Recently, governmental leaks of Roe Vs. Wade revealed that it could potentially be considered unconstitutional by the constitution. This sparked a flurry of debates on Twitter, most of which were decrying the decision as a serious act of misogyny.

However, this made me realize something. Many people conside abortion purely a men vs women argument but is that really true? I believe not and seeing the argument in this way is in fact quite sexist.

First, seeing the argument in this way seems to assume that women are a monolith and all have the same pro-choce opinion on abortion. In reality, this is not true. Women do not all think the same way and I personally know quite a few who support abortion. This also assumes that all men think the same way when there were also a number of them decrying the decision on Twitter as well. I feel it is quite sexist to merely assume that all women and all men think the exact same way on a topic as controversial as this. Doing thus generalizes people and assumes that their gender is the key factor in how they act morally.

This assumption has led to much vitriol on both sides of an already controversial topic. In reality, the key point seems to be at what point is a fetus alive? Pro-choice generally don’t feel a fetus is really alive with thoughts and feelings until it is born while pro-life sees the festus as alive from the moment it forms in a women’s womb. This fundamental difference in opinions is one that hasn’t been proved either way by science and as such has led to heated debates on both sides.

Really, this issue will never be resolved if both sides continue to be hostile and angry at each other. It is true that both sides have bad people and these people tend to be the loudest. Pro-life does have people who believe that abortion shoudl never be considered, even in a medical emergency where both the mother and child would die. However, pro-choice has people who outfright cleberate abortion in a far too cheerful manner instead of treating it as a serious descion. If both sides merely took a moment to listen instead of screaming at each other, perhaps some kind of compromise can be reached.

I firmly believe that this is an argument that needs to be resolved by both sides listening to each other’s arguments instead of insulting each other. Doing this will not allow someone to see your point of view and instead they’ll just disagree with you! It is important to remember that neither side is pure evil, they’re just people. They are ordinary people who can be swayed by kind words and a good argument just like anyone else. The best way to talk about this issue is with an open hand instead of a closed fist.