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Writer's pictureMelody Kay Young

Pro life: the big lie that got US here







It boggles the mind what passes for Christian in the United States these days. Beyond hatred of fellow citizens, there is outright indifference to the suffering of others, now. From allegedly "pro-life" Christians. The same folks who claim to hate abortion, though barely know how the human body works and get all icky about sex, who will call you a baby-killer or a slut for voting Democrat (just read through the conversations on the pro-life hashtag on Twitter); these are the folks who think they get to define right and wrong right now. And they are wrong. Many of them are fine with the death penalty, even when it is unjustly applied, that is, murders people. They are often the same folks who don't understand why it causes looting and rioting when people die by police violence.


This is a real problem. You see, I can respect people who are truly against abortion as murder, if they have a consistent ethic of life that is compassionate in cases of rape and abuse. I can respect people who are willing to dignify all lives as truly worthy of life, who eschew the death penalty on principle. But what we've got in American politics and churches right now is far more fascism and far less justice, let alone an ethic of life.


We have a level of hatred and indifference that is bitter and angry, yet it plays the victim when it gets angry responses. All it really is, is abuse. It is repugnant.


Let me explain my position here. I think a lot of people in the pro-life movement are rightfully appalled at abortion as contraception, because babies are so precious. That is common ground we can probably all unite around. The problem I see is the heartlessness of many pro-life activists towards abuse victims and the poor, not to mention women who are grieving a still birth in the later stages of their pregnancies. What I can't fathom is the refusal to support women using birth control, while also standing against abortion. What I'll never understand is the rejection of facts about ectopic pregnancies by some of those who purport to lead on this issue. The callous lack of concern for mothers in the mix is absolutely genocidal.


And then we have the responses to pandemic and even to fellow citizens, from the same folks who have always claimed to be pro-life.


I don't get it. If we are truly pro-life ethically speaking, we can allow for nuances such as maternal health and emotional well-being, as well as be opposed to such evils as genocide and involuntary euthanasia. Yet politicians who also claim to be pro-life keep inciting hatred towards their fellow citizens, promoting a gun culture, endorsing words of violence, and abusing people, even standing up for tyrants. It's wholly evil.


So my position on abortion is first of all: it's complicated. If women don't feel safe to discuss their miscarriages - so many women told me about their losses when I grieved mine - then something is seriously wrong in our culture already. The men advocating for women to be jailed or strung up for abortion do not understand how many first pregnancies end in miscarriage, and they do not seem to care. They are very cruel, and such cruelty is not conducive to a culture of life. I shared about this experience when discussing the complexity of the human body once, and for my pains I was promptly compared to "a crack whore." We need to fix this cruel culture and never let such evil abusers make decisions about healthcare for women.


Second of all, there are ethical grounds for abortion, and it should not be removed as a medical option. Few, if any, women carry a baby to the third trimester and then have an abortion. Abortions that help a woman grieve a still birth are a mercy. Further, as mentioned, it is not ok that we have had male politicians who think an ectopic pregnancy, which can kill a woman, can be implanted in the uterus. These men want to ban live-saving abortions, which is really, really counter-productive if you are truly pro-life. So we need a healthy understanding and respect for the science involved, as well as medical ethics.


Thirdly, abuse victims need to be allowed to choose what happens next, without input from foolish or cruel fundamentalists. Knowing the power of bonding, it is cruel to suggest a girl who has been abused should have to carry a child full term to give it up for adoption. And a nine-month sentence for a rapist's sins, is wrong. As a Christian, I see no basis in Biblical precedent for such a thing. It also makes no sense that men are making these decisions, seeing as they have not experienced child-birth and the hormonal changes that come with it.


Fourthly, we need to be able to discuss this without partisan thought-stoppers about abortion as fully right or fully wrong. Most of the issue is necessarily complex. There are ethical issues to consider, and we cannot be swayed simply by cute babies. Frankly, that is demeaning to the very real lives involved. Most Americans might fall more in the middle on this issue than we know, and evangelical purity culture has done a number on a generation, causing great ignorance about the way our bodies work and their limitations. It isn't for the ignorant to determine what should happen when a woman is raped nor what choices she should make medically when there is a risk of her death. Conversely, it is not morally right that any woman should recklessly use abortion as birth control, so a healthy society would stop putting women in that position by providing access to proper birth control, suited to individual needs.


I feel a lot of the debate boils down to legalistic expectations about sexual behavior that are not the business of those making the rules. Sexual activity is not the business of the government, and the Christians who think otherwise are very controlling, indeed.


The lie, that got us a government that is willing to sacrifice our elderly for the economy and dismiss the state-sponsored murder of Khashoggi, was that Trump is pro-life. Well, I have yet to see evidence that he values any life beyond his own, and he sure doesn't have any great respect for women. Those who think otherwise really don't care who they hurt. And causing pain like they do is not pro-life in any way.


How is a culture where bullying and abuse is rampant, pro-life? I guarantee Trumpism has led to suicides.


What about Trump's connections to the Saudis and other dictatorial regimes? How has he been pro-life in any way? Anti-abortion is not enough and does not prove anything.


Lip-service to a movement that will get you elected, while protecting tyrants who dismember journalists they don't like, is not pro-life. It's just evil. And this is what pro-life voters have embraced.


And they call others "baby-killers."


Life is precious. Where is the tender-heartedness?








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