Ajdin's Cultural Analysis

In America abortion is a controversial issue because there are differing views on the topic. There are the “pro-life” people, the people who are against abortion, and the “pro-choice” people, the ones who are for abortion. In recent years abortion has made it to the mainstream media; for instance, a movie like Juno (a teenage girl gets pregnant and doesn’t know if she wants to keep the baby or have an abortion) and shows like 16 and Pregnant on MTV. Also, there are many bloggers out there who specifically write about abortion; both from pro-life and pro-choice. I found a blog by Pat Richards, a pro-choicer, titled “The Pro-Lifer Who Had an Abortion”. I found Pat Richards’s blog, The Pro-Lifer Who Had an Abortion, to be an interesting one because I learned about a woman who is against abortions, but when she was younger, she had an abortion.

If you read one of Pat Richards’s blogs you can clearly tell what side of abortion he is with, the pro-choice. He is a pro-choicer and is willing to defend his beliefs no matter what. Of course Pat believes that abortion is not murder, and he tries to persuade anyone who reads his blogs the same. So, when he found a thread about a pro-lifer who had an abortion, on Abortion.com’s Facebook page he had to expose it; this would give him and all pro-choicers more credibility because it shows how a pro-lifer CHOSE to have an abortion.

The Pro-Lifer Who Had an Abortion is one of Pat’s blogs about abortion. Pat starts off the blog by stating that he goes on Abortion.com’s Facebook page to read the interesting conversations between the pro-life and pro-choice people. He introduces us to a woman from Florida who is a pro-lifer; he describes her as very reasonable, calm, and smart based on her other comments/posts (Richards, 2010). Then he tells us about a comment left by this Florida woman “quietly” admitting to having an abortion when she was younger. Also, that the Florida woman went on to say that woman should not have access to the abortion procedure. The Florida woman wants to deny other woman the procedure that she took advantage of when she was younger. Her beliefs would affect many young women out there who are pregnant and thinking about having an abortion. This Florida woman is not only deny young pregnant woman the abortion procedure, she is also deny them their constitutional right to choose; something that she took advantage of when she was younger.

In America, women have had the right to choose if they wanted to have an abortion since it was made legal by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973. The blog, The Pro-Lifer Who Had an Abortion by Pat Richards, shows us that people can change their beliefs and that is okay, but what is not okay is denying others their constitutional rights. Another thing I believe this blog shows is how Americans still have not came to a clear consensus about abortion and most likely never will.






Work Cited
Richards, Pat. "The Pro-Lifer Who Had an Abortion." Abortion & Reproductive Rights Advocate. N.p., 07 Apr 2010. Web. 7 Apr 2010. .