A Defense Of The New Pro-life Movement By An Old Pro-Lifer

How can a man who abuses women become the hope and salvation of the pro-life movement?

How can a man who despises true courage like John McCain’s ever hope to inspire this nation to heroism on behalf of children?

How can a man who believes in eugenics ever get at the roots of abortion?

How can a man who brags of his sexual conquests lead a fight against Planned Parenthood?

How can a man whose loudest promise is to be savagely inhospitable to fugitives and immigrants ever challenge anyone to been hospitable to an unplanned and unexpected child?

How can a man who opposes Muslims and Latinos and the Pope and women maintain the global coalition for life of the past three generations – a coalition that has always started with the USA and Latinos and Muslims and the Vatican, with feminists sometimes joining fights against coercive abortion?

In the past four years, Pope Francis has asked pro-lifers to reach out to Latinos and Muslims and feminists – and also immigrants and environmentalists. NONONONONO, shrieks the distilled and purified essence of the pro-life movement. None of them! And no liberal Democrats! And no RINOs! It’s just a teeny tiny Tea Party that will transform this nation! And anyway, we DO build coalitions – with racists and the KKK and white supremacists and birthers. Hm. How convincing you are. Well, on second thought, maybe you have a point: the white-cyst coalition is bound to change something.

You despise the effort to put abortion in a context of justice. You want to maintain a sharp focus on one issue, you say. But you don’t stay focused. You are passionate about modesty and pornography and sex. Good: so am I. But I think that abortion is better understood as a kind of violence – like war or torture or bigotry. (Did you ever read “Gaudium et Spes”?) Suppose for a moment that you were serious about challenging the views of an opponent – challenging, not just denouncing. You say abortion is not just a solution to a sexual transaction gone awry; it kills. Your opponent backs off to listen a bit, to see how abortion relates to other forms of violence. But you aren’t bothered about other forms of violence, just sex. In fact, when someone like Rebecca wants to talk about abortion in a context of violence, you break out in a sweat. You say abortion is violence, but then you talk about sex, and more sex, and even more sex. Why do you do that? How can you expect anyone to hear your point? Are you even trying to reach anyone?

You claim proudly that the pro-life movement is making great progress. Abortion is down, way down, you assert. What can I say? I doubt it. Surgical abortion is down. But injectibles, implantables, and even IUDs are way up. If you accept the idea that life begins at implantation, then abortion is declining. But if you still accept the idea that life begins at the beginning, not in the middle, then it’s quite possible or even bloody likely that abortion stats have risen dramatically. I can’t join you in your triumph. I could be wrong, but I think abortion is rising steadily.

I wish you had the brains and guts to listen to an unfamiliar voice. You should learn from Rebecca Bratten Weiss.

(This post previously appeared on John Cavanaugh-O’Keefe‘s public FB page and is republished here with his permission.)

(image via Pixabay)