Quotes Archives - Page 338 of 350

Pro-Choice Feminist: Of Course It’s a Baby

From the essay “Our Bodies, Our Souls” by feminist author Naomi Wolf OCTOBER 16, 1995 THE NEW REPUBLIC

“It was when I was four months pregnant, sick as a dog, and in the middle of an argument, that I realized I could no longer tolerate the fetus-is-nothing paradigm of the pro-choice movement. I was being interrogated by a conservative, and the subject of abortion rights came up. “You’re four months pregnant,” he said. “Are you going to tell me that’s not a baby you’re carrying?”

The accepted pro-choice response at such a moment in the conversation is to evade: to move as swiftly as possible to a discussion of “privacy” and “difficult personal decisions” and “choice.” Had I not been so nauseated and so cranky and so weighed down with the physical gravity of what was going on inside me, I might not have told what is the truth for me. “Of course it’s a baby,” I snapped. And went rashly on: “And if I found myself in circumstances in which I had to make the terrible decision to end this life, then that would be between myself and God.”

Startlingly to me, two things happened: the conservative was quiet, I had said something that actually made sense to him. And I felt the great relief that is the grace of long-delayed honesty.”

To read the essay in its entirety, go here

Share on Facebook

Faye Wattleton On Unborn Babies

Curiously, former Planned Parenthood president Faye Wattleton admits that the unborn are alive in her book:

“There are many sperm cells in the [seminal] fluid. If one of them meet an egg cell inside the mother, new life can begin to grow… if one of your friends is pregnant, ask her to let your child feel the baby move… a baby grows in a special place inside the mother, called the uterus — not in her stomach. In nine months, it is born…”

Faye Wattleton, “How to Talk to your child about Sexuality” (Garden City, New York: Doubleday Inc., 1986

Share on Facebook

We Have Dealt in Euphemism

“We – in the states – have dealt heavily, up to now, in euphemism. I think one of the reasons why the “good guys” – the people in favor of abortion rights – lost a lot of ground is that we have been unwilling to talk to women about what it means to abort a baby.

We don’t ever talk about babies, we don’t ever talk about what is being decided in abortion. We never talk about responsibility. The word “choice” is the biggest euphemism.

Some use the phrases “products of conception” and “contents of the uterus,” or exchange the word “pregnancy” for the word “fetus.” I think this is a mistake tactically and strategically, and I think it’s wrong…

It is morally and ethically wrong to do abortions without acknowledging what it means to do them.

I performed abortions, I have had an abortion and I am in favor of women having abortions when we choose to do so.

But we should never disregard the fact that being pregnant means there is a baby growing inside of a woman, a baby whose life is ended. We ought not to pretend this is not happening.”

Judith Arcana “Feminist Politics and Abortion in the US” Pro-Choice Forum (Psychology and Reproductive Choice) Sponsored by The Society for the Psychology of Women. here

Share on Facebook

Abortion Is a Religious Experience

“We like to think that having an abortion is a religious experience, but not always.”

Abortion providers, in the post-“16 and Loved” The Abortioneers April 3, 2012 http://abortioneers.blogspot.com/2012/04/about-year-ago-we-blogged-about-no-easy.htm

Share on Facebook

Abortion and Motherhood

“I became a mother seven months ago. By giving birth, I feel I made a solemn promise. I will be responsible for the physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being of this beautiful little creature for the next 18 years and beyond. I will put her needs first, I will always think about her welfare, I will make sacrifices for her. This is the promise we celebrate on Mother’s Day. Many women keep this promise by having abortions.”

Nancy Stanwood, MD, “In the Shadow of Mother’s Day” Salon Magazine May. 10, 2008
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2008/05/shadow-mothers-day

abort16w3 — 16 weeks – legal in every state

Share on Facebook

On Fetal Life

“The fetus is indeed a wondrous part of our humanity; we are drawn to it is part of the ongoing mystery of who we are.… There is, of course, a danger in over romanticizing fetal life or defining its value primarily in relation to our selves.”

Frances Kissling “Is There Life after Roe? How to Think about the Fetus” in Krista Jacob. Abortion under Attack: Women on the Challenges Facing Choice (Emeryville, CA: Seal Press, 2006) 99

Share on Facebook

Black and White On Abortion

“Politically, I have to be pro-choice. Black and white thinking about something as important as life is not wise.”

Lauri Wollner in her essay explaining why she is pro-choice entitled “Tiny, Golden Feet” in Krista Jacob. Abortion under Attack: Women on the Challenges Facing Choice (Emeryville, CA: Seal Press, 2006) 166

Share on Facebook

Abortion and Life

“The general public may believe that women who have abortions are turning their backs on “life”, as though the only life involved is that of the potential baby. In my experience as an abortion provider, I know that, really, they are turning toward life in the most responsible way they know how.”

Margaret R Johnston “We Have Met the Enemy, and She/He Is Us”

Krista Jacob. Abortion under Attack: Women on the Challenges Facing Choice (Emeryville, CA: Seal Press, 2006) 78

Share on Facebook

Women Who Have Abortions Are Lucky

Margaret R Johnston, clinic worker, says the following to her readers in her essay “We Have Met the Enemy, and She/He Is Us”:

“I hope you count yourself among the 37% of all women who has had an abortion or the 85% of partners who have been involved in the abortion decision, or the friend of someone who confided in you and shared her abortion story, or even one of the lucky parents who actually got to be involved in your daughter’s pregnancy decision. If so, you are fortunate enough to experience one of life’s most eye-opening moments – and you know.”

Krista Jacob. Abortion under Attack: Women on the Challenges Facing Choice (Emeryville, CA: Seal Press, 2006) 77