They said it.
From pro-abortion activist Eileen Fairweather:
“One Australian study [found] 60% of women believe life begins at conception (compared with 36% of men). That doesn’t stop [women] having abortions… It is possible for people to support a woman’s right to choose whether they believe abortion is killing or not.”
Eileen Fairweather “Abortion: The Feelings behind the Slogans” in Women’s Health: A Spare Rib Reader, ed. S. O’Sullivan (London: Pandora, 1987) 199 – 200
Share on FacebookIn her book A Question of Choice, where she gives an account of arguing Roe Vs. Wade, Sarah Weddington describes the pro-life movement’s string of victories after Roe was decided, and how the pro-choice movement diminished in power:
“… Generally our energy and contributions sagged, and we seemed only to plod forward. We were forever trying to increase NARAL membership, raise the funds necessary to keep the organization afloat, respond to press requests, and maintain and build our public support… The opposition was fighting a battle of attrition, keeping the pressure on in so many different arenas hoping that eventually our resources would collapse, and in fact that was happening.…
We began to lose on matters of access. The opposition mustered the votes and passed measures that denied government funding for almost all Medicaid recipients, even though the government would then provide prenatal and delivery services at greater cost to those same women. Antiabortionists lobbied and passed measures to cut off insurance funding for abortion for federal employees, and made it almost impossible for people in the military and their dependents to obtain abortions. Even when we could collect the votes to defeat one of their anti-funding measures, the opponents of abortion would roar right back with another.”
Sarah Weddington A Question of Choice (New York: The Feminist Press, 2013 ed.) 199 – 200
Share on FacebookPro-Abortion author Judith Orr writes:
“The use of new technology to view a developing embryo and foetus has become a vital tool for the antiabortion lobby – and not just in pickets outside clinics, with their giant posters. For example, the antiabortion calls for mandatory viewing of ultrasound images of their pregnancy for women requesting abortion, and supposedly “4D” videos of foetus are used [sic] to build opposition to abortion.”
Judith Orr Abortion Wars: The Fight for Reproductive Rights (Bristol, UK: Policy Press, 2017) 91
Even pro-choice people acknowledge that pictures like the one below are powerful pro-life tools.
Pro-Lifer John Cavanaugh–O’Keefe explains why pro-lifers have to be supportive and compassionate to pregnant women:
“Preborn children have the same rights to protection that anyone else has, but their protection must take into account their unique relationship with their mothers. It is not possible to harm a preborn child without going through the mother. It is not possible to hug the child without hugging the mother. A preborn child isolated from his or her mother is a theoretical construct, not reality. To protect the child, you have to deal with the mother.
If the means you use to protect a child make the mother turn away from you in fear, you have failed. Violent means are likely to do just that.
If the means you use to protect a child made her wonder whether you are approachable and trustworthy, you have failed.”
John Cavanaugh–O’Keefe Emmanuel, Solidarity: God’s Act, Our Response (2000) 32-33
Share on FacebookA study shows that women who have repeat abortions have less stable relationships:
“A Yale University study of 345 women at a New York abortion clinic found that women who have repeat abortions are in less stable social situations and have relationships of shorter duration than women who seek abortions for the first time.”
Michael B Bracken & Kasl K Stanislav “First and Repeat Abortions: A Study of Decision-Making and Delay” Journal of Biosocial Science 7, (1975) 374 – 491
Share on FacebookFormer abortion worker Jewels Green said she had nightmares from seeing the bodies of aborted babies on a daily basis. She took those concerns to the clinic manager:
“I was 20 years old when I told the clinic director, “I’m having nightmares. Does anyone else have nightmares when working autoclave?”
She replied, “What we do here is end a life. And if you’re not okay with that, you can’t work here.”
My schedule was changed for the next few weeks to give me a rest from the autoclave room… The next time I met with the clinic director, I assured her that I was on board with the work we did, and with our mission and dedication to preserving women’s reproductive rights…
I told myself that abortion was alright for other women, even though it had been dead wrong for me. I loved my job at the clinic, even though it gave me nightmares. While most of my friends were working at drugstores, retail shops, or work-study during college, I had a job with a purpose, and they envied me. I tried to keep my pesky conscience muzzled.”
Patrick Madrid Surprised by Life (Manchester, New Hampshire: Sophia Institute Press, 2017) 52 – 53
Share on FacebookEtienne-Emile Baulieu invented the abortion pill, which has been used to abort millions of preborn babies in various countries. He says:
“I don’t like abortion and I don’t like talking about it. I am a physician and would rather talk about saving life. I am not really for abortion, I am for women.”
Etienne-Emile Baulieu, inventor of the RU-486 abortion pill
“France Orders Subsidies for RU-486 Abortion Pill.” National Catholic Register April 1, 1990, page 2.
Share on FacebookAbortionist David Paintin says:
“In the last 10 years about 85% [of abortions] have been done before 12 weeks. The mean gestation in women who have NHS abortions is probably around 9 – 10 weeks, 15 – 16 % are done after 12 weeks, and about 2% after 20 weeks.”
At 9-10 weeks, the baby looks like this:
“The women who come relatively late tend to be those whose lives are disorganized and who have poor relationships. They find difficulty in accepting that they are pregnant in the first instance and, having found they are pregnant, find difficulty in utilizing the service.”
David B Paintin “Legal Abortion in England and Wales”
Abortion: Medical Progress and Social Implications, CIBA Foundation Symposium 115 (London: Pitman, 1985) 12
Share on FacebookPro-abortion author and Christian theologian Beverly Wildung Harrison writes:
“Many people may deny what I hold to be true; that the act of abortion is sometimes, even frequently, a positive moral good for women; but those who empathize with the realities of women’s lives usually recognize that a specific choice for abortion is often the least wrong act under the circumstances.”
Beverly Wildung Harrison Our Right to Choose: Toward a New Ethic of Abortion (Boston, Massachusetts: Beacon Press, 1983) 16
Below: A “positive moral good” at 10 weeks
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In many states, minors are not allowed to have abortions without at least one parent’s permission, and in other states minors must inform a parent they are having an abortion. However, the laws allow minors to go to a judge and argue that informing their parent would not be in their best interests and they are mature enough to make the decision alone. The judge is supposed to carefully weigh the evidence, but in many places the judicial bypass is just a rubber stamp.
According to a Toledo newspaper:
“A teenage girl who wanted to win an exemption from the reporting law would best travel to Franklin (Columbus) or Montgomery (Dayton) counties, where more than 90% of requests are allowed.”
The Blade, January 24, 1992 (Toledo) quoted in Oliver Trager Abortion: Choice & Conflict (New York: Facts on File, 1993) 43
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