Talk about misleading, or, if you prefer, preemptive spin.
Alicia Gibson, described as the chair of Parents and Professionals of Planned Parenthood Cincinnati, takes a sledgehammer to pro-life legislation in Ohio. The photo accompanying her op-ed in the Cincinnati Enquirer is of a smiling Gibson holding a little baby playing with Gibson’s necklace.
No hint there that one in eight women who enter a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic gets an abortion.
Gibson attacks what she calls the ”inch by inch approach to abortion legislation” which pro-lifers call the “incremental approach.” There are two separate components here and the distinction is worth making.
Gibson defends the destruction of unborn children in season and out. Thus there is no piece of pro-life legislation–even if it’s only an inch or two long–that she won’t oppose.
From parental notification to informed consent laws to waiting periods to requirements that (largely) itinerant abortionists have admitting privileges at a local hospital to laws that say, hey, it’s wrong to submit pain-capable unborn children to the horror of being torn to shreds–all are “sustained attacks” on “a woman’s constitutionally protected right to an abortion.”
So I understand that these laws potentially have a real impact on Planned Parenthood’s bottom line. So those who speak for PPFA are going to holler to high heaven (so to speak).
But the other component that you come across in pro-abortion apologetics 1001 is indignation. What do I mean?
On the one hand when pro-lifers go for what pro-abortionists would consider a home run, they are dismissed as radicals, extremists, and out of the mainstream whackos. But, on the other hand (to continue the baseball metaphor), when we use the incremental approach–bunt singles, hitting behind the runner– pro-abortionists are incensed that…what?
That it works!
The implication is that public is unaware of the real meaning of such laws. In fact, the exact opposite is true. Consider….
If you believe, as pro-abortion ideologues MUST believe, that the public is in their corner, the only explanation when pro-life laws pass is subterfuge.
But if you understand, as pro-lifers do, that there is a litany of commonsense laws that the public supports, then it is absolutely no surprise when these laws pass. Why not? That’s where public opinion is at.
That also includes laws to ban abortions on pain-capable unborn children. Killing these babies is abhorrent even to many people who are “pro-choice.” Which is why the hysteria level by the abortion lobby reaches new heights when such laws are proposed.
Gibson can lament that the state of Ohio is thoroughly pro-life and that the legislature’s and the governor’s actions reflect that.
The rest of us can celebrate that the incremental approach is winning not just inch by inch but also yard by yard.
Editor’s note. If you want to peruse stories all day long, either go directly to nationalrighttolifenews.org
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.
