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Undated:
What Does the Bible Really Say About Abortion? God Is So Not Pro-Life
Ten biblical episodes and
prophecies provide an unequivocal expression of God's attitude toward human
life, especially the ontological status of "unborn children" and their pregnant
mothers-to-be. Brief summaries:
• A pregnant woman who is injured and
aborts the fetus warrants financial compensation only (to her husband),
suggesting that the fetus is property, not a person (Exodus 21:22-25).
• The gruesome priestly purity test to
which a wife accused of adultery must submit will cause her to abort the fetus
if she is guilty, indicating that the fetus does not possess a right to life
(Numbers 5:11-31).
• God enumerated his punishments for
disobedience, including "cursed shall be the fruit of your womb" and "you will
eat the fruit of your womb," directly contradicting sanctity-of-life claims
(Deuteronomy 28:18,53).
• Elisha's prophecy for soon-to-be King
Hazael said he would attack the Israelites, burn their cities, crush the heads
of their babies and rip open their pregnant women (2 Kings 8:12).
• King Menahem of Israel destroyed Tiphsah
(also called Tappuah) and the surrounding towns, killing all residents and
ripping open pregnant women with the sword (2 Kings 15:16).
• Isaiah prophesied doom for Babylon,
including the murder of unborn children: "They will have no pity on the fruit of
the womb" (Isaiah 13:18).
• For worshiping idols, God declared that
not one of his people would live, not a man, woman or child (not even babies in
arms), again confuting assertions about the sanctity of life (Jeremiah 44:7-8).
• God will punish the Israelites by
destroying their unborn children, who will die at birth, or perish in the womb,
or never even be conceived (Hosea 9:10-16).
• For rebelling against God, Samaria's
people will be killed, their babies will be dashed to death against the ground,
and their pregnant women will be ripped open with a sword (Hosea 13:16).
Undated:
The United States abortion-rights movement (also known as the United
States pro-choice movement) is a
sociopolitical movement in the
United States supporting the view that a woman should have the legal right
to an elective
abortion, meaning the right to terminate her
pregnancy,
and is part of a broader global
abortion-rights movement. The pro-choice movement consists of a variety of
organizations, with no single centralized decision-making body.[1]
A key point in abortion rights in the United States was the
U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 decision in Roe v.
Wade, which struck down most state laws restricting abortion,[2][3]
thereby decriminalizing and legalizing elective abortion in a number of
states.
Abortion-rights advocates argue that whether or not a pregnant woman continues
with a pregnancy should be her personal choice, as it involves her body,
personal health, and future. They also argue that the availability of legal
abortions reduces the exposure of women to the risks associated with illegal
abortions. More broadly, abortion-rights advocates frame their arguments in
terms of individual liberty, reproductive freedom, and reproductive rights. The
first of these terms was widely used to describe many of the political movements
of the 19th and 20th centuries (such as in the abolition of slavery in
Europe and the
United States, and in the spread of popular democracy) whereas the latter terms
derive from changing perspectives on sexual freedom and bodily integrity.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_abortion-rights_movement
To be pro-choice is to support self-determination to make
decisions free from judgment.
Pro-Choice is the responsibility to yourself and the freedom to decide to take
control of your own life process.
Pro-Choice is not just about reproduction but the freedom to decide your life
course with the support and respect of others. It represents power and pride in
self.
We feel pro-choice is a complex process - it's not just about abortion, but
about birth control, or having a child - it's about all reproductive choices.
It's access to information we need, can gather and understand, and can reach our
own decisions without interference. And it's about who makes the final decision,
not a judge or the government, but the woman. It's about having options and
celebrating freedom.
Pro-Choice represents a respectful climate in which all individuals and families
have the ability to take responsibility for their own reproductive destiny.
Pro-Choice is an ideology that supports the right to make a decision and support
the decision itself.
Pro-Choice is the ability to make your own life choices not only about
reproductive freedom but also the right to choose our own individuality and how
to conduct our lives.
Pro-Choice is the freedom to do what you want to do with your body, respecting
other women's choices, then remaining pro-active to keep choices legal.
As part of their strategy to make abortion illegal and unavailable, anti-choice
forces make unsubstantiated claims that legal abortion is harmful to
women’s health. The fact is that the decriminalization of abortion in the United
States in 1973 has led to tremendous gains in protecting women’s health. The
Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences declared in its first
major study of abortion in 1975 that “legislation and practices that permit
women to obtain abortions in proper medical surroundings will lead to fewer
deaths and a lower rate of medical complications than [will] restrictive
legislation and practices.” The American Medical Association’s Council on
Scientific Affairs reaffirmed this finding in 1992 when it attributed the marked
decline in deaths from abortion services to “the shift from illegal to legal
abortion,” along with the introduction of antibiotics and the widespread use of
effective contraception in the 1960s. Furthermore, the experience in the United
States is very similar to that in Western Europe, where mortality rates from
abortion services were reduced after legal abortion became widely available.
https://www.prochoiceamerica.org/report/safety-legal-abortion-hazards-illegal-abortion/
Undated (2009): Every year, worldwide, about
42 million women with unintended pregnancies choose abortion, and nearly half of
these procedures, 20 million, are unsafe. Some 68,000 women die of unsafe
abortion annually, making it one of the leading causes of maternal mortality
(13%). Of the women who survive unsafe abortion, 5 million will suffer long-term
health complications. Unsafe abortion is thus a pressing issue. Both of the
primary methods for preventing unsafe abortion—less restrictive abortion laws
and greater contraceptive use—face social, religious, and political obstacles,
particularly in developing nations, where most unsafe abortions (97%) occur.
Even where these obstacles are overcome, women and health care providers need to
be educated about contraception and the availability of legal and safe abortion,
and women need better access to safe abortion and postabortion services.
Otherwise, desperate women, facing the financial burdens and social stigma of
unintended pregnancy and believing they have no other option, will continue to
risk their lives by undergoing unsafe abortions.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2709326/
Undated:Roe v. Wade:
The Constitutional Right to Access Safe, Legal Abortion
Back to top
Abortion Access: Then & Now
The 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case, Roe v. Wade, affirmed that
access to safe and legal abortion is a constitutional right.
Roe wasn’t the beginning of abortion in America — rather, it allowed people
to access abortion legally and prevented people dying from unsafe, illegal
abortions.
In 1965, illegal abortions made up one-sixth
of all pregnancy- and childbirth-related deaths. A survey conducted in
the1960s found that eight in 10 women with low incomes in New York City who had
an abortion attempted a dangerous self-induced procedure.
March 15:
EMILY’s List and Electing Pro-Choice Women
In 1985 Ellen R. Malcolm launched EMILY’s List, which has grown into a
powerhouse political organization over three million members strong, focused on
creating change by electing pro-choice women to office. When EMILY’s List began,
there were only 12 Democratic women in the House and none in the Senate; today,
EMILY’s List has played a vital role in helping to elect 19 female senators, 11
governors and 110 Democratic women to the House.
https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/2016-03-15/emilys-list-and-electing-pro-choice-women-ellen-r-malcolm-conversation-christine
March 31:
Donald Trump on abortion - from pro-choice to pro-prison
Donald Trump has said that "some form of punishment" should be in place for
women who have abortions, if the practice was banned.
After strong criticism, he released astatementthat
only the doctor or practitioner should be punished, not the woman.
Undated:
Pro-Choice Groups Fighting Back Against Onslaught of Abortion
Restrictions
“2017 promises to be a year of extraordinary challenges to women’s access to
reproductive health care,” said Jennifer Dalven, director of the American Civil
Liberties Union Reproductive Freedom Project. Given these challenges, pro-choice
groups are faced with the question of how to move forward when anti-choice
initiatives are coming from so many different directions.
“However, it would be a mistake to think that [increased restrictions] are what
the public wants,” said Dalven. “Polls show that almost 70 percent of Americans
believe Roe v. Wade should remain the law of the land and want a woman who has
decided to have an abortion to be able to get one without facing shame and
judgment. This election was a wake-up call. Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, and
the Center for Reproductive Rights are experiencing big increases in support
through donations and membership.”
http://latinainstitute.org/en/pro-choice-groups-fighting-back-against-onslaught-abortion-restrictions
January
17: Women’s March on Washington Says No to Pro-Life
Feminist Group
Is it possible to oppose abortion rights and call yourself a feminist? The
well-worn question has arisen again this week as an anti-abortion feminist group
has been ousted from its partnership with Saturday’s Women’s March on
Washington.
Destiny Herndon-De La Rosa applied for her organization, New Wave Feminists, to
become a formal partner of the march in early January. New Wave Feminists
describes itself as a “Badass. Pro-life. Feminists.” Herndon-De La Rosa, who
lives in the Dallas area, has long been outspoken in her opposition to Donald
Trump. “Donald Trump is the guy who asks to buy you a drink at the bar and when
you tell him you’re not interested, he calls you as a cunt and says he didn’t
want to do it anyway,” she told me in August. Today, she told me she accepts the
election results but wants to do her part to speak up against the
president-elect’s misogyny. She sees the march as “a strong, united female voice
to say ‘we’re watching you and we’re holding you accountable,” she said. “We
were really excited to be included in that voice.”
https://slate.com/human-interest/2017/01/pro-life-feminist-group-new-wave-feminists-removed-from-womens-march-partnership-list.html
May 10: Over
the past year, NPR and ProPublica have been investigating why American mothers
die in childbirth at a far higher rate than in all other developed countries.
November
29:
The Pro-Choice Case for Pregnancy Centers.
NARAL, Planned Parenthood, and other abortion advocacy groups have said for
years that pregnancy centers deceive clients, use high-pressure tactics to
dissuade women from abortion, and bully them with Bible verses. Who could forget
Samantha Bee’s opening
segment where she parodied pregnancy centers and likened them to con
artists.
A pro-choice person supporting a pregnancy center may seem about as natural as
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) supporting a steakhouse, but
there are three key reasons why pregnancy centers support the freedom and choice
of women and deserve the support of pro-choice individuals.
They enable a woman to have the freedom to make an informed choice about her
pregnancy.
https://www.care-net.org/abundant-life-blog/the-pro-choice-case-for-pregnancy-centers
A fundamental misunderstanding of the abortion issue lies in the way people
often refer to anti-choice and pro-choice as "two sides." In fact, the
anti-choice are in favour of forced motherhood, and the opposite of that is
forced abortion. We oppose both of these extremist positions.
Pro-choice occupies the broad middle ground on the abortion issue. A large
majority of North Americans believe abortion should be decided privately between
a woman and her doctor. Pro-choice people include those who are personally
against abortion or feel uncomfortable with it, but who would not impose their
viewpoint by law onto all women. Pro-choice does not mean pro-abortion. We do
not advocate abortion over birth - we simply defend the right of women to decide
for themselves. The pro-choice movement supports and works towards preventing
unwanted pregnancies, reducing abortion, promoting contraception, educating
women and youth, and ensuring families have the necessary resources to raise
healthy, happy children.
http://www.prochoiceactionnetwork-canada.org/articles/realchoice.shtml
March 12: Undercover
volunteer poses as pregnant at 'fake women's health centers' to gauge service
“Are you feeling like you’ve made a mistake?” she said when my pregnancy test
flashed positive. I was in a fake women’s health center in Southern Maryland,
being “counseled” by a woman with no medical qualifications. “Yeah,” I mumbled,
knowing I wasn’t pregnant.
I was part of an undercover investigation into how these fake health centers —
also known as “crisis pregnancy centers” — push anti-choice propaganda.
Volunteers posed as young women seeking pregnancy tests and information. I often
posed as an 18-year old college student who had just had sex with her boyfriend
for the first time. For months I visited fake clinics across Maryland, carrying
urine samples from a pregnant volunteer, passing pregnancy tests and receiving
“counseling.”
https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-op-0313-fake-clinics-20190312-story.html
March 7: An
Alabama man is
suing a women’s reproductive health center on behalf of an unborn fetus, in
what his lawyer claims may be the first U.S. court case to give an aborted fetus
legal rights.
Ryan Magers, who says his ex-girlfriend had an abortion against his wishes,
filed a lawsuit against the Women’s Center for Reproductive Alternatives in
Madison Country, local CBS affiliate WHNT News 19 reported Tuesday.
Magers claims in court papers that his ex-girlfriend took a pill to end her
pregnancy on Feb. 12, 2017 despite his pleas to keep the baby.
This week, an Alabama probate judge granted Magers’ petition to represent the
estate of the fetus, which the suit calls “Baby Roe.” But according to WHNT, the
court papers do not make it clear that “Baby Roe” was an aborted fetus.
http://time.com/5546703/alabama-unborn-fetus-lawsuit-abortion-clinic/
