I do my best to eavesdrop in on representatives of just about every perspective writing on the abortion issue. Having read how pro-abortionists “reason” is helpful when we try to equip pro-lifers to deal with arguments that are often internally inconsistent, mean-spirited, and doused in hyperbole and disingenuousness.
But I also try to read—and be fair to—those pro-lifers who think single-issue pro-lifers like us ought to be in the business of also opposing [fill in the blank]. I read just such a piece in a publication this morning, from the “liberal persuasion.” You can read the same argument from those who are “conservative.” The only difference is what additional issues we are advised to take up.
Let me make two quick points, for this perennial objection can be sincere.
First, we have unanimity on the core issues that National Right to Life has championed since 1968. To take up issues outside this circle of agreement can only do one thing: split our Movement. At a time when the threats posed by the Obama Administration grow bolder by the day, holding steady is imperative.
Second, the article I read today (hardly unique in its shortcomings) is suffused with a stereotypical misunderstanding of who we are as individual human beings. It is as if decades ago the clichéd “liberal” understanding of single-issue pro-lifers was frozen in place, buried under an avalanche of misunderstandings and free-floating hostility.
Chief among the charges of those who wag their accusatory fingers at us are that we “wag an accusatory finger at a pregnant woman and fail to assist her in a time of need,” as the author of the piece wrote today. That is as far from the truth as the East is from the West, but nothing, I’m afraid, is likely to unmelt that perspective.
But that’s okay. Just keep doing what you do to help women and girls in crisis pregnancies—both in immediate one-on-one help and in passing legislation that provides them with a moment’s reflection before they make a life-and-death decision.
While understanding from others who should know better would be nice, helping women in their time of greatest need is reward enough.
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Daniel Miller is responsible for nearly all of National Right to Life News' political writing.
With the election of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency, Daniel Miller developed a deep obsession with U.S. politics that has never let go of the political scientist. Whether it's the election of Joe Biden, the midterm elections in Congress, the abortion rights debate in the Supreme Court or the mudslinging in the primaries - Daniel Miller is happy to stay up late for you.
Daniel was born and raised in New York. After living in China, working for a news agency and another stint at a major news network, he now lives in Arizona with his two daughters.
