The Expression "Pro-Abortion"

Two days ago, a commenter named truthspeaker wrote a new comment to an article that I published in this blog two years ago. The comment ended with these sentences:

I ... have to comment on the continuous commenting on Dirty Dancing being a "pro-abortion" movie??!? Seriously? Come on!

All players in the film were against the abortion but the character had to work to survive, so she made the hard choice. It's clear no one wanted it.

So drop that commentary and realize that this was a movie about financially poor but talented people vs. rich elites who don't care. It's about class, not abortion.

Think more deeply and realize this was a great classic film about real life.

For many years -- long before I began writing this blog -- I have used the expressions pro-choice and pro-life when discussing the two main sides of the abortion debate. It is politically civil to call political movements by the names that they call themselves.

I made exceptions to that civility rule when I have written the expression pro-abortion in my blog. Now that truthspeaker has challenged me about the expression pro-abortion and now that I have thought about my exceptions some more, I have decided to change the following two passages in my blog.

The Whittle Family of Morgan County, Missouri (July 28, 2017)
An interesting movie -- an anti-abortion movie a pro-life movie -- could be made about the life of Bonnie Kay Whittle and her affair with Patrick Swayze, who became world-famous for making a pro-abortion movie a pro-choice movie.

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No More News About Jason Whittle (August 31, 2017)
There is an ironic contrast between Patrick's becoming famous because of the pro-abortion pro-choice movie Dirty Dancing and Jason's living to become wealthy (and I hope happy) because he himself was not aborted.

As far as I can determine with Google searches, those were the only two passages where I used the expression pro-abortion in my blog.

I am happy that I made those improvements, because I do recognize that my pro-choice readers might feel offended by my implication that they perceive abortion itself is a simply positive act. As truthspeaker wrote, an abortion often is "a hard choice".

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Now I challenge truthspeaker to "think more deeply".

All players in the film were against the abortion ... It's clear no one wanted it.

Seriously? Come on!

Penny was against her abortion?

Billy was against Penny's abortion?

Johnny was against Penny's abortion?

Baby was against Penny's abortion?

Robbie was against Penny's abortion?

I invite truthspeaker to write an article -- which I will publish in my blog -- providing her evidence from the movie that any of those characters were against the abortion and did not want the abortion to happen.

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Now I will address truthspeaker's subsequent sentences.

So drop that commentary [about the "pro-abortion" movie] and realize that this was a movie about financially poor but talented people vs. rich elites who don't care. It's about class, not abortion.

In my blog article titled My Sociological Criticism of Dirty Dancing, I summarized my main analysis of the movie with these words:

The established, professional and prosperous Houseman family interacts with some struggling artists.

However, I never would say that the movie is "not about abortion". The screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein has said that that when Ronald Reagan became the US President in 1981, she was afraid that he would fill future Supreme Court vacancies with justices who might reverse the 1973 Roe vs. Wade ruling, which struck down all the states' laws prohibiting abortion. Part of Bergstein's purpose in writing her screenplay during the first years of the Reagan Presidency was to warn the public about consequences of such laws. I think that Bergstein set her story in 1963 because that year was one decade before the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling.

In other words, Bergstein intended her movie to affect significantly public opinion about abortion laws.

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I tell my own opinion about the abortion issue in my blog article Pro-Lifers Can Appreciate Dirty Dancing.

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I do appreciate truthspeaker's thoughtful comment. I agree with some of it, and I disagree respectfully with some of it.