I really hate politics. The whole idea of manipulating people to achieve a goal is nauseating to me. Playing people like chess, politicians use misinformation and disinformation far too often.
Lest you think Pro-Life advocates are pure and undiluted, let’s look at HR36.
Congress put forth a bill in 2013 called the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (PCUCPA). The Act proposed to ban abortion after 20 weeks gestation because a substantial body of scientific evidence found children of this age have increased sensitivity to pain. At the 11th hour, Eric Cantor put in an exception for rape and incest. He spoke on center stage at the March For Life in Washington DC, shortly thereafter. Is this an example of the kind of politics of access we find among those calling themselves ProLife?
The bill had no chance of passing and even if by some circumstance it did, the President promised to veto it. So, what was the message? The message is that the major Pro-Life groups are in favor of abortion for rape or incest conceived babies. Is there a question here?
In 2015, the PCUCPA was reintroduced with the exceptions intact. Instead of using it as a conversation starter, major Pro-Life groups immediately sent out emails to their constituents, with not a word of the flaws, that this is a chance to save babies from abortion. The flaws: rape conceived babies feel pain too, it sets guidelines for approved killing of children in the womb prior to 20 weeks, it has provisions for the dismemberment and disposal of children, if carrying them to term might cause the mother harm.
Any real doctor could deliver a baby in the latter circumstance and if the baby were too young and died as a result, there has been no intentional murder. This is not the language of the bill in question. These major groups surely have lawyers. Even if we were to believe that no legal person read the bill for them, I cannot get past the clear ethical violations to our Pro-Life Principles.
I am of average intelligence. The glaring flaws of this piece of eckhumm, legislation were immediately apparent to me. And what of those emails sent by the major Pro-Life groups? What was their purpose? In every case, there was an appeal to help fund the fight to get more legislation like this passed. I really find it astonishing that this is the kind of legislation we would want passed, if we are working day after day to stop the horror of abortion in our country.
Disillusioned? Me too. This bill will not save one baby. However, when I sent a note to request that ProLife organizations demand the exceptions be removed, I got a mindless response stating and I quote, “This will save 18,000 babies.” Really? That’s quite a claim. Was this misinformation or disinformation and if we believe that it could possibly be true, on what basis?
This is purely political manipulation. The hundreds of thousands of people who will be in DC for the March for Life believe in their leaders. They flock to initiatives and conferences and send their hard-earned money to work toward an America that doesn’t promote government-sanctioned and government-funded genocide. The Pro-Life organizations do a lot of good work toward building a culture that respects life, unless like me, that little person was conceived by rape.
Let’s think about that for a moment. Biologically speaking, if we simply ignore the mode of conception, prenatal development doesn’t differ depending on how that baby was initially formed. My biological father is a monster, but should I deserve the death penalty for his crime?
We are talking about 20 weeks in this discussion. There have been many stories of babies not much older, being born and going home to a happy life. Are we really suggesting that at the point of development when science has determined a child can feel the most excruciating pain it should be ok to kill them at all? This is the discussion we should be having. This is what the major Pro-Life groups should keep in front of the American people.
What if the abortion vendors promised to anesthetize the babies before hacking their arms and legs off and crushing their sculls? That would solve the dilemma of aborting pain capable children. No. We are not Pro-Life because we don’t want people to experience pain. We are Pro-Life because we believe people are of inestimable value; created in the image of God.
This discussion could be just as powerful to raise funds and way more powerful to influence the culture to respect life, if it were consistent. How logical is it to say that some crisis pregnancies involve a baby worth saving and some do not? It completely undermines the whole point. If we believe that children are created in the image of God, then how can we postulate the concept that there would be exceptions?
Let’s continue the conversation. Some may say I have no right to say a woman who has conceived a child by rape should carry to term. I have been a nurse for more than 25 years. So, I understand that the complications of abortion vs term pregnancy are grave. I have five children. I had no easy pregnancies. My first child was conceived as a result of human sex trafficking in my teens. I know how horrible rape is. I know what it is like to be in a crisis pregnancy and I know that you can go through to the other side with honor and dignity.
Differences of opinion abound on innumerable subjects, but when it comes to life and death, shouldn’t all ProLife advocates be trying to protect all lives? There are so many ways to advance the cause of life. How would you do it?
Darlene Pawlik is a Savethe1 speaker and blogger, a woman conceived by a brutal rape and sold into sex trafficking. She turned her life over to God. She is currently on the board of Savethe1, Chair of the NHRTL Educational Trust, a practicing nurse, a wife of almost 25 years and mother of five grown children and grandmother of two.
