When Protection For Babies Are Overlooked In Favor Of Women Who Had Abortions, Both Are Robbed Of Dignity

In one of my comments to my previous post, I promised a follow-up post to detail further why I think that misguided pro-life letter is harmful to the babies and to their mothers.  It will be a lot shorter than what I originally envisioned, for one of the commenters, Justina, stated one of the main points that I planned on making.  Please read her comment, particularly her first paragraph.

Addendum to original post: One consequence to the woman, the most important, was not mentioned.  Should a post-aborted woman be deluded by well-meaning but non-thinking prolifers, she may be induced to believe that she is purely a victim with no culpability whatsoever.  With that, she may be inclined not to examine her conscience about her abortion so that she can repent and make a good confession.  Should she in reality be so culpable that her sin is mortal, her eternal salvation may well be jeopardized.  In short, these false comforts may well be a factor that leads her to hell.

Mary Ann's last sentence sums up the second point that needs to be said.  The babies deserve justice.  Criminal law exists not only to punish wrong-doers, but to restore justice to the victims of the crime.  In the case of abortion, the primary victim is the unborn child.  Most people have no problem recognizing the need to restore justice to other victims of crime, that is, to those already born.  I can more or less, see why pro-abortion people see no need to restore justice to the babies as they don't see the unborn babies being human.  But for ostensibly pro-life people to harbor such a blind spot is inexcusable.  If they don't see the murder of a preborn person as criminally actionable against all parties to the murder as they would a person who's been born, then they unconsciously affirm the lie of the pro-abort crowd that the unborn child is not quite as human as the already-born person.

The main point of that post, though, is to expose the potential sabotage of of protections for these most innocent, the pre-born, out of misguided "compassion" for the mother.  The commenter "utubeo" seems to have betrayed the real intent: to put on a public-relations stunt out of fear of pro-abortion propaganda.  Well, throwing the babies under the bus is not the answer.  We simply have to present and adhere to the truth - that all persons are entitled to full protection under the law, no matter how the pro-abortion cartel might react.

Why Are Some Pro-Life Groups Putting On An Icky-Sweet Kinder-Gentler Façade?

HT - Canon 212

LifeNews (not to be confused with LifeSiteNews) announced a letter that it co-signed along with several other pro-life organizations.  In a nutshell, these groups pledged to support no pro-life legislation unless said legislation held harmless women who underwent abortions.  The letter itself is on the site of National Right to Life, another signatory, but it can be accessed through the LifeNews site.  Below I will detail why I believe this letter to be a complete exercise of foolishness.

First, let me establish that I am not just speaking off the cuff.  I have been involved in the pro-life movement for over 30 years.  For 25+ of those years, I've been in front of abortuaries most Saturday mornings, praying and offering information regarding life-affirming assistance to abortion-bound women.  I have been blessed to be part of a number of these women turning around and giving birth to their children.  Most of the time it has been both tedious and heart-breaking, as most women we've encountered go through with the abortions.  Along with that, there were occasions that I've been cursed, spit upon, and even assaulted.  My knowledge about these matters did not come cheaply.

The letter states that the woman "is a victim of a callous industry created to take lives".  I might point out that the abortionist does not go in search of these women; rather they walk into his/her office.  Does she go willingly?  It is true that many don't.  I have seen plenty of cases where women are almost literally dragged in by boyfriends, parents, pimps, etc.  However, I've also seen cases where the woman defiantly marches into the mill, trailed by a boyfriend pleading for the life of his child through his tears.  

Many women are ignorant of what an abortion entails.  On the other hand, many know but just don't care.  Not all abortion-bound women can be painted with the same broad brush; they are different from each other just as would be members of any other demographic group.  With those differences comes differences in levels of culpability; the authors and the signers of this letter ignore that fact.

Most egregious of this letter, though, is the denial of the primacy of place due to the most vulnerable victims, the ones who have the most to lose - the unborn children.  Indeed, the letter dwells incessantly on considerations regarding the mother, while paying scant attention to the plight of the children.

The authors and signers of this brash tome state that they will never support anti-abortion legislation that criminalizes the woman who procures an abortion.  They say this without any qualifications, which seems to indicate that no matter how much protection for the child a piece of legislation might offer, if the mother is penalized, these pro-life organizations won't support it.  I find this to be utterly despicable.  Once again, the innocent child, who has first claims on our solicitude for his/her well-being, is being relegated to the bottom of the totem pole.  The pro-aborts do that!  Should we emulate that?

I can only think of one reason for this lunacy.  Pro-aborts everywhere are literally up in arms over the very real prospect of Roe's overdue negation.  Can there be a hint of groveling in this letter towards the pro-aborts, to placate them by implying that the babies are not as important as women?  Are some of us that desperate for the evil-doers to like us and approve of us?  We need to shake off that tendency.  For that reason, I state right now that I denounce this letter and call upon the signers to recant their signatures.