This is getting convoluted. Planned Parenthood has spun this story hard, and now Komen readjusting their funding schedule is resulting in Planned Parenthood getting additional donations from the likes of Lance Armstrong. Problem is that since Komen is clearly still giving money to Planned Parenthood, pro-lifers can’t step up and offer them cash to encourage them in their withdrawal of funds from Planned Parenthood. Because they didn’t.
I think Planned Parenthood doth protest too much. They are so up in arms over this Komen thing because they are on the brink, fighting for their lives. (Lives of unborn children, not so much.)
I’ve been asked difficult questions while speaking to groups, difficult in that the answers seem complex and don’t always readily pop into my mind. These get easier to answer with experience, but I can tell you that the most difficult questions to field often come from my fellow women who, like me, love and want to support womankind as best we can.
I’m talking about feminists.
I don’t mind the “f” word, in fact, I use it regularly in lots of positive ways. I’ll always understand some of the frustrations of being a woman (limited though it may be to my western experience), the desire to overcome obstacles, and the hope that my own daughters will have positive non-violent options in their lives. I get feminism, even if it doesn’t always get me.
I also get that conversations with women who feel abortion is “necessary” are often the most emotionally charged. Why? Because women mean so much to us. To keep your reason, it helps to think ahead about the kinds of questions a woman might ask and to lend their input Feminists for Life of America have prepared a Q&A of “Pro-Woman Answers to Pro-Choice Questions“. They’re worth looking at. I like this one in particular:
Don’t you respect women enough to allow them to make a choice?
Most women do not have abortions as a matter of “choice,” but because they feel they have no resources to support a different choice. A coerced decision is not a free choice—it’s a last resort.
We support nonviolent choices—single motherhood, fatherhood, grandparenthood, marriage and various adoption options—along with practical resources and support.
A society that promotes abortion as a “necessity” or “necessary evil” underestimates women and the violence of abortion and disregards what women really want.
…to sex selective abortions delivered by Australian/Canadian ethicist Margaret Somerville.
So why is there this huge fuss about sex selection abortion? If one can have an abortion for any reason or none, why not because a baby of the opposite sex is strongly preferred?
The reason is, as sex selection abortion most clearly demonstrates, that abortion is not just a private matter. The issue involves shared societal values, cultural norms and clashes of cultural values and shows that the cumulative impact of abortion has societal consequences.
Today I heard some relatively fair reporting on the Roe v Wade decision. The station was AM 1310 in Ottawa. They had one clip from a pro-lifer saying this is the human rights struggle of our age, and then they gave a brief synopsis of what the debate is. I’m paraphrasing, but they said something like “it’s a debate between those who think abortion is murder, and those who believe in a woman’s right to decide whether to carry a pregnancy to term.”
That they included it in their newscast at all is a very good start.
It died so long ago, that it may seem out of place to mourn. But the behaviour of the captain on the Costa Concordia makes me sad in so many ways. And lest we blame men, let’s not forget, this is exactly what feminists wanted: every (wo)man for her/himself.
This article highlights an abortion movement that is uncomfortable with itself. The term “choice” is apparently not only a distasteful euphemism for pro-life folks, it is also so for an extreme pro-abortion crowd, one that wants abortion to be viewed as a morally difficult decision, but a moral good at the same time.
Ok, maybe everyone doesn’t love a sad song. But with this post, I am walking you down memory lane to visit with a 16-year-old Andrea who listened to this song on repeat at summer camp. I just rediscovered it. A reminder that this blog wasn’t meant to pertain to abortion, all the time.
Now this blog wasn’t meant to pertain to abortion all the time, but since ProWomanProLife is known to return to that topic from time to time, let me add this. If the world were a little less lonely we’d have fewer abortions. Because pro-life or pro-choice, whatever you call yourself, you can’t begin to think that abortion constitutes a story of support or success. Nope. You can’t. It’s a lonely act, one done in the absence of community.
…and also a commentary on the good that crisis pregnancy centres do. PWPL is non-religious, but faith is clearly a part of this woman’s story and you can’t take that away. In any event, I found her story very moving.
Ten or so minutes long, you can find it told here.
In reading the other letter to the editor, I missed this one:
Re: It’s Primarily A Medical Matter, letter to the editor, Jan. 11.
Dr. Philip Ney states that there is “no scientific basis for abortion” — he couldn’t be further from the truth. Many years ago here in Ontario we introduced maternal serum screening, a blood test that allows us to screen for birth defects such as Down’s syndrome and Spina Bifida. If a test comes back positive, we offer the patient amniocentesis. If that also confirms the presence of either of these conditions, the patient is counselled on options — one of which is to terminate the pregnancy.
It is a difficult and anguishing decision for many patients to make — but it is a decision based on science, not whimsy. Dr. Susan Piccinin, Ancaster, Ont.
Let those words sink in. To this doctor, taking the life of a Down’s child is a matter of science. As they say, science tells us what we can do, but it never tells us what we ought to do. And for this doctor to be so cold-hearted in the presence of disability makes me shudder. At least she’s honest.
