Baker sees a problem with people in need of support often cannot find it because their problem involves subject matter that is heavily politicized, like abortion. Baker’s argument is that in order to create a more empathetic environment to fill the gap between real lives and politics through listening and storytelling. Listening and storytelling is never easy because sometimes it needs people to adjust their own world view or recognize that the other person may have been in the same situation but made a completely different choice for just as valid reasons. This “pro-voice” ideal focuses on the unique reality of each human experience in these difficult situations regardless of who they are and what they should feel because of that identity.
In the beginning, Baker relies mostly on ethos and pathos by retelling the story of her own abortion and in doing so created an emotional connection with the viewer. This demonstrated what Exhale hopes to achieve because each person is the most credible source on their own life experiences. The speaker also uses specific examples from the fifteen years of her organization of how people modified their methods or views in order to better support the people they were trying to serve. An example of this is when a non-religious volunteer practiced saying “God” over and over again in order to be more comfortable in supporting religious women who were asking for support.
The speaker also uses logos in arguing that a person’s individual experience is difficult to express because of the political atmosphere surrounding issues like abortion and guns creating absolutes. These stances do not create room for people who do not complete the political narrative people are willing to talk about with empathy for the person and not bring in their own agenda to recommend how they should feel or do. If there is automatic judgement for talking about something, people will not want to talk about it without hesitancy of being judged. This creates a logical need for her organization that makes it a priority not to judge.
In talking about abortion, I am am more leaning towards the pro-choice argument because I thought that provided for the needs of people who need to have a choice. No one has ever talked with me about any abortions they have had like the speaker at this point in my life. I did not realize that even in this ideal of people being able to chose and supporting whatever that choice is. But the reality that in talking about politics we make assumptions about what is best for people and that creates a need for organizations like this. In talking about specific examples that ignored the political narratives and creating their own name helped get their point about putting people first more clear.
