With the Women’s March in Washington, D.C. last week and the March for Life demonstrations this past weekend, the topic of abortion and women’s rights has been discussed ad nauseam. When the abortion issue arises, pro-choice supporters are always pitted against pro-life advocates. Tempers flare on social media and even in-person social interactions can get heated. If you are pro-life, here are some comments you have probably experienced from pro-choicers.
1. You don’t have the right to tell me/them what to do with my/their body.
If you are someone who is pro-life you have probably heard this statement over and over again from someone who supports abortion rights. Little do pro-choicers know, the pro-life position is not concerned with the bodies of women at all. It’s not about a woman’s body and her ability to choose what to do with it. It’s about the life developing in the womb and how we believe that life is valuable and should be protected. One’s entire view on abortion depends on whether or not the baby developing in the womb is seen as a human life and that is ultimately what matters at the end of the day.
2. I would never get an abortion, but who am I to say what people should or shouldn’t do?
This is another comment that you have probably heard before and it’s from people who usually refuse to take a stance on the issue. To me, now this may seem harsh, is an example of moral cowardice. Take a position and stand up for it. Indifference never helped anyone. If someone tells you they would never get an abortion but won’t stop others from doing so, ask them why. If they consider abortion to be a moral evil, they should stand up for their convictions and protect what they believe to be an innocent life. If someone refuses to stand up for what is moral and right, what kind of person are they? It may not be easy and they may face backlash, but it is worth it.
3. If you are pro-life, you should adopt.
I guarantee that if you are a woman and you are pregnant and you approach a pro-life man or woman and ask them to take your baby, they will gladly do so or refer you to someone else who can. There are thousands of parents in this country who would love to adopt a child. Whether that reason for adoption being they cannot have children of their own or they have a heart for the less fortunate. As someone who has an adopted sister, I have to laugh at this response from pro-choice supporters. Demanding pro-life people adopt as well is an awful justification for the pro-choice argument because it’s ultimately saying, “If no one wants to adopt my child, I can simply abort it.” In almost every demand brought up by pro-choice advocates, they defer responsibility to those who are pro-life. Where is the personal responsibility of the mother and father who created the child in the first place?
4. If you are pro-life, you cannot be pro-death penalty.
Probably one of the most absurd comments you and I have heard is the one above. Are we really going to compare what is viewed as an innocent life in the womb to another life that has brutally taken the life of another? One life is innocent and blameless and has no control over what happens to it inside or outside of the womb. The other life is a life that wantonly or deliberately takes away another person’s right to live and in doing so forfeits their own life under certain states' laws.
5. If you are pro-life, you should be against war.
I have never heard anyone say, “I am pro-war.” Not once. However, pro-lifers, for the most part, are proud supporters of the men and women in uniform that serve and protect this country. We proudly stand and serve with them. Protecting one’s country from a foreign threat is not contrary to the pro-life view in the slightest. If someone wants to harm innocent people, should we simply let it happen? Of course not. It is also naïve to assume talking out solutions with our enemies is always a probable solution.
6. If you are pro-life, you should be for education reform.
As someone who works part-time in the education system, I am all for education reform. Let’s start with getting rid of Common Core and start promoting school choice. Let’s make sure that teachers care about their students. Let’s make sure that money is not being wasted and that it is applied in the right way to meet school needs. However, it is not the school’s job to raise children. Where does a child's education first start? It starts in that child’s home. Pro-choicers need to stop passing the buck and take responsibility for the life that has been created. If parents need help or would like to ask someone else to take care of their child because they recognize they are not fit to do so, that is fine. But again, pro-choicers should not demand people do all of the work for them unless they are giving full custody of the child to someone else.
7. If you are pro-life, you should not be against welfare programs but want more welfare programs.
Conservatives and pro-life advocates are not against welfare programs or helping those in financial need. But are the people who demand more welfare to support these newborn children asking for welfare reform or are they asking for pro-lifers to allow everyone who has a baby to get in the welfare programs without the welfare system first? Would they complain about removing those who no longer need welfare for those who do? Furthermore, demanding more welfare programs is another way of saying, “If you are pro-life you should want to pay for my child’s needs. If I cannot pay for my child’s needs, I should be able to abort it because it’s economically beneficial.” If you don’t believe people actually think and say that, read here.
There are several other outrageous statements made by pro-choice advocates but these are the ones I am sure we have all heard at one time or another. In the meantime, for those of us who are unapologetically pro-life, keep fighting for what is right and keep advocating for the voiceless, the born and unborn. Lead by example and show that being pro-life is about being pro-life through a child's entire life and that we care for others, not just those developing in the womb. At the same time, shoot down the ridiculous notions, like the ones above, that are levied against us. God bless.
