A Courageous Choice
In the article “On Labor” by Ta-Nahesi Coates is a compelling blog post that discusses the controversial topic of abortion rights. Coates is a correspondent at The Atlantic, where he writes about culture, politics, and social issues. I have read a few of Coates’s articles before and he is known for tackling controversial issues. Growing up in West Baltimore and dropping out of college has given him a unique perspective in his writing. Some examples of the topics he has covered include the Ray Rice scandal, Hope Solo controversy, and the Ferguson, MO protests.
Coates’s articles are often in response to articles and current events, such as the post I read discussing Coates’s view on legislation that would cut funding to woman’s health clinics that provide abortion services. The goal of his articles is to promote comments and discussion between readers about the topics he covers.
In the “On Labor” article, Coates begins by introducing the abortion legislation he will be talking about. He then writes about his wife’s pregnancy experience and his personal growth when he learned he would become a father. His tone is conversational; he jokes about his less than successful past but is serious when discussing his wife’s pregnancy complications. The reader can easily relate to Coates’s concerns and struggles as he becomes a father.
Using an anecdote for the majority of the article keeps the reader interested because he or she wants to hear how Coates will connect it back to the original topic of abortion legislation. In the end, only two paragraphs discuss his view on abortion and his reasoning. Keeping his opinion brief and the post focused on his experience invites others to comment about their own experiences and support his final argument that
“Every day women choose to do the hard labor of a difficult pregnancy. It’s courageous work, which inspires in me a degree of admiration exceeded only by my horror at the notion of the state turning that courage, that hard labor, into a mandate. Women die performing that labor in smaller numbers as we advance, but they die all the same. Men do not. That is a privilege.”
I think this method is extremely effective for promoting discussion because the writer is not just stating his opinion, he is creating credibility with his anecdote and setting up the discussion.
Additionally, I liked how in posts words were linked directly to their sources rather than having a long works cited at the end of the article. In this article specifically, linking the initial topic introduction to the New York Times “Under Banner of Fiscal Restraint, Republicans Plan New Abortion Bills” allowed me to quickly access the information I needed to understand the context of Coates’s post.
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I found Coates respectable and easy to relate to. His last two paragraphs were where I thought he really reinforced this image. He has a very interesting and rare point of view on abortion. I had never heard the pro choice argument from this perspective before.
He establishes himself as an honorable person in the last few paragraphs. He does not criticize others for their views, as we are often tempted to do when disputing controversial topics, such as abortion. He even says, “My embrace of a pro-choice stance is not built on analogizing Rick Santorum with Hitler.” He accepts that other people have varying views from himself. He simply explains his views and why he believes in them. I find his lack of animosity to be very decent. I think it is very important as a writer that your readers respect you and your opinions, even if they do not necessarily agree with them. Coates definitely earned that respect in this post.
This article was very interesting to me. For an issue that is often discussed, the way he presented his opinion was unique. Even as a female, I never really thought of child birth as “hard labor” that we would be forced into if abortions were to be made illegal. This affects (but doesn’t necessarily change) my opinion on the topic, and I would imagine that it could affect others’ opinions as well.
I think telling a story in his blog post made it much easier to read and more entertaining. Anybody can write a strongly worded post about a topic as controversial as abortion and offend half of the people who read it, but telling his own emotional story is a different (and more effective) approach. Also, he recognizes both sides of the argument. He admits that he believes abortion to be “termination of life”, but his own experience leads him to fall on the pro-choice side of the fence. Showing that he has sympathy for both sides of the argument makes his article non-offensive for anyone who reads it.