Today's rant inspired by [livejournal.com profile] maladaptive's most recent post.

I've noticed a disturbing trend in the pro-life movement -- more disturbing than the desire to control our uteruses, I mean. (What IS the plural for uterus, anyway? Uterii? Uterae? Uteres?) They've apparently decided to compare abortion to the Holocaust - I've even heard it called the "American Holocaust". I've seen that phrase on T-shirts, along with the predictable "Abortion is Murder" and the like.

The problem with this analogy is that -- now, bear with me people, and try not to faint from the shock -- abortion and the Holocaust are not even remotely the same thing. Abortion consists of a doctor removing an unwanted life form from a woman who could have any number of varying reasons to not want to be pregnant, and I can guarantee you most of them aren't having abortions because they hate children and want them all to die. The Holocaust, on the other hand, was caused by a sick, twisted individual who had an irrational hatred of anyone who didn't fit his idea of the perfect human, and consisted of over eleven million people being killed in death camps through various horrifying means. The survivors were in pretty bad shape themselves, and some of them didn't live too long after they were liberated. Call me crazy, but I'm not seeing the parallels here.

If there are any Jewish people on my f-list (or just reading this entry, that would be great plzkthxbai), what are your opinions on this? I'm guessing I'm not ever going to get the opinion of an actual Holocaust survivor, but an actual Jewish person's perspective would be appreciated. I mean, just because I'd assume that a comparison between a horrific act of violence and hatred toward a group of people and a controversial arguement between what is and is not considered murder would offend me if I belonged to the former group, that doesn't mean that it holds true for anyone in that group, right?

Also, this is not supposed to be an abortion debate in the typical sense. I'm not getting into whether it's right or wrong, just whether it's right or wrong to use this kind of analogy.
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From: [identity profile] kay-willow.livejournal.com


Speaking as a Jew: what the fuck is wrong with them.

When I was an undergrad at a very high-population public school, once a year there would be a period of three days or so where this battle would come rawr to the front. The anti-abortionists would set up signs and posters and tables over about sixty square feet right in the doorway of the campus center, so that every time you went to get lunch you had to first navigate their propaganda with pictures of grotesque fetuses proclaiming "This could have been your underclassman" -- or pictures from the Holocaust, gas chambers, mass graves -- comparing it to abortion.

Bull. shit.

You can't just say that "one thing that offends me = every other thing that offends me". It's great if you think that abortion is a crime against humanity, but no, it's NOT the same as genocide in World War II or civil war in Nigeria. Not until Clinton starts having pregnant woman rounded up into camps and has unborn children pulled from them en masse while they kick and scream, kk.

From: [identity profile] thesaneminority.livejournal.com


Oh my god, THANK YOU. I was wondering if I was just being an uber-sensitive idiot or something.

I mean, seriously. It's like me comparing occasionally being considered a racist because I'm a white girl to Jim Crow laws or something. THEY ARE NOT THE SAME THING.

Also disturbing is the fact that the pamphlet that originally sparked this inner "OMGwhatthehellisthematterwiththosefuckers" debate was handed to my friend by a ten year old child. Why is a ten year old out of school in the middle of a weekday, and more importantly, why are you filling his head head hateful, hypocritical vitriol, people?!
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