Supporters of reproductive rights often meet objections with a simple comeback: If you oppose abortion, don’t have one. This response fails to address many complex disagreements around the abortion issue, but we’re all facing other issues that such simple, easy answers might help resolve.
For example: You don’t enjoy watching gay athletes? Change the channel. Don’t like gay bars? Don’t go to them. Find the thought of gay sex distressing? Don’t think about it. Can’t imagine how a man could fall in love with a man, or a woman with a woman? Stop trying to imagine it.
Instead, try imagining how you’d feel if the person you’ve always known yourself to be was never truly seen by other people. Imagine if even your family and friends consistently treated you like someone you’re not, as if they’d rather you were someone else.
Or imagine knowing your child needs essential medical care, but the law says that you, the parent, have no right to obtain for your child this fully approved, possibly life-saving treatment. How would you feel?
