Poll: Pro-life versus anti-choice which term do you prefer? (as description for certain people)

[noname223]

I think the terms are synonymous. But have different connotations.

When we say we hate pro-life people this sounds like we were anti-life equivalent to pro-death. I think this is why I prefer the term anti-choice. And I have the feeling some people on here use the lable pro-life as a weapon in debates and it more and more becomes a strawman or clichee for all the things some people don't like. But that's only my opinion/gut-feeling.

However, I think depending on the context I prefer to use the term pro-life in contrast to anti-choice. For example when there are people who worship life in the sense that they think no matter how much a person suffers it is impossible that a suicide can be rational. And for people who are still able to differentiate between opinions and facts maybe anti-choice is more appropriate.

But I am really not sure. But for people who are very extreme and go the described route (emphasizing on the value of life over human dignity in an extreme magnitude) I sometimes feel more comfortable to call them pro-life. I have not thought it through though.

If you want to express your reasoning please feel free to share it. Or if you think other terms are preferable.

The term should describe the people who want to shut down this forum, want to block assisted suicide under all circumstances, people who think suicide cannot be under no circumstances rational etc.

I go with anti-choice.

 

[derpyderpins]

I'm never a fan of "othering" a group of people through such terminology. Calling someone "anti-[good thing]" is just labeling them an enemy not to be reasoned with. If I had to create a label I would say "Life-prioritizing" or something like that, as much as I disagree with them. (But there are people on here who I think would take the label of "pro-death" with honor). Pro-life, anti-choice, whatever you want to call them, they (mostly) don't hate you; they don't want to cause you suffering; they don't like that you can't escape pain; they're just ignorant, clouded with illogical ideals, and potentially bad at empathizing. They think they're doing right in a difficult situation.

 

[Alexei_Kirillov]

For me they refer to two different groups of people. There's massive overlap between the two groups--most pro-lifers are also anti-choicers and vice versa--but I think it's possible to be one without being the other. For example, an anti-choicer could base their position not on life being inherently valuable, but on the "obligation" of a child to their parent. Or you could have a pro-lifer, who believes in the preciousness of life and sees its continuation as a priority, but who is in favour of MAID in certain limited circumstances.

 

[derpyderpins]

For example, an anti-choicer could base their position not on life being inherently valuable, but on the "obligation" of a child to their parent. Or you could have a pro-lifer, who believes in the preciousness of life and sees its continuation as a priority, but who is in favour of MAID in certain limited circumstances.

Very nice illustration of the nuance.

 

[Hvergelmir]

I tend to interpret terms literally, and use as accurate terms as I can:
Pro-life: For life. (I'd avoid this on SaSu, knowing the common interpretations and associations)
Anti-choice: Against choice.

I'd use "anti-suicide" to specifically refer to those who are against suicide.

 

[Alexei_Kirillov]

I'm never a fan of "othering" a group of people through such terminology. Calling someone "anti-[good thing]" is just labeling them an enemy not to be reasoned with. If I had to create a label I would say "Life-prioritizing" or something like that, as much as I disagree with them. (But there are people on here who I think would take the label of "pro-death" with honor). Pro-life, anti-choice, whatever you want to call them, they (mostly) don't hate you; they don't want to cause you suffering; they don't like that you can't escape pain; they're just ignorant, clouded with illogical ideals, and potentially bad at empathizing. They think they're doing right in a difficult situation.

The whole "othering" thing was something I was very wary of when I first started browsing SaSu. For a long time I resisted using the term pro-life, even in my thoughts, because I didn't want to create an "us vs them" dichotomy in my head when I was already so full of resentment towards my society for making suicide as difficult as it is. I also wanted to not lose sight of the fact that even among this "group," there was a wide array of opinions, and additionally, as you pointed out, most of the time it's not coming from malice but from ignorance.

Maybe you've also noticed this with yourself, but it has been interesting--or maybe sad--to watch this initial resistance slowly chip away over time. Nowadays I use the term "pro-lifer" regularly in my head and have made several posts decrying their tactics and the general state of a society dominated by pro-lifers. I don't know if this shift was just due to laziness--it's a very useful shorthand and I don't want to have to qualify the term every single time I use it--or whether it had more to do with having direct negative experiences with a system that could fall under that umbrella (namely a psych ward stay).

I suppose this change isn't necessarily a "good" or "bad" thing, so long as I'm still able to detach from the label...Anyway I don't know where I'm going with this, just thought it was an interesting observation.

 

[Havnis]

I'm never a fan of "othering" a group of people through such terminology. Calling someone "anti-[good thing]" is just labeling them an enemy not to be reasoned with. If I had to create a label I would say "Life-prioritizing" or something like that, as much as I disagree with them. (But there are people on here who I think would take the label of "pro-death" with honor). Pro-life, anti-choice, whatever you want to call them, they (mostly) don't hate you; they don't want to cause you suffering; they don't like that you can't escape pain; they're just ignorant, clouded with illogical ideals, and potentially bad at empathizing. They think they're doing right in a difficult situation.

The good thing is subjective, there are literally people who are against choice and considered nowadays heroes, and there are also anti-humanists who are inherently against any conventional humanist assumption.

 

[locked*n*loaded]

Anti-choice for sure. That's what they are.

 

[Covert]

Anti-choice tells it more like it is. They want to restrict the freedom of people to decide over their own lives.

 

[Actovania]

Both terms show the opinion of the user, just say Pro-Abortion or Anti-Abortion. But I would prefer Anti-Choice since that's fundamentally what it is