Five things I think the pro-life movement needs to change

#5. Let go of the gay marriage debate.

I know this won't be a popular thing to say among Christian pro-lifers, but I really believe that this is one of the biggest things holding back the pro-life message from youth today. I can't tell you how many times I have heard a pro-choicer conflate the two debates, and I believe that is largely our fault. And it is tragic. One issue involves the killing of unique human beings, the other involves two consenting adults having sex.

When you go to many of the big name websites in the pro-life movement, you will find them divided between advancing the sanctity of life, and pushing extreme anti-gay stories. How many people have been turned off of our message because our movement (as a whole) has focused on issues that have little bearing on the abortion debate?

If you are against gay marriage and are pro-life - fine. But please keep these two sides of your advocacy separate. And if I have to explain to you why abortion is a much more serious issue than gay marriage, learn a bit more about what you are advocating against. Gay rights do not even come close to approaching the scale of harm that abortion rights inflicts on our society (and of course, the question of gay rights causing harm at all is debatable) - especially when we consider the young lives that are ended through abortion.


#4. Focus on real arguments.

I cannot even count the number of times I have read a pro-life comment or blog post that does not address at all what the author had hoped to address. Instead, all I read are intensely emotional appeals to the evilness of abortion, the presence of the devil, and the judgement of God. While these things may be true, no one will be convinced by such appeals. What will convince people, however, is sticking to the salient points of the debate. What are pre-born humans? Do they have a right to life? Do mothers really have unequivocal control over their pre-born children, even to the point of causing harm and death?

See this blog entry from Pro-Life Humanists for a non-Christian perspective. I think they have a point. Are we in this movement to save babies, or are we in this movement to convince people to believe in God?


#3. Understand science and statistics.

One other issue with the pro-life movement is that as soon as we find a study that hints at support for the pro-life side of the debate, we run with it. Pro-life blogs and spokespeople reference the study to the point of absurdity, and make statements which assume that there is no room to doubt the study's conclusions.

That is not how science works. And that is definitely not how statistics work. Read the studies you quote, read studies which draw conflicting results, and read the scientific commentary on these issues. And never, ever state anything for certain.

In any case, our thesis does not rest on whether or not abortions cause breast cancer, increase suicidal thoughts, or that most women choose abortion for economical reasons. Putting too much weight on these conclusions, especially when they may be incorrect, weakens our message. Abortion is always wrong. Period. Even if it were healthier for women to abort than give birth. Even if most women reported increased levels of happiness after abortions. Even if women choose to have abortions for other reasons besides the monetary cost of raising a child. Abortion always kills someone (both scientifically and philosophically) - and that is why it is wrong.


#2. Increase your reach.

Become better at reaching people. Spread the message. This is easier said than done, especially since the MSM prefers to ignore our message rather than report dispassionately on the issue of abortion. But even so, there is definitely room for improvement for every pro-life organization.

For instance, I will give an example relevant to my life as a student. If I didn't actively seek out the date of Canada's 2013 March For Life, I wouldn't know it was happening on May 9th. The university pro-life groups I am a part of haven't even bothered posting a link to the event page on their own Facebook pages. The church I attend included March for Life in their April bulletins, but didn't bother saying anything about the pro-life message or the March during the beginning of May. Pro-life friends who are actively involved in the movement haven't been searching for others to come with them to the March - in fact, I had to reach out to my campus pro-life group in order to get any information at all.

All of these pages are from prominent Ontario Universities - ones that are nice and close to Ottawa. Yet, no information whatsoever on the March. How many people are we losing because we haven't been connecting with them? If I wasn't absolutely determined to attend the March this year, I can say that I would have definitely given up.


#1. Engage the culture.

Many pro-life leaders, in Canada and in the States, are young. Which is great. But many of them are also very devout religious people and it is hard for the average person to relate to them. We need to promote organizations and advocates who come from a different background and who advocate for a different, more secular kind of approach. I would love for a Secular Pro-Life chapter to begin in Canada. I think something like this could make great strides in the academic / university world towards converting students and professors to the pro-life cause.

 How many pro-life songs (not written by Christian artists) do you know? How many pro-life pieces of art have you seen? How many pro-life movies are out there? Are they popular, or do they only succeed in the Christian niche market?

Spreading the message does nothing if it only reaches the Christian pro-life echo chamber. This is the most important point, in my opinion, because if the average person never comes across a thoughtful, well reasoned depiction of the pro-life cause, they will remain pro-choice simply because it is the status quo.

March For Life 2013

 This was my first ever March for Life! To say I was nervous would be an extreme understatement. As May 9th approached I found I could think about little else. I was incredibly excited to finally have an opportunity to attend the March - it is something I have wanted to do for years! But I was also terrified. Would it live up to my expectations? What would the reactions of the people living in Ottawa be? Would the pro-choice protesters be angry? Could I be rational and compassionate in the face of any opposition? Did I have it in me to be a good pro-life ambassador or would I push more people away from the pro-life side? What would my family and friends say about my attendance?

The day itself started out beautifully. Despite calls for rain and thunderstorms, the morning was bright, sunny, and incredibly hot. I know it sounds cheesy to say, but it really did feel like God was watching over our March.

I spent quite awhile trying to decide what to wear. I have never been to the March before (in fact, I have never been to any rally or protest before) so I wasn't sure what to expect. Since March for Life presumably involves a lot of walking, I opted for my brand new (and super colourful!) running shoes, work out clothes, sunscreen, and a rain jacket just in case.

Walking to Parliament Hill was a surreal experience. I have spent so much time reading pro-life news, blogs, and websites but I have never encountered people, pro-life or pro-choice, who care about this cause. And suddenly, I was in a place where everyone there had something to say about abortion. And there were SO many of us! Literal rivers of pro-lifers were streaming towards Parliament. Some of them I recognized from the news, so I was very starstruck. I actually got to talk to one of the students who was arrested in Carleton a couple of years ago, and I think I almost fainted from excitement! Of course, there were also some pro-choicers, nearly all of them women about my age, and all of them with homemade signs and hipster clothes. They clearly weren't happy with us, so we just waved and smiled at them.

Parliament Hill was incredible. There were so many people, and such a diverse crowd. And so many signs, in French and English and, occasionally, other languages. Old people, priests and nuns (it was wonderful to see religious people taking a stand, as they should!), children, teenagers, students, families, so many women, and lots of babies! There were even rumours that Pro-Life Humanists attended, and I was very disappointed that I did not get an opportunity to see them.

But by far, the babies were my favourite; there is something about a baby that just gives such a wonderful testimony against the pro-choice cause. How can you argue for abortion, when the very people who die in abortions are sleeping right in front of you?

It was also wonderful to see the pro-lifers' reactions to these children. There were quite a few young, unmarried mothers there, and everyone was so filled with joy to see these families! These reactions fly in the face of the stereotype that pro-lifers are stuffy religious people who hate women who become pregnant out of wedlock.

This baby is awesome!

As the pre-March rally progressed, more and more people streamed into Parliament Hill, until it became difficult to walk anywhere for fear of stepping on someone. The sky was clear, the heat was terrible, but there were few complaints. The densest area was near the stage, where MPs were giving short speeches in favour of the pro-life cause. I know that there are few MPs who are openly pro-life, so I was surprised how long the talks lasted! Clearly, there are more of them than I ever thought. By far the biggest cheer was for Mark Warawa (he's amazing, by the way), who proposed Motion 408 against sex selection abortion, which just happened to be the theme of this year's March.

And finally, the March began. It took forever to funnel out of Parliament Hill. Everyone was so full of joy, spontaneous cheering broke out throughout the walk, and there was even a saxophone serenading us. I expected to see pro-choice protestors right away, but they were nowhere to be seen. I was starting to wonder if they had gone home, when we finally hit a stretch of sidewalk where they had decided to gather.

 
There were way less of them than I expected. My favourite moment of the March was when I overheard a conversation between a pro-choicer and a group of pro-life highschool students.

Pro-choicer: "I know you're only here because you get a day off school."
Pro-lifer: "Actually, we really believe in this cause."
Pro-choicer: "..." [the look on her face was priceless. A mixture of I-don't-know-how-to-process-this shock and disgust]

My least-favourite counter-protester was a middle-aged man who held a sign which said: "Pro-choice dad, protect my daughters' right to choice".

Another interesting thing I noticed was that no one who was watching the protest or the counter protest joined in any significant way. I was especially surprised to see people avoiding the pro-choicers. There were many pro-choice protesters who seemed to spend the March standing by themselves, holding a sign and never saying anything. It seemed very lonely, especially in contrast to the pro-life March, which filled the streets!

My favourite pro-life protesters were the Pro-Life Avengers. I especially loved Thor, who had "Pro-Life" written on the front of his hammer. These guys were a huge hit with everyone at the rally. I have yet to see them in the news though, even in the pro-life news! :(

The reactions of the Ottawa citizens were mixed. Construction workers stopped their work to stare, and a few of them cheered (yay!). Many people just looked at us with bewilderment. They clearly could not understand why we were here, or why there were so many of us. A few were angry. Some yelling. A few fingers were flipped. There were lines of cars stretching as far as you could see, held up by the March. The traffic must have been horrible.

People had no choice but to notice us!

There were some press. Not a large press presense, and even though I expected this it still boggles my mind. What other rally - a rally that involves the attendance of tens of thousands of people - would create such a small wave in the media? But I was told the coverage was better this year (yay again!) and I did see some interviews between pro-lifers and reporters. EWTN was also there to broadcast the March live. It's times like these that I am just SO PROUD to be Catholic!

Near the end of the March, I was told we were going to walk by an abortion clinic. It wasn't clear to me where this clinic was - I never saw it - but the moment we walked by was very obvious. Suddenly, people stopped smiling. There were no cheers. There was a kind of chill over the crowd. If people were talking at all, they were talking very quietly.

That was also around the time we walked by the large abortion posters - the ones which show babies who have lost their lives in the procedure. They were very hard to see. Suddenly you're reminded why you are there, and all the joy at seeing so many people marching for life leaves you, and you just wish that this didn't have to happen at all, that all lives could be protected.

Then we were back at Parliament Hill. People were returning their signs to the March organizers. Many were leaving - all of the students had to return to school. The pro-choicers cleared out almost immediately, which surprised me as I expected them to hang around until the very end.

Once I reached the Hill I think it was obvious why they had left. After the March, post-abortive women and men share their testimonies, and it is very difficult to listen to the pain in their voices. It was a very fitting way to end the March, but I would like to see at least one abortion testimony spoken loudly before the March next year, so that everyone can hear it, especially the pro-choice protesters. 

Then a mass started, and we left to return home. And my first ever March for Life was over.

The Positives:

1. The amount of people. The diversity in age. The amount of students and children. The amount of women. The presence of religious leaders and MPs.

2. How peaceful and family-friendly the event was. How many other rallies like this (if there are even other rallies that can draw this kind of attendance), involve almost no danger of violence, no vandalism, no littering, and no anger. It was amazing to see how respectful the pro-lifers were, both of the city itself and of the people in it. The police definitely had an easy job yesterday.

3. The joy that permeated the March. The cheering. The smiles.

4. The reactions of the average citizen. So confused. So bewildered. Hopefully a few are inspired to read about our cause!

The Negatives:

1. The focus on Christianity. How many atheist or agnostic pro-lifers didn't attend, or left early, because they didn't feel welcome? That isn't to say that there shouldn't be a religious presence - there absolutely SHOULD - but I don't think there should have been a mass after the March, on Parliament Hill. The masses should occur in the churches, and be specifically for the Christian pro-lifers. If we want other people to attend the March, we shouldn't force church on them! There was also too many speakers who said they were against abortion because God is. This does not help our cause. It just makes us sound like crazy religious people. 

2. The Theme. I agree that sex selection abortion is wrong, but it isn't the ONLY thing that is wrong about abortion. Aborting anyone, boy or girl, is wrong, and I think this theme overshadowed that very important fact.

3. The lack of homemade signs. Homemade signs show you care about the cause, they show that you are willing to put time into spreading your beliefs! I hope more people are inspired to make their own signs next year.

4. The fact that so many people left right away. It gives the impression that you really don't care that much about the pro-life cause. Though there was still a very sizable crowd several hours after the March (much larger, I am sure, than any other crowd that comes to Parliament), if the attendance could have stayed as high as it had been during the March, that would have made a wonderful witness!

5. The amount of Christians. That in itself is a VERY good thing (this is exactly the sort of protest that Christians should be involved in!), but I would like to see a more diverse set of beliefs expressed in the March. There should be more groups like Pro-Life Humanists and Secular Pro-Life, and they need to have a strong presence!

The strongest pro-choice argument

Over the past year, I have noticed that most thoughtful, philosophically-bent pro-life websites that I frequent consider variations of Judith Jarvis Thompson's Violinist argument to be the strongest argument in favor of legalized abortion. Two excellent examples include Secular Pro-Life Perspectives, who has published entire series on this topic, and Life-Report, who has focused podcasts and written reports on this question. Indeed, the only time I have really tried to think rigorously about an argument was in relation to the violinist.

I now find the pro-life obsession on these types of arguments rather confusing, both because it is not a particularly strong argument in favor of completely elective abortion (in fact, it only absolutely applies in pregnancies due to rape), and because it is not an opinion that many thoughtful pro-choice academics, as well as average pro-choice plebeians, share.

Rather, the central question in both the grass-roots and glass-tower abortion debates is the nature of the embryo/fetus/baby. Stated more simply, when does meaningful life, worthy of protection, begin? Is all human life truly worthy of protection?

These questions lead those who wish to rationalize abortion to the strongest of the pro-choice arguments. And, indeed, we can see their effects in the publications of medical ethics journals, in the actions of biologists and geneticists, in the fertility industry, in the nature of the euthanasia debate, and in the intuition of the average Canadian citizen. So I believe it is worthwhile to spend much more time on the philosophical implications of a pro-life or pro-choice set of beliefs, especially in regard to the human who's life is truly at stake.

This is not to say that there hasn't been a huge focus, both by pro-lifers and pro-choicers, on the nature of the embryo. But almost without fail, the discussions that the average person curious about the morality of abortion have access to have been poor, emotionally charged, and philosophically vapid. I truly think it is rare to find a non-expert who has really spent time investigating their own beliefs with regards to the value of human life, and this has lead to much public discourse around abortion that is both useless and often quite nasty.

To that end, I downloaded the entire current issue of the Journal of Medical Ethics (May 213, Volume 39, Issue 5). This journal recently created a storm of controversy after publishing Giubilini and Minerva's now infamous article: "After-birth abortion: why should the baby live?". Because of the response the article received, the JME has now published an entire issue focused on this specific question.

So, over the course of the next few weeks I will be reading each article and posting a corresponding analysis. I know it is hard for many people who were raised in the Christian world-view to understand how this could even be a debate, because ... well, of course the baby should live - all human life is sacred! But this is not a good counter argument, and a Christian education is not the kind of education that the average Canadian, or indeed, person in any country has received. Additionally, the sanctity of all human life has certainly not been considered obvious for many human societies throughout human history - including ours.

So without further ado, I introduce you to my newest series of blog posts: The strongest pro-choice argument. I want these posts to be as thoughtful, rigorous, and academic as possible, so my goal is to post approximately one a week - though it is entirely possible it will take me much longer to make my way through the supplementary literature. Either way, I look forward to this endeavor as a way to help myself understand my own views with regards to human life, and hopefully to enlighten my readers on their own biases and unexamined opinions.

As Socrates says, the unexamined life is not worth living. :)

P.S. The entire JME issue appears to be open access at the moment (I downloaded the entire thing while I was at Starbucks, without having to sign into the school's library account), so if you are curious to read the original papers yourself, download them now before you will have to pay to read them!

Abortion as Birth Control

Someone needs to tell these people that they are doing no favours for the pro-choice movement.

I have no doubt that there are many, MANY women who face an agonizing decision when they choose to abort. I have no doubt that there are many women who are coerced or forced into killing their children by abusive partners, parents, or even friends.

But then there are women like this, who see abortion as no different from birth control. And I see this opinion expressed widely in my post-graduate peer group. There are many, otherwise smart and compassionate people, who see sex as so necessary to their happiness that they see tearing apart an unborn baby as no different from using a condom. Is is this precise reason that I believe that promoting birth control in no way helps pro-lifers promote a culture of life. Sure, maybe some abortions would be prevented, but no one would be convinced that a baby is a human being deserving of respect and life. Instead, we have people like Lisa, who would gladly turn to abortion if her birth control were to fail.

How do we go about changing opinions like these?

By the way, she tweeted this in response to my post, Discouragement.

Video of the Week: Sr. Antoniana Maria on The Sisters of Life

This is a beautiful interview from Sr. Antoniana Maria about her vocation to become a nun with the Sisters of Life.

Quote of the Week: "My baby's alive"

Failed abortions do happen.

Former abortionist Dr. Paul Jarrett tells of one of his experiences:

"Since hypertonic saline was so toxic if it was injected into the uterine wall instead of the amiotic sac; there was a constant search for the ideal drug. Prostaglandin has now become the drug of choice, but one of the early experiments was with hypertonic urea. The pajor disadvantage in using it, was the problem of live births. I remember using it on a patient that the psychiatric residence brought to us from their clinic from an institutionailized patient who really was crazy. I'll never forget delivering her nearly two pound baby, and hearing her screams, 'My baby's alive, my baby's alive.' It lived for several days."

Read more from clinic workers and abortion doctors at Clinic Quotes.

And don't forget, Planned Parenthood believes that a baby born alive after an abortion should be treated or killed according to the mother's and doctor's wishes.

Why the abortion debate is still not about bodily rights

Most pro-lifers agree that the strongest argument for the legality of abortion is the bodily rights argument. In fact, there's been recent chatter in the pro-life blogosphere that bodily rights is what the abortion debate boils down to, and that we should be focusing on these arguments in order to win public opinion to the pro-life side.

But while I agree that bodily rights are an important part of the pro-choice philosophy (and are, in fact, the only "good" - though not necessarily strong - argument in favour of abortion in my opinion), we Canadian pro-lifers should not make that our only focus.

Why?

Because abortion is not about bodily rights.

If it was, late term abortions would be illegal across the board. After all, birth can be induced, and with proper treatment, the baby would survive. But in Canada, there are no laws restricting the availability of abortions, regardless of the age of the baby.

Instead, we find that bodily autonomy is not the real reason that pro-choice advocates are in favour of abortion. If it was, we would not have the average abortion advocate:

At a time when there is a chance that a 21-week-old (~5-and-a-quarter-month-old) baby can survive birth with almost no developmental complications, this kind of sentiment is so tragic. And it demonstrates how the debate is still not about about bodily autonomy. However, it is about personhood. It is about what the unborn baby truly is. It is about the value of a life.

If you want to know how to talk about abortion with a pro-choicer who believes that aborting a baby in the womb at any time, for any reason, is a moral choice, go to Canadian Centre for Bioethical Reform's website, and get educated.