Some thoughts

Today I was intrigued by a story on the webs about the Genocide Awareness Project. Basically people who are part of this “Project” set up displays to protest abortion using pictures of aborted fetuses juxtaposed next to pictures of victims of genocide, war, abused animals etc. Obviously, I had to see about locating some of the pictures and what I found wasn’t the most pleasant of sights, to say the least. I consider myself to be fairly desensitized to most things so it wasn’t overly upsetting to me, but I certainly understand how the pictures alone would be influential enough to change the mind of a person who’s in a fragile emotional and mental state.

Reading about The Genocide Awareness Project has left a bad taste in my mouth and I’m out of delicious coffee to wash it down with. There’s not a whole lot in this world that makes me feel more frustrated than virulent senseless hatred between people. What I find most upsetting about the protest efforts of these anti-abortion crusaders is that their motives aren’t to get their voices heard, it’s not about fighting for a cause, it’s not even for awareness of any kind; it's an objection to a woman’s freedom of choice that's fueled purely by hate. These people claim or believe that they have love for the embryos growing inside a pregnant women and yet the tactic they use to approach women is by flashing brutal pictures, berating them, telling them that they’re damned, that they’re murderers, comparing them to terrorists and basically any other extreme thing they can think of that will lower another person’s self-worth, just so they might feel guilty enough not to proceed with what they’ve decided is the best option for their situation. This group wastes what I’m sure is an exhausting amount of time and energy filling themselves with hate and projecting it by denigrating a person’s character just for the purpose of trying to “save” a potential life.

There is nothing about the participants actions that indicates their protests are out of love or caring. I don’t know how a person can have love for an embryo that isn’t their own; an unnamed object, a mass of differentiated cells that exists in a woman’s body. They claim that they are ‘pro-life’ because they're against terminating a pregnancy, but in terms of what the pregnancy means for the mother’s life, it’s interesting that they would use the term pro-life. Why don’t they care about a woman’s right to her own life that gives her the freedom to decide the direction and outcome of her pregnancy? Why is a woman’s ambition, success, happiness, and quality of life etc., not taken into account for people who are “pro-life”? I’m not saying that having a baby will destroy these things but I’m not sure who decided that just because a woman is pregnant, it means she will be a good mother or that the child will have a quality life. I would think that someone who would label their beliefs and values as pro-life would also take into consideration the quality of a child’s life, not just the existence of it.

I consider myself pro-life but with a different definition; I would much rather a child not exist at all than be raised in a home without love or adequate care. I am pro-life and pro-choice. By society’s definition it sounds like a contradictory statement but being pro-choice does not mean pro-abortion. I am pro-choice because I trust that a person will make the right decision for herself and her potential child. I am pro-life because I support a woman’s right to pick the best option for her quality of life and the quality of life she can offer to her baby. In my mind, the term pro-life as it’s commonly used implies that the opposition would be pro-death and I don’t think anyone is pro-death. Perhaps we need to adopt more appropriate or logical terms for the opposing sides - pro-infant development and pro-freedom of choice? Just a thought…