CV NEWS FEED // Several prominent pro-life advocates penned an article urging pro-choice advocates to unite with the pro-life movement in working to end coerced and unwanted abortions.
“Let us take the growing ranks of those who say they’re ‘pro-choice’ at their word. Let us invite them to join us in working to ensure that no woman ever gets an abortion she doesn’t really want,” the authors, Monica Snyder, Charles Camosy, and Eric Scheidler, wrote in a June 17 article published by The Public Discourse:
In doing so, we can save more lives than we could ever hope to with the patchwork of abortion limits enacted since Dobbs—including in states without any such limits.
The authors wrote that there are statistics indicating that the majority of women who have had abortions did not want the abortions, or were pressured or coerced.
The authors pointed to data which indicates that “only about one-third of women, reflecting on their abortions, describe the experience as a truly free choice that had a positive impact on their lives. For the rest, those abortions were not in line with their values, were consciously unwanted, or were even coerced.”
“Here, we have an unprecedented opportunity to build common ground,” the authors wrote.
The authors co-writing the letter stand as a witness to their own calls for unity, as they come from various backgrounds and organizations.
Synder is the executive director of the organization Secular Pro-Life. Camosy, a Catholic, is a professor of Medical Humanities at the Creighton University School of Medicine. Scheidler, also a Catholic, is the executive director of the Pro-Life Action League.
“The pro-life movement is diverse, with different organizations focused on law and policy, education and outreach, and the philosophical and moral arguments against abortion,” the authors wrote. “But alongside these efforts, there have long been individuals and groups who have dedicated enormous resources to providing immediate assistance to women in difficult situations.”
For example, the authors noted, crisis pregnancy centers offer extensive support and resources for pregnant women in need.
“There are many more examples of concerted efforts by people (pro-life and pro-choice alike) who want to make sure no woman gets an abortion because she feels she doesn’t have a choice. While these are all worthy projects, there’s still much work to be done,” the authors continued.
Along with proposing several practical steps to combat unwanted abortions, the authors also suggested ways that the language and vocabulary used to discuss abortion on both sides could be improved.
The authors wrote that pro-lifers should stop saying that abortion is a “selfish choice” because that language is “unpersuasive” in conversations with pro-choice people, and “doesn’t match the reality of abortion revealed by the research discussed above.”
The authors also pointed out that in January 2023, Camosy and Scheidler penned “Building a Post-Roe Future,” a statement listing several public policy changes that could help reduce the number of abortions committed.
Concluding the June 17 article, the authors emphasized:
No woman should ever be pressured or coerced into abortion—not by threats from a violent partner, not by someone else’s agenda for her life, not by a lack of basic resources, and not by the indifference of a society exhausted by the equally unhelpful cries of “abortion is murder” and “my body, my choice.”
While we continue to seek ways to extend robust legal protection to prenatal children and to persuade our pro-choice brothers and sisters that such laws are necessary to forge a truly just society, we should all be able to come together to stop unwanted abortion.
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