Editor’s note. This appears on the webpage of Right to Life of Michigan, NRLC’s state affiliate.
So begins the election year drill with an endless parade of negative political ads, divisive name-calling schemes and, of course, the blame game. Election year gimmicks seem to be out of control.
Enter the accusation that those who hold prolife views are waging a WAR ON WOMEN. Words like “misogynistic” and “draconian” are used to describe legislation and viewpoints backed by many fellow citizens. It seems that when it comes to abortion, there are no boundaries to the ugly name-calling and baseless accusations used to avoid real debate.
YOU are accused of waging a war on women if:
- You stand against taxpayer funding of abortion.
- You think doctors and facilities that perform abortions should be licensed and meet basic safety standards to protect women.
- You think women should be provided basic medical information about the type of abortion procedure they are being sold.
The WAR ON WOMEN is not a new approach; it is old rhetoric used to deflect from a candidate’s or elected official’s own very extreme views. Extreme are those who hide behind the term “pro-choice” but who support tax-funded abortions through all nine months of pregnancy. Extreme are those who defend dangerous and heinous late-term abortion procedures; those who oppose informed consent for women considering an abortion; and those who oppose parental consent for underage girls.
You have to ask yourself, then, why the verbal attacks on fellow citizens?
Let’s look at the facts. Abortion was legalized through all nine months of pregnancy by the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton rulings. In addition, birth control is widely available.
This old rhetoric is being used because Americans across the country are pushing back and saying “NO” to recent widespread attempts to require taxpayer funding for abortions.
It’s disheartening, though, to hear the verbal attacks on those who work to put commonsense safety protections in place for women who enter an abortion clinic.
It has become obvious that these tactics are used to appease deep pocketed campaign benefactors—the abortion industry. Prolife people, however, stand to gain nothing personally by their efforts to restore protections and reverence for human life. Instead, we know society as a whole would benefit if our citizens treated each innocent human life with respect.
The smoke and mirrors hide real dangers facing women: mothers being forced to abort their children against their will, the link between abortion and domestic abuse being hidden away, and female populations being put at risk by sex-selection abortions. Maybe most shocking are those who would try to cover up dangerous and seedy late-term abortion industry practices at the expense of the women they claim to represent.
► Women face danger when someone does not want her to have a baby.
- Homicide is the leading cause of death among pregnant women.[1]
- Kay, who was pressured to have an abortion by her father, said there was a lot of yelling and screaming. “I told him I wouldn’t have the abortion, but he said I was going to have it anyway . . . Two days later I was at the clinic. I cried the entire time.”[2]
Abortion is not a “choice” when no other options are made available.
► Women face danger when the link between abortion and domestic violence is ignored.
- Women who have had three or more abortions are 2.5 times more likely to be victims of domestic violence.[3] In Michigan, 25 percent of all women obtaining an abortion are having at least their third abortion (about 5,800 per year).[4]
Women deserve to know life-affirming resources are available.
► Abortion poses a danger to the population of women.
- The use of abortion as a means of sex selection is a major social problem in a number of Asian countries, including China and India. There are credible estimates that 160 million women and girls are missing from the world due to sex-selection abortions.
- Multiple academic papers have put forward evidence that the practice of sex-selection by abortion is increasing in the United States.
Every child who is preparing to be born is deserving of the right to life.
► Women face physical and emotional danger from abortion.
- Every abortion comes with risks to the mother, but those performed later in the pregnancy carry even greater risks. Depending on how far along the pregnancy is and which abortion method is used, complications range from bleeding, infection, increased risk of ectopic pregnancy and breast cancer.[5] Yet these complications are rarely addressed publicly.
Rather than telling women that they only have one choice in an unplanned pregnancy, why not strive to empower them with the resources they need to choose life?
Prolife people fight for positive life-affirming options for women.