Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Mid-week re-blog because it is important- Pro Choice Should NOT Mean Ableist

The very talented Elsa from Feminist Sonar went on a bit of a rant on people using disability as reasoning for being pro-choice and what ableist bullshit that is.

From the article:

"For the last two weeks I’ve been following all of the debates in MULTIPLE states as the country begins to restrict the right of a woman to make choices about her own body.

My voice has not been heard.

Representative Thompson said that children of incest are “retarded” and that they are “deformed”.

Hey, pro-choice brethren? THE ABLEIST RHETORIC HAS TO STOP.

The rhetoric that abortion is for getting rid of disabled lives, has to STOP.

The use of the words “retarded” “deformed” “broken” have to stop.

The USE OF DISABLED LIVES WITHOUT DISABLED VOICES HAS TO STOP."

It's a short and very worthwhile read, and you can find the rest of it at feminist sonar which is an awesome blog and I highly recommend. She (and the guest writers) are talented and smart and seriously go blog binge. I know that is a thing you guys do.

I am also not posting this to open up a discussion about pro-choice vs pro-life, simply pointing out a problematic and appropriative aspect that is getting used in the rhetoric and not being called out enough. A disability is not a death sentence, and disabled people are still just that- people. I would request that commenters stick to discussion of ableism and appropriation please.