By Dave Andrusko
Editor’s note. My family will be gone on vacation through August 24. During that span we’ll run prior posts from the past year that remain timely and/or were particularly well-received. We will also add a new story or three as events dictate.
It is always a useful exercise to read NARAL Pro-Choice America’s annual take on the lay of the land. Although “Who Decides?” is no longer the idiom of choice (so to speak) for the Abortion Industrial Complex, NARAL’s 29th annual report is still tiled “Who Decides? The Status of Reproductive Rights in the United States.”
What we can we learn?
*To NARAL, every pro-life proposal is extreme, every “pro-choice” initiative the model of discretion, supported by an overwhelming majority of right-thinking person. (NARAL’s misuse of polling data is a wonder to behold.)
Does NARAL even hint that what pro-abortionists won in places such as New York, Vermont, Illinois, Maine, and Rhode Island was not only to lock in Roe but also expand the “right” to abortion up until birth? Of course not. Ilyse Hogue, NARAL Pro-Choice America President, matter of factly states “96 pro-choice measures” were enacted in 2019.
* That having been said, the country “faces a new reality for abortion rights,” the report asserts, “with the Supreme Court now more hostile to reproductive freedom.” That’s an unmistakable sign that acute fear-mongering is in the wings.
*“Now more than ever, the aims of the anti-choice movement are clear: They’re committed to ending Roe v. Wade by any means necessary, criminalizing abortion, and punishing women,”Hogue says.
But is it “punishing women” to inform those who have second thoughts after beginning a chemically-induced abortion that they may be able to save their child?
Is it “ending Roe” merely to guarantee that parents will know when their abortion-minded minor daughter is about to make a life-and-death decision without their input?
What about legislation that forbids eugenic abortions—“terminating” the life of an unborn child because she may have Down syndrome? Or that requires that an unborn child who may well have reached the stage where she is capable of experiencing unbelievable pain does not bleed to death as she is torn to pieces? These would seem to be in spirit of fighting lethal discrimination and making a minimal concession to our common humanity. Finally
*The report tells us “The stakes are higher than ever. As we look ahead to the future, we’re facing a pivotal moment in the movement for reproductive freedom.” We certainly agree that this November is a “pivotal moment” in our nation’s history.
Will we re-elect the most pro-life President in our nation’s history? Or will we elevate to the White House one of the numerous hyper-pro-abortion Democrats who happily toe the NARAL and Planned Parenthood line: Abortion now, more abortion tomorrow, and still more abortions both at home and abroad in the future?
No doubt it was a moment of horror for NARAL on January 24 when President Trump spoke to the March for Life. Especially, perhaps, when he said
All of us here today understand an eternal truth, every child is a precious and sacred gift from God. Together we must protect, cherish, and defend the dignity and the sanctity of every human life. When we see the image of a baby in the womb, we glimpse the majesty of God’s creation. When we hold a newborn in our arms, we know the endless love that each child brings to a family. When we watch a child grow, we see the splendor that radiates from each human soul. One life changes the world.