Poor Pro-Life Argument #1: "Consent to sex is consent to pregnancy"

PART 1

Nov 09, 2023

The claim that consent to sex is consent to pregnancy demonstrates a woeful lack of understanding of consent and a denial of the realities of life and relationships, but it also tacitly endorses reproductive coercion, a recognized form of interpersonal and societal abuse.

This newsletter is PART I of a series discussing this topic. Read PART II here.

You've likely heard or seen this anti-choice slogan used countless times: "Consent to sex is consent to pregnancy."

It appears in various iterations. The following are just a few examples.

Having a proper understanding of consent shows us why "Consent to sex is consent to pregnancy," which aims to mandate gravidity, is a poor slogan and a poor argument.

What is consent?

Consent is an ancient concept within philosophy and ethics. The following is a brief overview.

To consent is to agree to or give permission for something specific; as such, consent necessarily involves parameters.

The principles and parameters of consent apply to innumerable aspects of our lives and relationships, including sex. Consent to sex "is agreement or permission expressed through affirmative, voluntary words or actions that are mutually understandable to all parties involved, to engage in a specific sexual act at a specific time." [1]

Principles of Consent

The principles of consent are detailed in the below diagram. Please read through the description for each principle to fully understand consent.

Why do humans ‘get it on’?

While humans reproduce sexually, reproduction is not the only biological purpose of sex. In fact, sexual intercourse is an inefficient form of procreation, with females only being fertile for 12-24 hours, just twelve times a year.

Humans are embodied, social creatures with both physical and psychological needs; these needs are part of our biology. “Psychologists have studied a number of psychological needs, but you can really narrow them down to four fundamental needs: security, 1 self-esteem, 2 autonomy, 3 and connection 4.” [9] Sex is one way we fulfill our psychological need for interpersonal connection.

Nearly all of our sexual activity occurs outside of females’ monthly fertile window, and occurs for non-procreative purposes. In fact, we humans often make a concerted effort to ensure that sex does not lead to procreation. For example, “Nine in ten females (90%) report using contraception at some point in their lifetime and most (76%) use more than one type of contraception across their lifespan.” [10]

When partners use any form of contraception - be it condoms, hormonal birth control, cycle tracking, etc. - it's an unequivocal indication that pair is not consenting to pregnancy.

Human sexual activity is also driven by hormones. Passion, desire, lust: these words describe the feelings brought on by our hormones. Sex hormones are the driver of what we commonly call “the heat of the moment.” And when two people are “caught up in the moment,” their hormones ablaze, it defies reality to suggest that consenting to sex is consenting to pregnancy, when sex hormones and physical arousal are the ones behind the wheel.

There are hundreds of reasons why people have sex to fulfill our physical and psychological needs. And unless two people consent to procreative sex, then consent to sex is not consent to pregnancy.

Consent to sex is consent to sex— nothing more.

The audacity to make love

The "Consent to sex is consent to pregnancy" mandate demonstrates a woeful lack of understanding of consent and denies the realities of life and relationships.

Consider "Jack" and "Molly."

According to the "Consent to sex is consent to pregnancy" mandate, when Molly and Jack consent to have sex, then…

Jack is consenting to impregnating Molly;
Molly is consenting to being impregnated;
Molly is consenting to the transformation of her physical state from non-pregnant to pregnant;
Molly is consenting to the short- and long-term alteration of her physical and mental health;
Molly is consenting to the cessation of all medications she needs to manage chronic illness;
Molly is consenting to being inhabited, to being occupied;
Molly is consenting to gestating and carrying a pregnancy to term;
Jack and Molly are consenting to an unlimited number of children for the duration of their relationship during which time they are fertile;
Jack and Molly are consenting to the possible death of Molly; and
Jack and Molly are consenting to potentially crippling debt.

Of course, Jack and Molly only consented to physical intimacy— a single, specific, non-transmissible, consensual act, one that does not create a duty to any third party or a duty to perform any other separate actions in the future.

"Consent to sex is consent to pregnancy" means that it does not matter if Jack and Molly use contraception to prevent pregnancy. It does not matter if Jack and Molly are trying to space out the births of their children. It does not matter if Molly is still breastfeeding their 5 month old baby. It does not matter if Jack and Molly have been struggling to feed the children they already have ever since the cannery where Jack worked shut down three months ago. It does not matter if Molly's last pregnancy nearly killed her.

Under the "Consent to sex is consent to pregnancy" mandate, the only thing that matters is that Jack and Molly had the audacity to make love.

Assumption of risk

“Consenting to sex is not the same thing as consenting even tacitly to gestate.” [2] [3] But the "Consent to sex is consent to pregnancy" mandate is not about consent. It is about compulsion. Hence, when people assert that "consent to sex is consent to pregnancy," what they mean is that consent to sex creates a duty to gestate. In order for this to be true, anti-choicers attempt to root their argument on the idea of assumed risk.

“Assumption of the risk involves a conscious or knowing acceptance of risks that are inherent to the activity. Or, of which the participant has been thoroughly and completely informed.” [4] Sex often carries a risk, however small, of leading to pregnancy. As such, the "Consent to sex is consent to pregnancy" mandate contends that, because Jack and Molly consented to sex, Molly is obligated to gestate and give birth should she become pregnant. For Molly, gestating and giving birth are said to be the way in which she must take responsibility for her actions, as if making love is a guilty act. (“Consent to sex is consent to pregnancy” designates sex as a guilty act and indicts the pregnant person as the guilty party.)

However, as the below diagram explains, assuming the risks of one activity does not dictate a particular course of action should an undesired outcome occur. “Accepting responsibility for the results of one's action is not the same thing as accepting an obligation to do something in particular in response to these results.” [5] [6]

Justifying compulsion

Disguising mandated gestation and birth as consent to pregnancy and as taking responsibility, the "Consent to sex is consent to pregnancy" argument is employed as a means of justifying "state action compelling pregnancy," [7] and to deny the fact that compelling pregnancy is "an act of communal force" [8] by shifting the blame onto pregnant people themselves.— “The government isn’t forcing you to gestate and give birth. You consented to it! And you can never revoke your consent.”

In this way, the “Consent to sex is consent to pregnancy” mandate tacitly, if not explicitly, endorses reproductive coercion.

In the next newsletter we will be examining this in depth. for now, I’ll leave you with this comic (below).

rePro-Truth

Discussion about this post