National abortion rallies ignore pain of women, critics say

Last updated on: October 30, 2013 at 11:31 pm by CNA Daily News

National abortion rallies ignore pain of women, critics say 2013-10-30T23:31:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Washington D.C., Oct 30, 2013 / 05:31 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A national campaign to depict abortion as a normal and positive experience has drawn criticism for overlooking the harm that abortion causes to women and their unborn children.

“This campaign reinforces the political beliefs about the goodness of abortion without giving women a chance to be honest about how they feel about their abortion or their lost child,” said Tina Whittington, executive vice president for Students for Life of America.

The problem with “encouraging women to fit into this mold that says 'I am okay with my abortion and I feel no regrets,'” she told CNA on Oct. 30, is that “it takes away their rights to feel regret, loss or sadness.”

“This is part of the reason why it takes women so long to seek help” for counseling after an abortion, Whittington continued. Rather than dealing with the pain they experience, women feel pressured to “stand behind a message point.”

Ultimately, she said, the campaign tells women, “We don't care about your complicated emotional or psychological health, all we care about is getting this political agenda moved forward.”

Whittington responded to a nationwide effort to re-energize the abortion movement in the U.S., led by Advocates for Youth and supported by other groups including NARAL Pro-Choice America, Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice.

The campaign has involved the coordination of more than 130 events in some 30 states and 100 college campus in order to promote abortion access and oppose regulations on abortion.

At the center of the campaign is an effort to “destigmatize abortion and promote access” by promoting stories showing abortion as a normal and positive experience for women. The initiative centers on the findings from a 2011 survey from the Guttmacher Institute stating that 1 in 3 women in the United States would have an abortion by the age of 45.

However, pro-life advocates noted that the campaign fails to take into account the stories of women who have had traumatic or negative experiences from their abortions, nor does it mention the children who were adopted after their mothers chose life in difficult and challenging situations.

“Many of these 1 in 3 are deeply wounded and struggle daily with the decision they made or were coerced into,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony List.

Overlooking these stories is overlooking the well-being of these women, she said.

“This is just another example of how pro-abortion forces put the institution of abortion above the wellbeing of individual women.”

Dannenfelser told CNA that “post-abortive women who speak out about their experiences have been instrumental in encouraging other mothers to choose life and winning hearts and minds to the pro-life cause.”

One of the rallies, held Oct. 28 in Washington, D.C., featured comments from Advocates for Youth president Deb Hauser, who explained that “every good story that mobilizes needs a villain.”

According to rally organizers, one of the purposes of the event was to fight those who would “shame” women who have had abortions. A poem read at the rally criticized individuals who pray near abortion clinics, saying that they express “judgment” and oppose “freedom.”

Dannenfelser explained that the campaign is pushing for abortion to “be normalized in our society.”

But ultimately, she stressed, “the pro-life argument that there are two unique people – a mother and a child – at the center of every abortion decision will always win out.”

Previous Post

October 30, 2013

Costa Rica court: Church has right to speak on social issues

Next Post

October 31, 2013 Parish in Queens celebrates healing after Hurricane Sandy

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which book of the Bible contains the most chapters of any prophetic book?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Jeremiah Daniel Ezekiel Isaiah