Hi Amy! I'm a white male with a question about abortion. I'm not really sure where I stand on this issue. Both sides seem to have valid agruments about this. After speaking to several feminists about this issue though, it seems that the issue isn't really abortion, but the right of a woman to control her body as she sees fit. This does trouble me, because there are significant implications to this logic. If a person has total control over their own body then the following should apply:

1. Prostitution should be legal. Two consenting adults doing their own thing. Shouldn't they have control over their own bodies? They're not hurting anyone.
2. Drugs should be legal. Again, people using their bodies as they see fit.
3. Suicide should be legal. Shouldn't a person have the right to terminate their own body?

The above three statements represent a few implications of allowing a person to have total control over their own body. What do you think about this?

Thank you for your note to FEMINIST.COM and you are right that the real issue isn't abortion. (Ever wonder why the same people who are anti-choice are pro-death penalty?) The issue is about women having decision making power--including decision making power over their own bodies. The large issue is that every person should have access to enough information to make informed choices about our lives. As it stands, even when we have the freedom to choose, we don't often have enough information to make informed choices. I think the latter is what happens with Prostitution--if women had better choices and more information about what they can do, as many women wouldn't choose prostitution. Likewise, some women would choose it rather than resorting to it, because their decision would be based on accurate and truthful information. As for suicide--you can choose to do that--and I can't stop you. And as for drugs.....which could be legal if we had enough information about them to make informed choices about whether or not to take them. However, lack of information about drugs, their effects, etc.... mean that we can't legalize them--sorry. I hope this helps
—Amy