I would love to hear your stories of switching sides or when you convinced someone else to.
I come from a country where abortions are very common. It's not a thing to be discussed casually, sure, but it's only because the matter is cut and dried already. Women get abortions and if they care enough, they go to a pagoda and pray for the liberation of the souls they abort. They may consider doing a few good deeds in the future to make amends too. That's how karma works in the East unfortunately.
In primary school, I had a friend and she told me her mom was pregnant. We started talking about the gender of the fetus and she wished it would be a girl as she had a younger brother already. I wished her luck. I told my mom about it a week or two after but to my surprise(?) she said the friend's mother had had an abortion. I felt a bit upset that my friend wouldn't have a female sibling too like she wanted. But that's about it, no biggie.
In fifth grade I was punching my stomach religiously because I was in chronic fear of getting pregnant. They say ignorance is bliss, clearly not my case. I thought talking to boys was enough to make me pregnant. I was certain I didn't want a kid so whatever was growing inside me had to die, and die fast. I didn't care if there was in fact nothing there, better safe than sorry you know.
As you can see, abortions to me growing up were just something that happened. If the presence of something is unwanted, it'll get removed. Simple as that. No one ever questioned the ethnicity of abortions, and naturally I didn't either. That changed when I stumbled upon a Christian post discussing them. It dawned on me that such practice couldn't be morally permissible. I was given a chance to take a step back, a chance to question something I’d been taking for granted my entire life, and what came out of that was my opposition to abortions to this very day.
However, I also understand that my position on this matter stemmed solely from 11 y/o me’s emotions, at least initially. So I felt the need to embark on a journey to justify my position intellectually. But does it really count if I did so with an already established opinion? Why would anyone take a bus just to see if that bus actually arrives at its destined destination? I would, and I did. Let me just tell you that the ride seems to be on the right track so far. But who knows? Perhaps it’s a shortcut.
I like to think pro choicers are just like me as a kid, but they clearly think too and perhaps it’s me that never grows up. Everyone makes up their mind young. Everyone bases their opinions on emotions. Everyone works to make peace with themselves and their sentiments. Everyone wants to be right and hates to be proved wrong. Everyone gets terrified when their moral framework gets challenged. I can’t imagine myself having a change of heart on certain matters. Can I ever be changed? Can I ever let myself be? If I can’t then how can I possibly change other people’s mind?
I can imagine, though, a future where I fail to defend my position and have to let my opponents have it their way while I spend the rest of my days dreaming of oblivion. I should know that’s what many people will feel too if I manage to force my opinions on them. But why does the truth leave so many in anguish? Why does the truth pain and make people bitter? The closest thing I’ve got to changing people’s mind was to make them say they’d reflect on their position. I don’t think I’ll ever say that.
Point is, although I’ve seen many people talking about going from PC to PL (or vice versa?), I don’t think they were emotionally and intellectually invested in their opinions like other pro choicers or me currently and therefore their transitions weren’t too painful or difficult. Is it really possible to win people over with mere debates? Can I really harbour hope and entertain myself? I would love to hear your stories of switching sides or when you convinced someone else to.
Apologize in advance for all the weird wordings on my end.