A Book Review

How the Pro-Choice Movement Saved America - Freedom, Politics and the War on Sex by Cristina Page

“Devastating. This book exposes the anti-woman, anti-family, anti-American, and anti-democratic goals of the far right’s true agenda.” - Roseanne Barr

With glowing reviews from such intellectual giants as Roseanne Barr, how could I not spent a paltry $11.70 to enlighten myself?

The Glorious Straw Man

Cristina Page is not an intellectual. I bought the book without much research, hoping to find intellectually supported arguments in support of abortion rights. To say that I was disappointed would be an understatement. Disgust at the mockery she makes of all the intelligent pro-abortion and anti-abortion debates, in the name of insipid propaganda.

“the pro-life movement is really no longer the the anti-abortion movement, if it ever was. Its agenda lately has become much broader, and to the average American it would appear much more sinister. In recent years it has turned itself into the anti-birth control movement, the anti-sex movement and indeed the anti-family movement.” - From the Preface, page xi.

“Pro-lifers tend to believe, whether they say it out loud or not, that sex should be for the sole purpose of producing a baby.” -
From the Preface, page xii.

“Women should stay home to raise children. This is a bedrock pro-life ideal.” - From the Preface, page xiii.

“To be pro-life means to favor abstinence until marriage, in part because they believe that sex is supposed to serve one purpose only: to procreate.” - Chapter One, Page 3.

If any of these statements were true, indeed the abortion issue would be a non-issue for philosophy majors and intellectuals everywhere. Indeed, no university in America knows of a major movement to stop sex-for-pleasure between consenting adults.

Cristina Page has impishly attempted to use a straw man argument to frame the abortion debate as one of sexual freedom vs government regulated sex.

The Questions and the Dishonest Answers

1. Does the Conservative disinclination to provided taxpayer funding for contraception amount to an anti-contraceptive stance?

Cristina Page thinks it does. Using this logic, if we refuse to fund iPods for everybody, we must hate and despise iPods and want them banned from the face of the earth.

Cristina Page’s limited intellectual capacity prevents her from considering the possibility that we do enjoy sex with condoms, outside of marriage and in marriage, and on the pill, for the sole purpose of enjoying the physical act of sex. And at the same time we do not believe in social programs which force one person to buy another person contraceptives. And contraceptives are beside the point; it’s the principle of one person being forced to buy something for another.

“Well if you’re really against abortion”, Cristina is bound to say, “you should support legislation that forces taxpayers to buy contraceptives for others.”

Availability of pornography reduces rape, but I am not about to force anybody to buy porn for me for anybody else. That doesn’t mean I am pro-rape, it just means I have a modicum of respect for individual liberty; specifically the liberty to not be forced into buying porn for others. And just for the record, I have nothing against pornography.

Likewise, availability of electric cars would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but by the insane logic of Cristina Page my refusal to force taxpayers to buy electric cars for their neighbors makes me a promoter of greenhouse gases.

2. Are pro-lifers anti-sex?

According to an extremely dishonest Cristina Page, we are not only anti-sex, but we only have sex to create babies, and furthermore we somehow suppose that women should stay at home and raise children. I’m sure she also assumes that we run around the cave clad in beaver skins with a wooden club in hand.

For the record, most pro-lifers use contraceptives. We do so intentionally. Never, in my life, have I slipped and fallen into a box of condoms. So, obviously, the suggestion that we view sex as a way to procreate and nothing more, is a bit beyond dishonest.

After reading the nonsense that Cristina Page calls a book, I did an conducted an informal interview. Of all the friends I spoke to - all of them supporting a the unborn child’s right to life - not a single one considered procreation the primary purpose of sex. Intimacy was the leader, followed by physical gratification. Considering that all but one were using contraceptives or had their tubes tied, I’d have to consider their statements to be accurate reflections of their true feelings.

Of course there are some religious freaks that condemn contraceptives, but to characterize those weirdos as representative of the pro-life movement would be just about as honest as characterizing pro-abortionists in the same light as the Chinese forced abortionists.

3. Is the abortion debate an debate of sexual freedom vs regulated sexual activity?

Cristina Page would like to frame it as such. Unfortunately for her, there are hundreds of essays by honest analytical thinkers who understand that the debate is primarily centered around the woman’s right to privacy, the rights of the unborn child, and the personhood of the unborn human organism.

The vast majority of anti-abortion debaters don’t care one iota about non-abortifacient contraceptives. Neither do we care to regulate sex.

Conclusion

Cristina Page most likely wrote this book as a propaganda piece for un-educated dropouts like Roseanne Barr. She definitely did not write it for analytical thinkers. Her amateurish attempt to frame the argument as one of free sex vs religious fundamentalists is offensive and an insult to the many, many people who have addressed the issues in an intelligent manner:

A Defense of Abortion by David Boonin

A Defense of Abortion by Judith Jarvis Thomson (Pro-abortion)

Moral Status: Obligations to Persons and Other Living Things by Mary Anne Warren

If you are looking for intellectually honest arguments in favor of abortion, check out the above links. If you’re looking for a nonsensical propaganda piece by an activist with a tiny intellect and impaired honesty, check out How the Pro-Choice Movement Saved America - Freedom, Politics and the War on Sex by Cristina Page.

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This entry was posted on Monday, November 19th, 2007 at 11:00 am and is filed under Abortion, Book Review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.