Hello, Roland Warren here. Ever since I joined
Care Net nearly four years ago, I've learned
that there are some myths floating around
out there about the beliefs and actions of
pro-life people and organizations. Now, some
of this is our fault. Sometimes we have not
done a good job of articulating how comprehensive
and life changing our work is. But a lot of
it, unfortunately, is due to the fact that
well funded pro-choice organizations are involved
in a concerted and intentional effort to spread
falsehoods about pro-life people and pro-life
organizations. We see these mythical beliefs
played out every day on Care Net's Facebook
and Twitter page where folks question what
we say or do based on some patently false
beliefs that they have about us and about
our work. So over the next few Life Chats,
I'm going to break down some of the common
myths about the pro-life movement and, hopefully,
shed some light on the facts. This is really
a myth busters section. The first myth is
that the pro-life movement is pro-forced birth.
In other words, our efforts to overturn Roe
v Wade, promote life, and reduce the number
of abortions is equivalent to encroaching
on women's rights and forcing them into actions
that they would not otherwise take. There
are several problems with this line of reasoning.
First, society daily forces women and men
to do things that they would otherwise not
want to do. I may want to drive eighty miles
an hour on my way to work, but the state of
Virginia says I would be a "reckless driver"
for doing so. Newsflash: These things are
called laws! The entire point of civilization
is to restrict people's choices when we feel
that those choices are harmful to ourself
and others. Especially, those who are vulnerable.
So the question should not be, "is the pro-life
position imposing legal restrictions that
curtail an individual's choices, but rather
is there a compassionate and logical reason
for those restrictions. After all, I would
not go around calling the speed limit a "pro-forced
slow driving law." So, when looking at the
unborn, what logical distinction about personhood
exists that protects a child after birth but
not five minutes prior to birth? Is the child
who is twenty-six weeks old, but in its mother's
womb, less of a person than the one who is
lying in the NICU after being born prematurely
at twenty-six weeks? The child in the NICU
is arguably more dependent as its lungs are
not able to operate on their own, yet few
would support a mother's decision to end the
child's life once it's born, even if born
prematurely. If the NICU baby deserves protection
and the best medical care available, why doesn't
the unborn child deserve the same. You see,
if a woman should have the right to end the
life of a child due to financial concerns,
social pressures, a lack of support, why does
that right suddenly end when the child is
born? Financial burdens do not decrease with
birth, they actually increase as the mother
now has to pay for diapers, or daycare, or
clothes and other goods. If pro-life advocates
are pro-forced birth, then anyone who forces
the mother to keep her child after a difficult
pregnancy is pro-forced parenthood, right?
You see, without a logical distinction between
the personhood of the unborn child and the
infant, the safety and security of all children
is in jeopardy. Any attempt to argue that
the unborn child is dependent on or a financial
burden on the woman and thus not a person,
would then apply to born children as well.
Ultimately, the desire of pro-life people
is not that we want to force women to do what
they wouldn't want to do, but rather that
our social values change to the point that
women would no longer desire abortion. The
second myth is that the pro-life movement
does not care about women, just babies. This
myth can be summarized by the pro-choice rhetoric
that says that pro-life people and organizations
prey on the poor and minorities by forcing
them to have costly pregnancies and then ignoring
them when they struggle to provide for their
babies. But when one looks at the track record
of pro-life pregnancy centers alone, such
as Care Net's network, reality tells a very
different story. Care Net's most recent study
of its affiliate pregnancy centers found that
they provided more than 142,000 clients with
baby and maternity supplies and 734,000 clients
with sexual health and parenting education.
This survey showed that overall Care Net provided
more than fifty-six million dollars in free
services. Moreover, in the last two years,
over ninety-seven percent, that's nine out
of ten women, who visited a Care Net center
reported that they had a positive experience
at the center. So stories of women walking
away from pregnancy centers feeling deceived
and uncared for are not based on real data.
The entire pro-life movement is rife with
examples of people and organizations providing
comprehensive care and support to women and
their families. From post-abortion counseling
to efforts to make abortion clinics safer,
both efforts that pro-choice people resist,
the pro-life movement is truly looking out
for the well being of women. In fact, not
only do we care deeply about women, but we
also care deeply about men too. Our desire
to serve and support men is driven by a pro-abundant
life perspective. As an organization, we are
moving beyond just being pro-life, we want
to be pro-abundant life in, not just our rhetoric,
but in our programming as well. Why is it
so important that we recognize fathers when
talking about abortion? Because for starters,
we know that the research shows that women
who've had abortions report that the father
of the child is the most influential factor
in her decision. We also know that about half
of all women who have abortions report that
the reason for having the abortion was that
they did not want to become a single mother
or they were having relationship problems.
And three out of four women report that not
being able to afford the baby was the reason
for their abortion and we know that the lack
of financial resources is often tied to the
lack of support form the baby's father. Indeed,
pro-life writer Frederica Mathewes-Green,
who was once pro-choice, was spot on when
she wrote, "There is a tremendous sadness
and loneliness in the cry 'a woman's right
to chose.' No one wants an abortion as she
wants an ice cream cone or a Porsche. She
wants an abortion as an animal caught in a
trap wants to gnaw off its own leg." Wow.
Either way, ignoring dads means ignoring a
huge part of the decision making process that
women go through and the support that they
need and want. Moreover, it ignores the real
struggle that men themselves have with abortion.
So we need to be doing at least three things
when it comes to fathers. Encouraging them
to play positive roles in the pregnancy decision,
helping them to get the skills that they need
to become involved, responsible, and committed
husbands and, in cases where they are hurting
from past abortion experience, providing them
with healing support. For our centers, the
cause of life compels the protection, not
only of the unborn, but the mothers and fathers
as well. We understand that all women and
men need compassion, hope, and help when facing
pregnancy decisions. During the next Life
Chat, I will cover two more myths about the
pro-life movement, including the myth that
the pro-life movement only cares about babies
in the womb, but disregards their needs when
they are born. Until next time, may God bless
you daily as you serve Him faithfully.
