“Pro-Choice” and “Pro-Life” labels limit reasonable discussion about abortion

Abortion is clearly a hot-button issue. We all understand how difficult it is to have reasonable discourse about the topic because it is so emotionally charged. Despite the risk of a shouting match, rational discussion about abortion is important because it is an issue that raises serious questions about ethics, constitutional law and religion.
When participating in this discussion we should be careful about how we characterize our arguments. In particular, pro-choice and pro-life labels are obstacles to reasonable discussion about abortion because they oversimplify complicated viewpoints and act as inflammatory rhetoric.
The truth is abortion is complicated and not a black and white issue. Although people describe their views as pro-choice or pro-life there are actually an infinite number of schools of thought about abortion. For example, a person may call themselves pro-life but support a woman’s right to an abortion in cases of rape or incest. Additionally, a person may call themselves pro-choice yet strongly oppose abortion during the second trimester.
In my AP US Government class in high school, we completed an exercise that illustrated the diversity of opinions on abortion. All of the students stood in a horizontal line and we were instructed to step forward each time a situation was described in which we thought an abortion was appropriate. After the teacher walked us through ten different scenarios we looked around the room to see almost every student standing a different distance from the start line. It was at that moment that I understood there are more than two ways of thinking about abortion.
Despite how easily the diversity of viewpoints on the topic can be illustrated it is often overlooked, we would rather label someone as pro-choice or pro-life than understand their nuanced views.
The convenience of these labels isn’t worth the cost. There is too much at stake to misrepresent anyone’s views. The oversimplification of stances on abortion is a key problem with pro-choice and pro-life labels.
Another issue with pro-choice and pro-life labels is the way they are used as inflammatory rhetoric. The label pro-life seems to imply that those who support abortion are murderous individuals with no regard for the value of an embryo or fetus. On the other hand, the pro-choice label has implications that people in opposition to abortion do not support women’s rights. These two labels are designed to provoke others not to promote honest and fair discussion.
The language we use when we discuss abortion is essential to the quality of the debate. Pro-choice and pro-life labels are an oversimplification of any stance on abortion and serve primarily as a means of provoking people with different views.
Abortion is not a simple issue and will be relevant for years to come. However, the discussion of abortion would be better served if the pro-choice and pro-life labels were dropped.