Is Pro-choice Opposite of Pro-life?

Seems like a lot of people think these two are opposites.  We used to see them that way, BUT we got to thinking about it (using a little critical thinking), and we came up with a different conclusion.   Now, while they clearly represent opposing groups, we don't seem them as exact opposites.

So we decided to share our analysis.

Opposites:

The actual opposite of choice is no choice, and the actual opposite of life is death.  So the actual opposite of pro-choice is anti-choice.  And since pro-choice means anti-abortion, the opposite of pro-choice would be pro-abortion.

To clarify this, here is a diagram:

	Pro-choice        Anti-choice
	Can choose to have an abortion (pro-abortion)	Can choose not to have an abortion (anti-abortion)		Must have abortion (pro-abortion)	Must not have abortion (anti-abortion, aka pro-life)

Understanding the Pro-choice position:

While the pro-choice folks appear to understand the pro-life position, it is NOT clear the the pro-life folks understand the pro-choice position.  They see abortion as some sort of murder, and can't identify with the pro-choice stand.  While we are not trying to change anyone's mind, we do feel that understanding what is actually the opposite of anti-abortion can make the pro-choice position more understandable, whether or not one agrees with it. 

For those in the "must not have an abortion" (anti-abortion/pro-life) position to understand why, they have to consider the opposite of their position, which is NOT pro-choice but is "must have an abortion."  In other words, if you prohibit a choice between two things, you can do so by prohibiting either, or both of the choices.

Forced Abortion: To grasp this fully, instead of federal legislation prohibiting abortion, imagine federal legislation requiring women, for one reason or another (e.g, in order to provide population control and they've already had two children), to have an abortion.  How would a pro-life advocate feel should her choice not to have an abortion be eliminated this way?

Forced sterilization: As bad, or worse, would be requiring women to be sterilized, something has happened.  Of course, this would be a form of birth control that would eliminate the need to make a choice between having a baby, or having an abortion.

Birth control: For the pro-choice but anti-abortion folks, this is like temporary sterilization, thereby avoiding the issue of abortion all together, as well as any sort of forced sterilization.

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