Pro-choice law clerk: Roe V Wade “borders on the indefensible”

Edward Lazarus, former law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, who authored the Roe V Wade decision:

“As a matter of constitutional interpretation and judicial method, Roe borders on the indefensible. I say this as someone utterly committed to the right to choose, as someone who believes such a right has grounding elsewhere in the Constitution instead of where Roe placed it, and as someone who loved Roe’s author like a grandfather….

What, exactly, is the problem with Roe? The problem, I believe, is that it has little connection to the Constitutional right it purportedly interpreted. A constitutional right to privacy broad enough to include abortion has no meaningful foundation in constitutional text, history, or precedent ­- at least, it does not if those sources are fairly described and reasonably faithfully followed.”

“The Lingering Problems with Roe v. Wade, and Why the Recent Senate Hearings on Michael McConnell’s Nomination Only Underlined Them” FindLaw Legal Commentary, Oct. 3, 2002

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Number of black babies aborted exceeds African-American deaths by lynching every four days

African-American author Elisha J Israel revealed the following statistics in his book:

“In 2008, according to the Guttmacher Institute, there were 1.21 million abortions in the United States and 30% of these were performed on African-American women. In this year African-American women averaged 994 abortions per day. To put this in perspective, in the years between 1882 and 1968, known as the “Lynching Century”, the Tuskegee Institute recorded 3466 lynchings of African-Americans. Today, through abortion that number 3446 is surpassed in about 4 days… In any given year since 1973, the number of abortions surpassed the amount of deaths of the 10 leading causes of death for African Americans. Since 1973, more black lives have died from abortion than for deaths resulting from heart disease, violent crime, HIV/AIDS, cancer, accidents, and diabetes combined.”

Elisha J Israel Killing Black Innocents (2017)96

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Sarah Weddington calls pictures of abortion victims “grotesque and misleading”

In her pro-choice book, Sarah Weddington, who argued Roe V Wade before the Supreme Court, complained about pro-lifers using photographs of aborted babies. She claims that pro-choicers had photographs of women who died after illegal abortions but chose not to use them. Weddington says:

“We expected the antiabortionists to use grotesque and misleading photographs; they usually did. Some on our side felt we should show graphically the problems that resulted when abortion was illegal. Others argued that we would be sinking to the level of the opposition – a level we disdained – if we did the same. We decided to use reason instead of the pictures.”

Sarah Weddington A Question of Choice (New York: The Feminist Press, 2013 ed.) 86

Setting aside the question of how a photograph depicting reality can be misleading, if the pictures are so “grotesque”, it only means that abortion itself is grotesque. The pictures are an accurate representation of what happens in an abortion. If she thinks the pictures are grotesque, she thinks that abortion is grotesque. But she still supports it.

See some of the pictures of aborted babies

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Mother from rape says daughter gave her strength

Ruby Westmoorland — a mother who conceived a child in rape — and her granddaughter Veronica appeared in the documentary “Pro-Life without Exception.” Westmoorland was raped two weeks after her 17th birthday. After confirming her pregnancy, she told her mother, who urged her to have an abortion. Westmoorland explained:

[I] found out eventually that I was pregnant and was devastated and scared and confused. My mom was there for me. She told me she would support whatever choice I made, but had a friend come over and kind of do an intervention, where they counseled me to go for an abortion, and strongly encouraged it. And [they] already had a plan in place for finances and travel and everything – they were gonna take me to Dallas.

Westmoorland was not sure she wanted an abortion and wanted to pray about the decision. However, her mother made the option of abortion sound very attractive:

I told her I needed to think about it and immediately went to my room and started praying. They made it sound really good, because I could go to college, which was a dream, pursue my art career, and do the things I already had planned to do.

After taking time to pray, Westmoorland decided against abortion:

It didn’t pan out that way because when I got alone with God, I couldn’t do it. It wasn’t in me. I couldn’t do it. It wasn’t the baby’s fault. I told my mom that, sink or swim, the baby and I were in it together. She didn’t argue. She didn’t throw anything, she said okay.

Westmoorland struggled with emotional trauma from the rape, but was not traumatized by her pregnancy. Abortion supporters who claim that pregnancies conceived in rape are a constant reminder of the rape and are always emotionally traumatic are wrong. In fact, Westmoorland’s daughter had the opposite effect – she inspired Westmoorland to keep going:

I wasn’t devastated about the baby as much as I was devastated about the rape. The baby was the highlight. … It was something to hold on to, to stay in the here and now, and to deal with and to stay strong for.

Having her in my life gave me a reason to keep moving forward, and a purpose for not sitting down and giving in to self-pity or fear or anger. There was a lot of anger, a lot of rage. But it wasn’t towards her, it was towards the fact that she and I both were in a situation that neither one of us asked for.

Westmoorland gave birth to a little girl. Years later, the young girl found out how she was conceived by overhearing a conversation. She asked her mother, “How can you love me?” Westmoorland says:

I told her – and I believe this with everything in me – that she was not a mistake, because God doesn’t make mistakes.… I told her that she was a gift to me, coming out of [a] really bad place, so that I could get through what happened. I really believe that’s why He gave her to me, because when I see her, I just see beauty. I see love. I see hope.

Eventually, Westmoorland’s daughter gave her grandchildren. Reflecting back, Westmoorland is thankful for her daughter, saying,

“She gave me strength… I’m very thankful, because without her, life would have been a whole lot different. I wouldn’t have my grandchildren. [I] wouldn’t have my daughter.”

Westmoorland’s story proves that a baby conceived through rape can help a mother heal and give her strength to become a survivor.

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“Do you need a few days off to take care of it?”

When Emily became pregnant, her boss immediately assumed she would have an abortion:

“My program director asked, ‘Do you need a few days off to take care of it?’

Jamie Kenney “17 Moms Share The Worst Thing They Heard After Announcing Their Pregnancy” Romper Sept 6 2016

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Pro-lifer looks back on her teen pregnancy

Pro-life activist Michelle Rodriguez wrote on Secular Pro-Life’s blog:

“When I conceived my oldest at fifteen, I had a very vague idea as to how I would be treated once my uterus expanded to reveal my secret. I had the notion that if I just reassured the skeptics that my future would be fine, they would take their negativity elsewhere. Some people however, were determined to convince me otherwise.

My parents didn’t take the news lightly. One of the first things that they exclaimed was, “What will our friends and family think?!” Their disappointment shifted when they came up with the “solution.” They said that no one should know of my pregnancy, and that I WILL have an abortion. “We’ll pretend that nothing happened and go on with our lives,” my mom said happily. I was shocked that they valued the family’s reputation more than my daughter’s life.

It’s not just my parents that think that way. When I talk to abortion minded girls they often mention being afraid of the rejection, the stares, and the comments. If they’re in a private school they fear getting expelled. If they are close with their friends they imagine getting isolated and forgotten. Nobody wants that, yet somehow society manages to justify the stigma by saying that it keeps teenage pregnancy down. This is a myth, considering the fact that the majority of these pregnancies are unplanned, often unwanted.”

“Tomorrow: response to the #AbortStigma tweetfest” Secular Pro-Life Perspectives FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014

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Pro-Life Activist has Conversation with Abortionist

Pro-life activist John Cavanaugh–O’Keefe was with 5 other protesters at an abortion facility when the abortionist came out and they had a conversation. He recalls:

“About an hour later, I saw the abortionist drive past the abortion clinic and go up a hill nearby. Presumably he wanted to avoid being noticed. I followed him up the hill, and was there when he parked. He stayed inside his car for about 10 minutes, probably waiting for me to go away. When he finally got out of the car, I approached him and introduced myself. He responded immediately and angrily, “Who are you and what right do you have to accost me in this manner?” I responded that my name was John and that I was a human being. And on that basis, we struck up a conversation.

As we walked down the hill, he told me that I should rejoice that I was alive. I assured him that I did rejoice that I was alive, and also that he was alive. Together, we both rejoiced that we were both alive. It was incredibly banal. But the odd thing about it was that these banal remarks were pertinent, because we disagreed explicitly about whether to rejoice about the lives of the preborn children at the foot of the hill.

I urged him to take the day off. It was a beautiful day, a spring day in Washington. It was the day before Easter, and it was also near the Jewish Passover. I said that babies and growing things and springtime and beautiful days all go together, and that he should take the day off just to rejoice in the life all around. He listened but did not respond. I pointed out to him that he had no real desire to do what he was about to do. I reminded him that he was a free person, and that he could do as he saw fit. I reminded him that he was responsible and could make decisions. I urged him to make a free responsible decision to let those children live.

For a split second, his eyes lit up. And then, it seemed to me, I saw the bars of a prison fall back across his eyes. His shoulders slumped and he continued to walk toward the abortion clinic. I followed him and kept talking, but after that moment I did not expect to make any headway…

With every fiber of my being I hate the work that he does, and I spent many of my waking hours fighting that work. But by God’s grace, I have been prevented from hating the people who are involved.”

John Cavanaugh–O’Keefe Emmanuel, Solidarity: God’s Act, Our Response (2000) 33-34

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Post-Abortive Woman: Abortion is an agonizing, life-altering choice

Victoria Koloff, who had an abortion, wrote:

“Abortion is not the quick, easy solution as some have been made to believe. It is an agonizing, life–altering choice that we, post-abortive women, are forced to live with for the rest of our lives. The cost that I paid and will pay for my decision to abort was a greater price than I would’ve ever paid had I given birth to my child. I don’t argue that it would’ve been extremely difficult to be a single mother of three small children. But, there were other options. Even adoption would’ve been a better choice…

I would give anything to know that I had a child who was alive and that someday would search for me, her biological mother. But that day will never come for me because my child is gone. I never gave my child a chance to search for me. My child will never ring my phone or knock on my door. Abortion was too permanent a solution. You can never take it back. If I knew then what I know now, abortion would have never been a part of my life.”

Victoria Koloff They Lied to Us (Worldcomm: 2011) 15

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Mother of twins conceived in rape: “I love them with all my heart”

Andrea Villegas, mother of twins conceived during rape:

“My story is a bit sad. I was drugged and raped almost two years ago, and a few days later I realized that I was pregnant. It was very traumatizing, but I decided to get ahead with my baby who was not to blame for anything (so I didn’t know there were two). Three months later, after an ultrasound, the doctor told me: there are two, so I felt that the world was coming over me once more. I didn’t know how I was going to do from that moment and once again, I gathered up courage and thought that God had a very important purpose for me and my children. I have lived the most wonderful moments next to these little ones who have already turned one year old. I do not regret anything. It wasn’t the prettiest way they came into my life, but here they are always inspiring me to get ahead and to not give up, just for them. Sara and Ezequiel are the most wonderful thing that has come to my life and I love them with all my heart.”

Andrea Villegas, mother of twins after a rape, from Spanish division of Save the 1, Salvar El 1.

Shared by Rebecca Kiessling Pro-Life Speaker on March 3, 2020
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Post-Abortion woman: I wanted my son or daughter back

One post-abortive woman says:

“I was very, very confused. My feelings were so mixed. All along I was told it was the right thing to do, but then why was I feeling like it was so wrong and terrible? I hated myself so much. I wanted to scream. I wanted my son or daughter back but it was too late. The nurses wouldn’t talk to me. All they would say is “relax,” or “it’s okay, it’s all over now.”

Quoted in Pam Koerbel Does Anyone Feel Like I Do? And Other Questions Women Ask Following an Abortion (New York: Doubleday, 1990)

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