Lake of Fire

I just watched the an excellent documentary, Lake of Fire, which is about the abortion debate. Not one side or the other, the debate writ large. Shot in black and white over a period that appears to be ten years, it runs the gammut of big whig thinkers like Noam Chomsky to certified nut-job anti-abortion assassins. There is graphic footage, the kind I simply haven't seen before any work on abortion. Yes, you see fetal remains. Yes, you see footage of the procedure. Hell, you might even learn something you didn't know before, and yeah, you'll have a few beliefs reaffirmed too.

I'm a pro-choice guy. In the end, a woman deserves autonomy over her body, and as far I'm concerned most anti-abortion arguments are scare tactics, separated only by degrees. The only thing that separates the assassin from the activist from the sacred sunday moms is the zeal.

However, I think that in order to properly educated people on what abortion is; it can't be sugar coated no more than it can be demonized. It can be a traumatic experience. It can be difficult to cope with physically, even if that is for a short time. And whether I like it or not, some people, including Ms. Roe herself, find their opinions change when presented with the matter in stark physical terms. (In Roe's case though I think her conversion has more to do with other issues that are peripherally discussed). Understanding abortion, which includes witnessing the consequences as well as the reasons for and against (both strictly physical and philosophical), should be part of a comprehensive sex-ed course, which we won't be seeing any time soon.