Monday, March 24, 2008

The Abortion Conversation Project

When I read that this organization was founded in 2000 by the National Coalition of Abortion Providers, I thought, Hmmm. How much of a conversation can this site really spark with the pro-life folks?

But then I read this on the "Starting the Conversation" portion of the site:


3. "WHAT ARE YOU SAYING AND HOW ARE YOU SAYING IT?"
Is our own language polarizing and judgmental? Are we demonizing the anti-abortion side at the expense of understanding the issue? Are our words "battle bound" and warlike? For example: "Our side is under attack and we have to fight back." "Those anti's are crazy." The "abortion war" has impacted us all and keeps us in an us/them conflict-driven mode which obscures what abortion is really about. Taking responsibility for our own language is a first step to self-awareness on this issue.


I thought that was quite generous. And it really goes to the heart of what I wanted to accomplish with this site--getting away from language that gets people's backs up.

Here's another quote from the site that I liked. You can find the entire story here:


I've been particularly frustrated with the image of abortion providers in the past 10 years. We have been depicted as money-hungry, unethical, and murderous outcasts in the world of medicine. How could we expect the public to know who we really are when our antagonists the anti-abortion folks--were the only ones talking about us? The wrong people have been telling our story for too many years. And, because of very real security issues, most abortion providers have avoided high-profile situations in their communities. Ultimately the only people telling our stories were the people who disagree with us--or worse, actually hate us. I decided that part of my job is to speak up and speak out about our work in this honorable profession.


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On another note, if you're looking for funding for an abortion, look here.

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