.buzzfeed.com/annanorth/planned-parenthood-moving-away-from-choice

[Squinch]

1. If your personal view of abortion depends on the situation, that is the definition of pro-choice.

[Iris]

3. Yes- that's how I see this as well.

[silverweb]

5. That's my reaction, too.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]Richards saying that "choice" sounds "frivolous" makes little sense to me, but I guess it makes sense to others.

What other word besides "choice" is better suited to define a woman's rights?

[Squinch]

8. Maybe "options?" "alternatives?" "determination?"

[silverweb]

10. They don't sound as good.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]"Pro choice" has a pithy ring to it. "Pro options," "pro alternatives," and "pro determination" just don't sound as good, don't capture the imagination in the same way.

I don't think "pro choice" sounds "frivolous" at all, but that's just me. I'm just having a hard time coming up with a replacement line that has the same effect.

[Iris]

2. Risky but ultimately more honest.

At least that's my reaction upon first reading this.

[forestpath]

4. This makes me VERY uncomfortable...the "situation"?!?! WTF does that mean?

The "situation" is irrelevant. Either a woman has the right to control her own body, or she doesn't.

[crazylikafox]

16. +1000

[southernyankeebelle]

6. I am so sick of this Pro-Life or Pro-Choice. EVERYBODY is PRO-CHOICE.

You have a right to choose to have a baby or you have a right to choose to have an abortion. But no matter what it is a CHOICE. Everyone is pro-life. I dare find one person who isn't. I wish people would correct this when they start saying that. Well now I am finished making my beef.

[left coaster]

7. Moving away from "choice" and further to the right.

What the fucking hell is frivolous about CHOICE????

Honest to God, America will be Atwood's Handmaid's Tale before you know it.

[marybourg]

9. But who is going to be the one to decide whether any

particular woman's "situation" call for an abortion or not?

[Zoeisright]

12. See below.

[Zoeisright]

11. How about it's none of your fucking business?

That should be their motto. It's no one's fucking business except the woman involved.

[SunSeeker]

13. Well, then how about "pro-woman"?

Either we trust women to control their bodies or we don't. Denying women access to safe, legal abortion is anti-woman.

[greymattermom]

14. perfect

This move should also change "pro-life" to
"pro-government"

[CTyankee]

15. I thought of that and also "pro woman's decision." Followed by a statement like:

"women are moral agents and can make these personal decisions based on their own individual situations" or some gloss that explains that it is not "frivolous" for women to be the sole decider, it is utimately the only MORAL decision...

[SunSeeker]

17. Works for me!