Abortion: A Mercy Killing?

[Today's guest post is by Sean Cahill, a recent graduate of the University of Arizona College of Law. She says: "Because it changes the way my voice is heard when it comes to life issues, I feel compelled to state that I'm a woman, despite what my name suggests."]

Amazing anti-ableism poster by Feminists for Life

In my experience, most abortion debates start with the "clump of cells" argument, then move on to the mother's right to bodily autonomy. But somewhere along the line, we inevitably fall down the rabbit-hole discussing the potential future of suffering this fetus would most certainly live. We (pro-lifers) are told: This isn’t just about life, it’s about quality of life. Don’t you understand this fetus would grow into another foster child? Another poor struggling child? Another disabled person? How could you subject someone to that life? This isn’t a selfish decision by the woman, she is making the honorable choice by not inflicting this inevitable life of suffering onto her child. With the thousands of children already in foster care and suffering in poverty, how could you want to add more children to the mix? With all the suffering the disabled go through, how could you subject someone else to that suffering? It’s about the greater good. 

From conception, a unique human being comes into existence, with DNA that never existed before and will never exist again. Abortion causes the death of that individual and all of her (or his) potential. No matter what class or group of people she might have joined after birth, she had unique distinct worth. How is the greater good served by the devaluing of fellow human beings based on their characteristics or life experiences? Abortion supporters say that a so-called clump of cells is only potential human life with no value, so we lose nothing despite the fact the unique person this “clump of cells” would have become will never exist.

But what about the already-born? We all agree they have worth, right?

What do these pro-choice "mercy killing" arguments say to people who are impoverished or differently abled? It's hard enough to maintain your self-worth against constant attacks from abuse, neglect, abandonment, lack of resources, and societal disrespect and judgments. Our society is poorly structured. People who are differently abled or differently formed may struggle to fit in; they may be bullied at school. They may undergo countless surgeries and other medical procedures. All the while they all may feel like a burden to those around them.

Then as they scroll through their facebook newsfeed, their worst fears are affirmed, when they see their very existence used as an argument in order to prevent others from being subjected to a life like theirs. "Should be aborted" can quickly turn into "should have been aborted." (No wonder low-income Americans don't embrace the abortion lobby.)

These arguments are not about women’s rights. In fact, these arguments pass stereotypical judgments on women seeking abortions and their abilities. They reinforce a woman’s choice to abort as the “right” one because she could not have possibly given her child a life worth living. These arguments are about the child and the life that child would live. These arguments are prospectively deciding the worth a person’s life will have, assuming that the difficulty they will face outweighs the value they can add to the world.

I have worked intimately with those belonging to these populations. I have worked with children and adults who have been severely abused. I have worked with those who struggle with the daily tasks we take for granted. I have been brought to tears by individuals’ stories and the hardships they have faced. But, you know what? I have not met one person whose life was not worth living or whose potential was not worth having in this world.

We have made great strides in this society towards inclusion. Many are working very hard to address poverty and its symptoms. Of course, this work is not assisted, but only hampered, by ideas that certain individuals are better off dead than alive; that in this “progressive” society certain characteristics and experiences detract from a person’s worth. The problems faced by children and families involved in foster care need to be addressed. The problems faced by those who are differently abled need to be addressed. These human beings’ very existence is not and cannot be treated as the problem, though. All of these individuals need to be met with compassion.

While we may still disagree about the worth of those still in the womb, I hope we can all agree that all of us “post-birth” individuals are equally human, and deserve equal dignity. In a truly progressive society we must not denigrate anyone’s life or existence by passing judgment on it as “not worthwhile.” In history, we have seen what happens when one needs to prove more than human DNA to gain meaningful membership to the human race, when those who are different are assumed to be inferior and less worthy.

Even with legal abortion access, illegal abortionists still prey on women

Back when Kermit Gosnell's slaughter was exposed, the abortion lobby tried valiantly to blame it on pro-lifers. This is what happens when the evil anti-choicers start winning, they said. Never mind that there were other abortionists doing business legally in Gosnell's Philadelphia, and never mind that the abortion industry there was effectively subject to zero regulation under a pro-choice gubernatorial administration. Somehow it was our fault.

Recently, three illegal abortionists have been caught, and I expect to hear the same disingenuous arguments again. Let's look closely.

First up is Michael Roth of Michigan, who is strongly suspected of having committed abortions out of his car; an investigation is underway but no charges have been filed yet. Roth is a licensed physician. In addition to being an abortionist, he splits his practice between legitimate women's health care and cosmetic procedures. He had a medical office, but his landlord evicted him for lease violations in December of 2014.

At which point Roth allegedly moved his so-called medical practice to his car, because he just loves women so goshdarn much.

Michigan is home to about 20 abortion centers of the non-vehicular kind.

Next, an unnamed couple in South Carolina is also accused of committing abortions out of their car. Details are scarce, but apparently the couple is involved in the drug trade, and in the process of investigating the drug angle, police found evidence of illegal abortions—exactly how Gosnell's horrors were discovered. South Carolina has three abortion centers, spread evenly across the state.

And finally, there's Rick Van Thiel, or "Dr. Rick," of Las Vegas, Nevada. Van Thiel is accused not only of committing in-home abortions, but also doing vitamin injections, hormone injections, and possibly some back-alley dentistry.

While Michigan and South Carolina have fairly robust pro-life laws in place, Nevada is at the bottom of the pack. Beyond requiring that abortions be done by a physician, it has no health and safety regulations to speak of. Like Pennsylvania, it's a perfect testing ground for the theory that women are better off when the abortion industry self-regulates. No one can argue with a straight face that there is any lack of "abortion access" in Nevada; in fact, there are seven abortion businesses in Las Vegas alone.

But that didn't stop Van Thiel from making a quick buck off of vulnerable women.

Pro-choice advocates like to say that there will be abortions no matter what, so we might as well make them legal and safe. But perhaps it's time to turn that on its head. There will be illegal abortions no matter what, so we might as well enact abortion laws that recognize the humanity of the preborn child and the predatory nature of the abortion industry.

New Secular Pro-Life video

We're doing something a little different today. Enjoy:

From the description:

And now for something completely different! If you stand for the right to life and have banged your head against the wall in a few too many online abortion debates... we hope this makes you smile!

If you're a pro-choice moderate who keeps things civil, this video isn't really about you. Please understand that we frequently encounter people who are actually pro-abortion, not pro-choice (see here for examples: http://bit.ly/1LGlIxm) and sometimes we just need to let off some steam.

And finally, if you don't know the original song, you need to fix that. Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y8aYd9uqFY

I am equal, not the same

Motherhood and career success should not be mutually exclusive.

[Today's guest post is by Sean Cahill, a recent graduate of the University of Arizona College of Law. She says: "Because it changes the way my voice is heard when it comes to life issues, I feel compelled to state that I'm a woman, despite what my name suggests."] 

Throughout history, women have been told we are inherently and biologically inferior to men. Our inferiority is evidenced solely by the fact that we are women. Our own biology, fertility and ability to bear children have been used to subordinate and objectify us. These have been used to prove we could never be equal to men. Early Roman law described women like children, forever inferior to men. Confucius stated: “It is a law of nature that women should be held under the dominance of man.” Aristotle agreed: “The female is a female by virtue of a certain lack of qualities, we should regard the female nature as afflicted with a natural defectiveness.”

Napoleon Bonaparte said: “What a mad idea to demand equality for women! Women are nothing but machines for producing children.” In an argument against woman’s suffrage in the U.S., a senator wrote: “Woman is woman. She can not unsex herself or change her sphere. Let her be content with her lot and perform those high duties intended for her by the Great Creator, and she will accomplish far more in governmental affairs than she can ever accomplish by mixing up in the dirty pool of politics.”

Men have been held as the default. As feminist author Simone de Beauvoir wrote: “being a man is [of] no peculiarity’ [while] simultaneously it is acknowledged that ‘the body of woman [is] a hindrance, a prison, weighed down by everything peculiar to it.’ In this way, the male body and man as social being is ‘neutral’ and ‘unaltered’ and therefore good. It is the woman who is distinguished in her deviance from the default. Hers is a body crafted in the perfect image of man, but taken tragic and disgusting wrong turns in the journey to finality.” The early feminists fought against this idea of men as the standard. They argued that women, while different, deserved equal rights.

The legalization of abortion is described constantly as the liberation of women. As one pro-choice organization puts it: “In the early 1970’s, the woman’s movement demanded that abortion be legalized... It was clear that, without [abortion], women couldn’t be the equals of men – no matter what advances women made in the job market or in higher education.”

Women who bear children cannot be equal? Is a pregnant woman who must choose between her career and unborn child liberated by the availability of abortion?

Roe v. Wade was not our liberation, it was our defeat. It was when we stopped fighting the idea of a male default, when we stopped saying “we’re different but not inferior.” With a host of options both natural and artificial to time or avoid conception, a woman who does become pregnant needs to end the life of her unborn child to remain a fully functioning member of this society? Pregnancy is not an infliction to be cured. To celebrate abortion is to agree with the archaic view of women as inherently flawed. It is to admit that our amazing ability to sustain a new life forecloses the possibility of being equal. Mary Catherine Wilcox explains: “To say that in order to be equal with men it must be possible for a pregnant woman to become un-pregnant at will is to say that being a woman precludes her from being a fully functioning person.”

There are real problems in this society that need to be solved, but the female body and its ability to sustain a new life that has already come into existence is not one of them. We must stop dealing in this archaic thinking: the idea that women are inherently flawed because they get pregnant and men don’t. To say we need abortion to be equal is in fact undeniable proof that we are far from equal. We cannot accept that to remain equal to men, we "need" to rid our bodies of new human beings. We are not liberated until both sexes are fully accepted as they are.

Why did you convert to the pro-life side?

If we want to change hearts and minds regarding abortion, it's helpful to know what's converted people in the past. Recently we asked our Facebook followers, "Did you or someone you're close to go from being pro-choice to pro-life? If so, what changed your mind?"

We got some amazing answers, and there were definitely some consistent themes: learning more about fetal development, learning about the effects of abortion, and having good relationships with pro-lifers. But by far the most common reason people cited for converting to the pro-life position was experiencing their own (or their partners') pregnancies.

Below are a sampling of the answers we got, but you can see the full extent of them here.

Fetal Development

Leon V. – An embryology class. It was so obvious.

Laurie L. – I was pro-choice until I saw the fully formed fetuses at the Our Body exhibit at the museum. I was awed at how early they looked human. These were not balls of cells. I was instantly converted.

Reth S. - The first case I had as an intern in the delivery room was a stillborn. I saw his parents crying and that was all I needed to see to understand the humanity of a child.

Gisele T. - I was pro-choice. Science and philosophy changed my life.

Effects of Abortion

Buster A. – Science. Also, a few friends got pregnant and I saw the coercion they were put through to kill their boys.

Stephanie R. – Being pro-choice is the standard over here [in Australia]. It’s just assumed if you have a pregnancy at the wrong time you simply terminate it. It was that kind of attitude that led me to having abortions myself, including one I didn't even think twice about because it was just so easy and acceptable. I think as soon as I was presented with a case against abortion, and I actually had to think about it, I started asking questions and I started changing my mind.

Pro-choice rhetoric started to seem like all lies, manipulations, and false information. It contradicted my own deeply held beliefs about being responsible for our choices, not initiating violence, and ending discrimination. I couldn't reconcile being warm-hearted towards every other member of the human species but going hard and cold when it came to the weakest and most vulnerable.

Lauren E. - I drank the Kool Aid indoctrination of "it’s none of my business what someone else does with her body." Then I came home from a date to find my lifeless roommate's body in the living room, having attempted suicide on her baby's 8th "death day." Suddenly her body became my business, like it or not. She lived. I have since met many more victims.

If abortion clinics had to pay for post-trauma care (surgical reconstruction, psychiatry/psychology, relationship therapy, and parenting skills), they'd be out of money in 90 days. The industry is only lucrative if they end lives at $600 for every 20-minute procedure and leave the collateral damage and death to the rest of us. NARAL loves to delete this testimony, because it's an inconvenient truth. Another's life and body is your business.

Once your eyes are opened, there's no turning back.

Relationships with Pro-Lifers

Roni C. - The humility of certain Pro-Lifers in the face of name-calling (even from myself) and their consistency in debate (for example, maintaining a central point no matter how much pro-choicers jumped around), and the fact that I was not treated like a monster for being pro-abortion-choice (even on the radical end) all played a huge role in my conversion--one that cannot be appreciated enough, among other things.

Evan L. – I dated a wonderful girl years ago who was conceived through rape. Her biological mother strongly considered aborting her, but in the end decided not to. She grew up in orphanages and was later adopted and eventually learned of her past (and met her biological mother). I suspect that I'd always been secretly “consistently pro-life,” but when I learned that the woman who had impacted my life in such a wonderful way was very nearly put to death because of who her father was and the circumstances behind her conception, it made me feel like I was going to vomit. I realized then and there that abortion isn't politically “progressive” at all, and that I would have to accept the responsibility of holding a political view that was going to be unpopular in my particular social circle (very far to the Left). Rape is a horrible thing, to be sure; rape plus abortion is even more horrible.

Lindsey W. – When an acquaintance from school showed me a picture of her son she had given up for adoption after being pregnant at 15, I realized this was a baby and that he might not have existed if my friend had decided to have an abortion. She had been interested in getting one and I said nothing to stop her (her body, her choice right?). I realized that if I would defend his life as an infant, I couldn't sit back when he was a baby still growing in the womb. It also showed me that adoption is a realistic and practical option, even for a teen. This friend was so happy she had chosen life, despite the despair and fear she initially experienced.

Michelle R. – When abortion is discussed in the textbooks, it's illustrated as a debate where angry people go hold up signs and neither side is right or wrong. Kind of feels like a waste of time and something that doesn't affect us at all.

I was brought up by pro-choice parents. I feared overpopulation and blamed poverty, deforestation, extinction, and war on unplanned children. My dad told me that abortion was a responsible act. "If I ever got pregnant," I told myself, "those religious nuts would not help me stay in school,"

Afterward. I fell in love with a pro-lifer, and while I was pregnant with his child many people strongly encouraged me to abort, including my parents. This is when I became personally pro-life, politically pro-choice.

A year after that Myspace died and I made a Facebook account. I was browsing pages and came across NARAL Pro-Choice America and Let's find 1,000,000 people against Abortion. At the time NARAL had forums and when I commented on there they made a mockery of my grammar and parenting status. The posts by the page were nothing but hate towards the other side, and there was way more glamorization of abortion than what I was comfortable with.

On the pro-life page, however, they posted and argued from a scientific point of view, they shared stories of women who conquered mountains, and they encouraged pro-lifers to donate their time, money, and supplies to parents in need and post-abortive women. When I talked to the admin and other people that follow the page, even though they knew I wasn't full on pro-life they were very respectful and actually believed in me (graduating high school with a child).

I was a new parent and I wanted to make the world a better place for her. Guess what side is actually getting stuff done?

Pregnancies (and miscarriages)

Elizabeth D. – I went from being pro-life with exceptions for disability and rape (so essentially still pro-choice) to pro-life with no exceptions. My mind was changed when I lost my second son at 16 weeks gestation. I delivered him and held him and looked at his perfectly formed body including fingernails. He was a beautiful baby even if the doctors said he would have been born with disabilities. Babies like him deserve a chance at life.

Sabri B. – I used to be pro-choice. When my husband and I were trying very hard to conceive, abortion began to feel wrong to me. Why would someone want to kill an unborn baby, while others longed for one so badly? Then I finally got pregnant. As my pregnancy advanced and I began feeling my baby and learning about her intrauterine development, I became more and more pro-life. Fetuses are definitely not masses of cells! My baby is now 17 months old, and she's the love of our lives. I just can't understand how someone can even think of abortion as "liberating" and "empowering." It sounds inhuman and bizarre at the same time.

Kristen R. – I think it was when I thought I was pregnant. I was already leaning towards being pro-life, but this really hit home. Now I have a baby (8 years later, after difficulty) and it has only reaffirmed my feelings. I heard my baby's heartbeat at that first appointment and couldn't conceive of how anyone could think that this baby was not a person. I felt her move before 20 weeks. It hurts my heart that anyone could think that child was okay to kill.

Candice N. – My mother was a teen in the 70's and pro-choice. She believed the medical professionals who claimed that the unborn child was only tissue. Why wouldn't anyone believe a doctor? Then in '81, she was pregnant with her first child, my older brother. She received a pamphlet from the OB on fetal development. It was then that she discovered that the unborn child's heart was beating long before she found out she was expecting. The living baby was unique and distinct from the beginning. Since then, she has been staunchly pro-life. I'm so thankful too! I became pregnant at 16 and if it wasn't for her showing me images since I was child of the living unborn child, I might have aborted my first baby—who is now 15!

Jeff S. – It happened for me when I heard my son's heartbeat for the first time when my wife was pregnant. A few years later my wife had an ectopic miscarriage that almost killed her. She was ten weeks. It really hit home when we had to fill out a death certificate. Years still after that, when our son was 13, we found out my wife was pregnant again. It was very unexpected, but our second son has been the thrill of a lifetime.

Gina P. – Miscarriage prior to my son and threatened miscarriage with both my son and my daughter. I saw them on ultrasound at 6-7 weeks; their hearts were beating.

Susan T. – Seeing my baby's heartbeat on a sonogram at 10 weeks changed my mind. I had always believed magazine articles that described fetuses as a "clump of cells." The more I learned about fetal development the more I realized these were tiny lives and abortion is ending that young life.

Lesli L. – I did when I became pregnant. I realized I was ignorant about fetal development and ignorant to believe the lies. I heard my son's heartbeat at 6 weeks and was forever changed.

Angela S. – Like so many other people here, I had an unplanned pregnancy. I had only been dating my boyfriend for 6 months. I was in college and barely made any money. When my test came back positive, the first thought was “I have a baby inside me. Not a clump of cells or some non-sentient being.” Up until that moment I didn't care about abortion; it was none of my business. In that moment, however, abortion was the furthest thing from my mind. This was our first picture of our first daughter. The fortune was from dinner that same evening. I kept it like this on our fridge the whole pregnancy. It was hard having a child the way we did, but, man, she is worth it.

Upcoming events: #ProtestPP, remembering the victims of the one-child policy, and more

There are several upcoming events that may be of interest to our readers.

The #ProtestPP rallies on August 22 were so successful, the organizers have prepared an encore. There will be more protests tomorrow at Planned Parenthood locations across the country. Find your protest here.

On September 25, China marked the 35th anniversary of its one-child policy, which can only be described as a human rights disaster. As we previously reported, Americans United for Life had planned an event to mark this tragic anniversary, but it was postponed for security reasons. (To my knowledge, there was no specific threat; AUL's office is in a central area of Washington, D.C. and gets caught up in security issues on occasion.) The event has now been rescheduled for Tuesday, October 13 at 6:00 p.m. It will feature the incredibly brave Chinese human rights activist Chen Guangcheng, Reggie Littlejohn of Women's Rights Without Frontiers, and Americans United for Life CEO Charmaine Yoest. Registration is required. Details here.

The annual Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity is coming up. Mark your calendars for Tuesday, October 20 and check out SilentDay.org.

And finally, registration for the Students for Life of America conferences is open! The east coast conference will be in Upper Marlboro, MD (the D.C. burbs) on Saturday, January 23, the day after the March for Life. The west coast conference will be in San Francisco on Sunday, January 24, the day after the Walk for Life. Secular Pro-Life president Kelsey Hazzard will speak at both conferences. Registration is required, and they always sell out, so don't procrastinate! Get all the details and purchase your tickets at SFLAlive.org.

Video: Interfaith Panel at Vita et Veritas 2015

Last weekend I had the great pleasure of participating in the Vita et Veritas (Life & Truth) pro-life conference at Yale University for the third year in a row. Joining me on the interfaith panel were Matt Bennett (Protestant), Cecily Routman (Jewish), and Suzy Ismail (Muslim). Enjoy!

Nancy Pelosi's dubious "smackdown"

Congresswoman Pelosi

[Today's guest post is by JoAnna Wahlund.]

Maybe someone out there can explain this, because I am really confused.

Nancy Pelosi held a weekly briefing on October 1. You can watch the video here.

At one point, a CNS news reporter asked, “In reference to funding for Planned Parenthood: Is an unborn baby with a human heart and a human liver a human being?”

Pelosi responded: “Why don't you take your ideological questions—I don't, I don't have—”

Point of Confusion #1: “Ideological” is defined as “an adjective that describes political, cultural, or religious beliefs.” The question “Is an unborn baby with a human heart and a human liver a human being?” isn’t a question about political, cultural, or religious beliefs. It’s a question regarding scientific fact. So why does Pelosi call it an ideological question?

In fact, the reporter follows up with yet another scientific (not ideological) question. “If it's not a human being, what species is it?”

Pelosi’s baffling response is decidedly unscientific and and rife with logical fallacies:

Pelosi: “No, listen, I want to say something to you. I don't know who you are...”

Point of Confusion #2: So what? How does his identity change his questions or make them less relevant?

Pelosi: “…I am a devout practicing Catholic, a mother of five children. When my baby was born, my fifth child, my oldest child was six years old.”

Point of Confusion #3: How is that relevant? What does this have to do with the scientific question as to whether or not an unborn baby with a human heart and a human liver is a human being?

Pelosi: “I think I know more about this subject than you, with all due respect.”

Point of Confusion #4: How does her response prove that she “knows more about this subject” than the reporter? He asked her a scientific question and she responded with, “I’m a Catholic with five kids, so I know more about this than you.” Um, what? That makes no sense. As Secular Pro-Life’s very existence proves, you don’t have to be a Catholic, Christian, or theist to know that abortion is wrong (and sadly, some Catholics, like Pelosi, don’t know or won’t acknowledge that abortion is wrong). Abortion is first and foremost a human rights issue, not solely a religious issue.

Moreover, I happen to be a “devout practicing Catholic” myself. Unlike Pelosi, I actually believe and practice what the Catholic Church teaches regarding abortion, a teaching of which Pelosi, who claims to be both “devout” and “practicing,” is ignorant.

In fact, I’m a mother of nine children (five born, one unborn, three lost to miscarriage). My oldest is 10, and will be 11 when his/her youngest sibling will arrive. By Pelosi’s logic, I actually know more than she does about this subject. In fact, I can answer the reporter’s question with actual science:

It is possible to give ‘human being’ a precise meaning. We can use it as equivalent to ‘member of the species Homo sapiens’. Whether a being is a member of a given species is something that can be determined scientifically, by an examination of the nature of the chromosomes in the cells of living organisms. In this sense there is no doubt that from the first moments of its existence an embryo conceived from human sperm and eggs is a human being.
~ [emphatically pro-choice] Dr. Peter Singer, Practical Ethics, 2nd ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993, 2008), 85-86.

Was that so hard?

Pelosi: “And I do not intend to respond to your questions, which have no basis in what public policy is that we do here.”

Point of Confusion #5: So Pelosi believes that matters of science have no basis in public policy? If so, why does the government have an Office of Science and Technology Policy? Would she say that science has no basis in public policy regarding climate change? Is she learning the “science” of abortion from Bill Nye instead of actual scientists? 

Point of Confusion #6: Let’s take a look a sampling of headlines following this briefing:

Nancy Pelosi Crushes Reporter’s ‘Ideological’ Parenthood Question: I Know More Than You - Mediaite

Nancy Pelosi smacks down a conservative reporter’s anti-abortion talking points – Salon.com

WATCH Nancy Pelosi Put A Right-Wing Reporter In His Place For Pestering Her With Abortion Questions – liberalamerica.org

Pelosi shuts down reporter's ‘ideological’ question on abortion – thehill.com

Let me get this straight: Nancy Pelosi responded to a reporter’s scientific questions by calling them “ideological,” claimed she knows more than he does by virtue of being Catholic with five kids, and stating that science has no basis in public policy... and that’s a “smackdown”? She “crushed” and “shut down” the reporter with that response?

Were we watching the same briefing?

I saw a dishonest politician engage in egregious non sequiturs and numerous logical fallacies to avoid answering a question that she knows she can’t answer without also acknowledging that she supports and champions the deliberate killing of innocent human beings (after all, abortion is her “sacred ground”).  

Last time I checked, that wasn’t a “smackdown.” That was a colossal embarrassment and a shocking display of ignorance. I know this not because I’m a Catholic mother of many children, but because I’m a rational human being with rudimentary skills of logic and reason. 

Maybe I should use Pelosi’s criteria and try to find a Catholic mom with even more children to explain this lack of logic to me. Oh wait, this one opposes abortion. So does this one. Hmmm. In fact, all Catholic moms of my acquaintance with 5+ kids are pro-life. According to the Gospel of Nancy, we all know more than she does about abortion. Perhaps she’d like to fly us down to Capitol Hill so we can explain things to her?

Woman blinds herself with doctor's help. Her body, her choice?

You probably read the about the woman who received her fifteen minutes of fame last week for her decision to blind herself, with the assistance of a psychologist:

A North Carolina woman says she is happier than ever after fulfilling her lifelong wish of becoming blind.

Jewel Shuping, 30, has Body Integrity Identity Disorder, which is a condition where able-bodied people believe they are meant to be disabled...

In 2006, Shuping found a psychologist who was willing to help her become blind. The psychologist began putting numbing drops in her eyes, followed by a couple of drops of drain cleaner.

“It hurt, let me tell you. My eyes were screaming and I had some drain cleaner going down my cheek burning my skin,” she told Barcroft TV. “But all I could think was, I am going blind, it is going to be okay.”  It took about half a year for the damage to take effect.

The reaction I've seen on social media has been one of horror, particularly when it comes to the psychologist's involvement. (The Independent reports that "the psychologist was not named and it is not known if they are facing prosecution.") And it appears that pro-life and pro-choice are in agreement for once; the commenters on the (extremely) pro-choice site Jezebel are just as horrified.

You know what? Her eyes are part of her sovereign zone. Her body, her choice.

I was a psychology major in college. My mom has her master's in counseling. I am thoroughly aware that this unnamed psychologist (assuming he or she exists) is in wild breach of all sorts of ethical boundaries for the profession.

But hey, some doctors kill in the name of bodily integrity and are lauded as heroes! This one merely blinded someone. (With consent, I might add, which the abortionist's victim can't give.) So what's the big deal?

The thought of someone having drain cleaner poured into their eyes certainly sets off the cringe reflex, of course. It's painful and gross. But if you really believe that bodily integrity is a value so important that it justifies abortion, there is no logical reason to find the psychologist's actions here morally repugnant. If anything, you should be encouraging the development of less painful blinding procedures. That Ms. Shuping had to take the "back-alley" drain cleaner route is a travesty. Somebody call NARAL.

A while back we posed the following hypothetical scenario to pro-choice readers:

Jane decides to chop off the legs of her embryo, at week 7. Believing that Jane has the right to choose what happens to her body, Dr. John, with help of modern technology, performs the operation and chops the legs off Jane's embryo. In week 10, Jane decides to chop the hands of off her fetus and Dr. John again performs what he reasons to be Jane’s personal choice and right. Taking it to an extreme, Jane decides to pluck her fetus’ eyes out. I'll refrain from continuing this gruesome tale, but it ends in one of two ways: Jane finally decides to have an abortion, or Jane decides to give birth to an blind, amputated child. This second possible outcome reveals the obvious fact that Jane's actions were not done to her own body, but to the body of another individual. 

If it is true that a woman’s right to control her own body extends to her unborn child, then Jane's actions are permissible. Assuming we are not sociopaths, however, we naturally condemn Jane's hypothetical actions as inhumane and morally repugnant. Clearly, Jane's right to control her own body does not extend to her fetus. A woman's right to bodily autonomy does not go that far.

At the time, it was just another outlandish thought experiment, joining famous violinists and kidney donation mix-ups and all the rest. Now, I'm not so sure. A few news reports indicated that Ms. Shuping is dating a man who is blind as a result of natural causes. What if she wants to ensure that they have a blind child together? Obviously she can't blind her child after birth without risking criminal charges. But before? The lack of adequate technology could be the only thing stopping her.

FSM help us all.

"Nobody likes abortion." - Master post of pro-abortion examples.

A lot of people who support legal abortion object to the label "pro-abortion." They tend to prefer the term "pro-choice," claiming "pro-abortion" incorrectly implies they like abortion or would encourage people to get abortions. In reality plenty of people think abortion should be legal but consider it an inevitable tragedy or necessary evil. They are not pro-abortion any more than people who think adultery should be legal are "pro-adultery."

[We asked our followers what they think the difference is between "pro-choice" and "pro-abortion." Read the answers here.]

However, when these pro-choicers reject the "pro-abortion" label, their objections often go beyond "I personally am not pro-abortion" to "There's no such thing as 'pro-abortion.'" For example, in Bill Nye's recent nonsensical video on abortion, he claimed "Nobody likes abortion."

But Nye is wrong. While most Americans see abortion as morally contentious, there's a significant faction who embrace abortion as an unadulterated good. For those curious about what this mentality looks like, below is a sampling from people who actually are pro-abortion:

1. You can find many such stories at Shout Your Abortion (updated continually)
2. "Dear Politicians, Put 'Safe, Legal, and Rare' in the Dustbin," Rewire News Group, April 5, 2021
3. Dr. Jen Gunter, an abortion rights activist at University of California San Francisco, explains in a tweet, "I am pro abortion. There is nothing shameful or bad or wrong about the procedure, whether medical, surgical or induction. If it is needed, it is needed." February 8, 2020
4. You can follow ThankGodForAbortion on Instagram (posted January 31, 2020)
5. "Abortion doesn’t have to be this sad, scary thing. A lot of the time it's not. It can be empowering. It can be affirming. Mine was great." 39 Abortion Stories Show Just How Important Abortion Access Is (Jordyn's story), Teen Vogue, January 9, 2020
6. "The media often paints abortion as a divisive political issue, but here’s the truth: abortion actually is an act of love, an act of compassion, an act of healing, and an act of selflessness." What Abortion Actually Is About, National Women's Law Center, November 2, 2019
7. The Best Abortion Ever, The Cut, June 19, 2019
8. Abortion is morally good, New York Magazine, May 17, 2019
9. mistress misandry tweet: "I am not pro-choice. I do not think abortion is a necessary evil. I am pro-abortion, and I think abortion is an unequivocal good. It's a modern miracle that abortion is now incredibly safe, especially in comparison to how unsafe it once was. Abortion is good." Published February 15, 2019.
10. Twitter thread starting with "Hate when folks say 'nobody is pro-abortion'. Speak for yourself. I am pro-abortion..." followed my countless agreements. Accessed January 27, 2019
11. "In 'Shout Your Abortion,' a Celebration of Life," Yes Magazine, January 22, 2019
12. Check out billboards stating "Abortion is a blessing," "Abortion is a family value," and "Abortion is sacred" at MyAbortionMyLife.org.. (Accessed January 13, 2019)
13. Buy your "Abortion is a Goddamned Miracle" shirt here, Etsy, October 16, 2018
14. "Plenty of people are pro-abortion," The Outline, August 1, 2018
15. "This Hilarious Webseries Is Changing The Narrative About Abortion," BUST, January 31, 2018
16. Buy your "Abortion is a Miracle" products here. December 15, 2016
17. "Saying goodbye to abortion shame." Bust, February 16, 2016
18. "Actually, I Love Abortion." The Frisky, September 25, 2015
19. "My abortion made me happy: The story that started the #shoutyourabortion movement" Salon, September 22, 2015
20. "I am pro-abortion, not just pro-choice: 10 reasons why we must support the procedure and the choice" Salon, April 24, 2015
21. "Katha Pollitt On What The Pro-Abortion Rights Movement Gets Wrong About Choice" Huffington Post, October 15, 2014
22. "Abortion: Not Easy, Not Sorry" Elle, October 14, 2015
23. "Stop calling abortion a 'difficult decision'" Washington Post, August 15, 2014
24. "Why I Filmed My Abortion" Cosmopolitan, May 5, 2014
25. "5 Problems With 'Keep Abortion Rare'" Everyday Feminism, April 25, 2014
26. "So what if abortion ends a life?" Salon, January 23, 2013
27. "Abortion As a Blessing, Grace, or Gift -- A Renewed Conversation about Reproductive Rights" Institute for Ethics & Emerging Technologies, January 12, 2013
28. "It Happened to Us: Abortion" XO Jane, May 8, 2012
29. "I Love Abortion: Implying Otherwise Accomplishes Nothing for Women's Rights" RH Reality Check, March 14, 2012
30. "In Defense of Abortion On Demand and Without Apology" Gender Across Borders, September 22, 2011
31. "Labels, Labels, Labels: The Best One?" The Abortioneers, December 2, 2009

Picture taken by Zombie at one of San Francisco's Walks for Life.