My Thoughts on Anti-Abortion Groups

I’m largely against anti-abortion groups. Well, not all of them, I guess. But I just saw an article on CNN: (link: http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/08/27/nebraska.abortion.protests/index.html) and it sickened me. I’m going to start off by saying that I am a woman and I am pro-choice, and no, I have never been pregnant–just to get all ambiguities out of the way. I have several points I’d like to make about pro-lifers, and I’m going to address them in list form.

1. This one’s sort of superficial, but I hate when people say “pro-abortion” instead of “pro-choice.” No one, unless they are some sick serial killer, is pro-abortion. I don’t prance around saying, “YAY! Let’s abort our pregnancies! Let’s stop having children all together!” Um, no. I believe in a woman’s right to choose what to do with her body, whether she chooses to have an abortion or to carry the baby full-term.

2. Most people who oppose abortion do so because they believe it goes against God and The Bible. That’s fine. If abortion goes against your religious values, then, by all means, do not have an abortion. However, trying to get a law passed that outlaws abortion just because it’s against your religious beliefs…well, that goes against everything this country stands for. I believe Thomas Jefferson proposed the separation of church and state, and we hold that true now. Basically, your religious viewpoint should not be law, especially considering, though this nation is predominantly a Christian one, it is most certainly not the only religious viewpoint around.

3. As most of you know, a Kansas doctor by the name of George Tiller was shot and killed at his church this past May by a pro-life activist. Tiller was widely condemned for performing late-term abortions. I ask you to remember that he did not perform them just because a woman didn’t want to have her baby. He only aborted fetuses with fatal birth defects or in a situation where giving birth would kill the mother. I realize that most pro-lifers do not support the killer’s actions at all. But for those who do, I have something to ask you. Why is killing a man any better than, as you say, “killing a child”?

4. Re: the link posted above. Can someone please explain to me why threatening a man’s safety and terrifying his family and employees is something a benevolent and loving god would approve of? I mean, if that’s what God is really like…well…let’s just say that that certainly isn’t the God described in The Bible.

5. I find many of the tactics employed by pro-life protesters to be absolutely disgusting. Holding signs with dismembered fetuses is just distasteful. You wouldn’t hold up signs with pictures of skin cancer patients reading “This is what UV radiation causes!”, would you? Well, I don’t know. You probably would. I get that it’s a “shock” tactic, but isn’t there a better way? Besides, what if a small child or an extremely squeamish person saw those signs? Not taking those facts into consideration is disrespectful and rude. Another protesting form I hate is when pro-lifers camp outside abortion clinics and scream insults at women who enter. I’m sure that poor woman’s choice was hard enough. They really don’t need your tactlessness to add to their stress.

Well, that’s about it for now. Since America is split pretty much 50/50 on the pro-choice/pro-life debate, I’m sure I have successfully offended half of my country. I welcome any and all comments, from all sides of the debate!