You can probably tell from the title that you better brace yourself for this one. This word hasn’t been part of my vocabulary for probably 20 years at this point, and I don’t even particularly like hearing it. Guess what though, it’s time we all hear some uncomfortable things!
Everyone knows the famous quote from Trump when it was revealed he used the inappropriate line (and many others). I’m not here to defend any of that crass talk or point out any double standards. I bring it up to emphasize the following: Many of the same people who are so outraged by Trump’s comments in private about grabbing women by the p***y, see no problem and even publicly encourage women to kill live babies and grab them from their p***y. I bet you don’t like it when it’s turned around in this way huh? See, people who actually value women and life don’t like either of these things! One of the biggest problems with people arguing from what we call the “left” side of cultural, political, and moral issues is that their arguments have no clear moral foundation, lack consistent rational, and are full of projection. Oh, I’m just getting started…
Whenever the issue of abortion returns to the frontlines of public discourse, it’s inevitable to hear all of the examples of rare situations when due to pregnancy a woman’s life is potentially in danger, or she was a victim of rape, or the pregnancy was unplanned, or she is not mentally or emotionally ready to have a baby. The people promoting these stories intend to pull at heart strings. They want everyone to know how much they care about women and value a women’s choice… even to end the baby’s life. The implication (whether they say it or not) is that people who don’t support that choice are heartless and want to impose our will on women, or at least advocate for the government doing as much. Now, let’s pause for a minute. I’m not hiding the fact I am on the other side of this argument, and I’ll push back in just a second, but can we at least agree that I accurately articulated a reasonable description of the so-called “pro-choice” crowd? I’m not here labeling them abortion-loving freaks or speaking in hyperbole. If you can’t even give me that, then there’s no need for you to read on because you aren’t someone who wants to speak on substance. For those of you willing to hear out someone who has a different take, let’s continue…
Point 1: When most pro-lifers hear those same stories, we are also sad for those women. We just don’t believe the intentional killing of innocent life is the solution to those problems! That doesn’t mean we don’t care about women. Quite the contrary! Going by current demographics, 51% of our population is female, which means about that same percentage of babies killed in the womb are future women. That means pro-lifers are anywhere from 1-51% more pro-women than people who believe abortion is a viable option. We don’t want to see the lives of these future women ended, just as we wouldn’t want the lives of our daughters aged 0-17 ended, or any adult woman’s life ended. That’s because we value life. We are pro-choice too…the BEST choice — LIFE! You don’t own the word “choice” and not all choices are equal. The choice of life is superior to the choice of death! That’s one reason we celebrate life and mourn death.
Point 2: Almost all pregnancies are a result of an intentional act involving a woman. I’m sure I don’t need to go through the birds and the bees with everyone. Even with that intentional act, there are a ton of ways to prevent that act from resulting in a pregnancy. Sure, even with preventative measures pregnancy is still possible, but assuming you have basic sex education, that’s a risk we are all aware of beforehand. Assuming consent, engaging in that act is accepting that risk. It’s no different than signing a consent form for any other reason. The fact that you might be thinking with body parts other than just your brain before you engage in that act doesn’t change this reality. If two willing adults of the opposite sex engage in this act, I think it is safe to say that the government was not involved in this choice. Unless of course you invited the government in to watch, but that’s just plain weird…
Point 3: I’m not going to conveniently avoid the ugly reality of rape and other difficult situations like pro-abortion folks avoid the fact a baby in the womb is as human as you and me. I’ll start with the 3 easier situations of the 4 examples I gave above, and then get to the issue of rape…
If a pregnancy is unplanned, oh well. Many of us or our spouses got pregnant at a time that was different than when we expected. That’s life! (Pun-intended!) Unplanned things happen every day. That’s not a reason to kill an innocent human being.
If you don’t feel mentally or emotionally prepared to have a child, don’t do the deed that may result in one. That may sound harsh, but seriously we all know the risk. Also, if you ask many expected parents, they don’t necessarily feel mentally or emotionally prepared before the baby is born. Guess what?! We learn! God is good and we have endless resources to help us! That’s not a reason to kill an innocent human being.
Complications to the pregnancy, whether it be mother or child, occur in various degrees. I think you will find most pro-lifers and people in general want the best for both mother and child. Unfortunately, that can’t always happen. However, that’s never an excuse to intentionally kill a child. In general, pregnancy is not easy (and every mother said ‘Amen’). Miscarriages are common early on in the pregnancy which is sad, but also not an intentional killing of a child. If the complication is later on in the pregnancy and the life of the mother is actually in imminent danger, the baby can almost always be delivered early. That hasn’t been true for a lot of history, but in modern times we have had amazing advances in the fields of medicine and science, so thankfully we see more mothers and children survive difficult situations. If the “problem” is with the child in the form of something being “wrong” with the child, you aren’t going to find many pro-lifers suddenly open to abortion. We all have things “wrong” with us, and birth defects are an unfortunate reality. Those children are no less precious in God’s eyes (and hopefully ours), and we certainly don’t have the right to “play God” in those scenarios. That’s not a reason to kill an innocent human being.
Now for rape, which I will approach much more delicately, especially because I’m a man (glad we are recognizing men again). No words can express what an awful act it is for a man to force himself on a woman. While many humans are guilty of perverting God’s ideal for sex in other ways, those actions are voluntary and often with the intention for shared gratification. Rape, on the other hand, is one person imposing his will on another in a way that is inhumane, thinking only of his own gratification by any means necessary. Not only is that person’s behavior more fitting for an animal, but that person views the victim as sub-human. The pain inflicted upon the victim goes way beyond the physical! I can’t even begin to imagine the result of an unwanted, vicious act against one’s body, mind and soul being a life inside of you. When I try to imagine it, I think I’d want to die… Now, I think I’ve made my case for not taking rape lightly, so please hear out my conclusion. Even in that horrendous scenario, death is not the answer. Not for the woman and not for the child. Yes, I am advocating for a woman to go through a pregnancy that will be painful on all kind of levels. Because I’m heartless? No, because I’m the opposite. The rapist was the heartless one, treating his victim as less than human, giving no value to the human soul. Are you going to kill yourself and validate his opinion? Please don’t! Are you going to kill the innocent life inside you because you are in pain or worse because you don’t value his/her life? Please don’t! At that point, what differentiates you from the rapist in the attempted killing of a human soul? Will erasing the life inside you erase the pain of the rape? Maybe you can’t bring yourself to raise the child, but surely you can refrain from killing him? It might be the most painful thing you’ve done, but it would be a self-less, loving choice, and it wouldn’t kill you…or the child. Rape is not a reason to kill an innocent human being.
There’s a lot more I can say on those points and others, but I want to go back to my original assertion that arguments from the other side tend not to have a clear moral foundation, lack consistent rational, and are full of projection. I just spent a few paragraphs laying out my consistent rational without projecting. Though I did not emphasize my moral foundation coming from God’s view of the preciousness of life, you probably already knew that or assumed it. To my knowledge, nothing I wrote was an attack on anyone. Nor was it hate-driven or out of some desire to control women or anyone else. It was simply a case for life. I have no idea how many minds I’ve changed, if any, or even if anybody took the time to read through this piece. At the very least, it proves projections from the other side false. Now that I’ve answered many of the popular accusations from the other side, I implore those who don’t share my view to answer my questions…
Why do you have an unfavorable view of comments about grabbing women by the p***y, but have a favorable/neutral view of babies being forcibly killed and grabbed from a woman’s p***y?
Why do you consider people who advocate for the lives of the most innocent (and their mothers!) “evil,” but don’t consider the act of ending a human life in the womb “evil”?
If it’s “okay” to kill a child inside of the womb because of a mother’s prerogative, why isn’t it “okay” when the child is outside of the womb? Is a mother’s prerogative negated upon birth? Does a child begin to have value only when he is outside of the womb?
If a man and a women engaged in a consensual act resulting in a child who is equal parts of both of them, and the potential mother and father have different views on ending the child’s life, is it moral for one to force the other to be an accessory to murder? Does the same logic apply if the child is 2 weeks past birth or 10 years old?
Since you call yourself “pro-choice,” do you equally advocate for all choices, or are some choices greater than others? Explain.
Can you answer any of these questions without calling me names?
I’ll leave you with those questions for now. Let’s see if your reaction to this p***y comment warrants as much of a response as Trump’s infamous p***y comment. I hope you’re not afraid to articulate your position. After all, we wouldn’t want anyone calling you a p***y… That’d be far worse than your small dead body (parts) being grabbed from one, right? Or maybe you still believe it’s just a matter of choice…
Lastly, and most importantly, if anyone has gotten an abortion and/or been an accessory to the murder of a precious baby, the forgiveness of our sins is possible through Christ. We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). While we are still here on earth we all have the opportunity to repent, believe, and be saved, no matter our sin and no matter the lives we have taken. We have a chance at life, even if we stole that opportunity from another human being. On our own, without repenting of our sin (this one or any other) and without Jesus, we have only death and a painful eternity that awaits us.