Pro-Gaian - Not "Pro-Life"

February is Global Population Speak Out Month, and I made a pledge to do some writing about population this month. I had hoped to write a major piece on Malthus, Marx, the fallacy of economic growth and the primacy of women's rights in solving the overpopulation problem, but I did not get around to that. Instead I have been commenting on other people's articles. Here is a comment on this AlterNet story:

Why Are Even Smart, Liberal Men Freaked Out by Abortion?
By Anonymous, AlterNet. Posted February 20, 2009.

Even die-hard liberals who would wax on about a woman's right to choose were uncomfortable when presented with a woman who chose.

Here's my comment:
a pro-Gaian ethic could help us talk about abortion
Posted by: Kelpie on Feb 21, 2009 12:27 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]

I fully understand why anonymous wants to hide her identity. We live in a patriarchal world and because of that imbalance of power, women who thwart patriarchal values are vulnerable to retaliation. Patriarchal values are fixated on taking the natural power of reproduction away from women and putting it in the hands of men. Shame is the most powerful weapon patriarchal forces have, and inhibiting frank and honest discussion of abortion is an effective method of reinforcing the shame message. So I applaud anonymous for speaking out about her experience. It helps to dispel the shame message.

Why is shame so effective? It's effective because women know that with their reproductive power comes an awesome responsibility. Every woman wants to know that she has made good decisions about whether and how to reproduce and care for her family. As part of the larger society, women need to be responsive to the welfare of the group. So when she gets a heavy shaming message about ending a life, it's hard to sort that out. It's equally hard for men, even liberal men. The reason it is so hard is because there is not a widespread countervailing ethic to the so-called "pro-life" ethic.

However, in my research I have discovered an ancient ethic around abortion that I call the "pro-Gaian" ethic. This is a pro-life ethic but it is based on the welfare of the whole planet. Within this ethical system, a woman may decide to abort an embryo because she is not ready to take on the task of motherhood. Her decision is further validated by the needs of the ecosphere - the collectivity of life on planet earth. The ecosphere is increasingly threatened by human overpopulation. If humanity is going to survive, we must stop population growth. Let's do it in the most humane way possible. Let's avoid war, disease and starvation and instead concentrate on ensuring that all children are wanted children. This simple principle would avoid half or more of births every year which are adding 80 million more people to the planet annually. From this point of view, bringing an unwanted human life to term is an assault on the planet.

Anonymous says that the one thing she most needs is a way to talk about abortion, to get past the shaming stigma of it. I suggest that she consider the pro-Gaian ethic. I have put a compendium of stories, myths and images supporting the pro-Gaian ethic on a website - www.earthislandangels.com. Check it out!