5 lies about the pro-life agenda
America is waking up to the horror that is abortion — and her anger is manifested in state legislation banning abortions well beyond the precedent set in Roe v. Wade.
The pro-life generation (and more experienced generations) are attempting to bring Roe down hard. Pro-choice advocates are not happy, and they’re coming up with some extremely “creative” false narratives in attempts to undermine the virtue of the pro-life community.
Consider the following:
1. We’re pro-life up to birth, but after that we don’t care.
When I first started in professional journalism in summer 2017, the headlining story was about a baby in the U.K. who was suffering from a muscular deterioration condition that was just as aggressive as it was rare, and only experimental treatments existed outside of the U.K.
The baby’s name was Charlie Gard. Gard’s parents desperately wanted the opportunity for experimental treatment — but the U.K. high court would not allow young Charlie to be released from the hospital.
If it isn’t yet obvious, baby Charlie had already been born. If the pro-life community was merely pro-birth, they wouldn’t have concern for Charlie Gard. Yet leaders in the pro-life movement were fiercely advocating for Charlie’s release and treatment. Catherine Glenn Foster, president of Americans United for Life, was corresponding with me while she was literally in the courtroom in the U.K. as an advocate for Charlie. Foster wasn’t the only advocate for Charlie. Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life, Penny Nance, president of Concerned Women for America, Lila Rose, president of Live Action, and Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America all advocated for Charlie and his parents.
2. We’re anti-woman.
Noting the last half of the above paragraph will show you that today’s pro-life leaders, who lead large and impactful anti-abortion organizations, are women. So unless we have women leading anti-women agendas, this lie is rather silly. Along this false narrative is the idea that white men are the influencers behind this pro-life agenda.
While men are certainly involved, and should be, women are still at the helm. Pro-choice advocates were quick to point out that 25 white men voted in support of the recent anti-abortion law out of Alabama, but they’re conveniently silent on the fact that the bill was sponsored by two women and signed into law by a woman.
3. We don’t care about the mother.
Similar to the first lie, pro-lifers are accused of only caring about the baby and not the mother. But this too is false. Crisis pregnancy centers across the country, which far outnumber Planned Parenthood and other abortive facilities, provide medical, financial, and counseling support for women who would otherwise choose to have an abortion. Pro-life leaders and educators routinely raise awareness about the emotional and physical trauma that haunt post-abortive mothers.
We care about the mother, so much so that we take proactive measures to protect her from the horrific post-abortive nightmares that many women have shared about. We care about the mother so much that we speak the truth of empowerment to her that she can have a coexisting career and motherhood, such as the likes of Judge Amy Cony Barrett, which leads to my next point.
4. We’re anti-career.
A common argument for abortion is that it provides the opportunity for women to advance in their careers, since many believe they cannot participate in motherhood while pursuing professional success. Thus, to force women to have their children is to force them out of a favorable career.
Truth is, the pro-life community supports both motherhood and professional careers for women, and both are attainable simultaneously. For example, Judge Amy Coney Barrett.
Barrett sits on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals and is on President Trump’s list for Supreme Court nominees. Barrett is also a mother of seven, two of whom are adopted. Barrett has mastered motherhood and the challenges of the judicial community. Barrett is also pro-life. We’re not anti-career, were anti-killing your child.
5. We don’t care about women who have been raped.
At this point the bottom of the barrel has been scratched clean, but I’ll take the bait. This falsity comes from the fact that pro-life advocates do not see rape as an exception to abortion. As horrific as rape is, we only give evil a victory lap when we follow through with the ending of innocent life.
Crisis pregnancy centers and other pro-life organizations are quick to render care or point victims of rape in the direction of professional care. Caring for rape victims means doing whatever we can to regulate their pain, not add to it. And time and time again women have expressed the pain of following through their rape with abortion.
Rape is never the victim’s fault, nor is it the baby’s fault. Care, assistance, and love must exist for both the survivor and her child.
