Have you seen the column titled, “So What if Abortion Ends Life,” by Mary Elizabeth Williams?
I’m a couple days late to it. It is so rare that someone is so forthcoming about their horrifying beliefs, that I just didn’t know how to respond until now.
This is is arguably the most disturbing section of a very disturbing column:
My belief that life begins at conception is mine to cling to.
… In an Op-Ed on “Why I’m Pro-Choice” in the Michigan Daily this week, Emma Maniere stated, quite perfectly, that “Some argue that abortion takes lives, but I know that abortion saves lives, too.” She understands that [abortion] saves lives not just in the most medically literal way, but in the roads that women who have choice then get to go down, in the possibilities for them and for their families. And I would put the life of a mother over the life of a fetus every single time — even if I still need to acknowledge my conviction that the fetus is indeed a life. A life worth sacrificing.
(Emphasis mine.)
If slavery is America’s original sin, then licensed infanticide must be America’s knockoff sin. Both institutions are horrid and revolting.
As committed as I am to the right to life, I could still have a reasonable conversation with someone who sincerely believes that life doesn’t begin at conception. This person, in my view, is wrong — but at least he isn’t depraved.
But Williams’ stated position is far, far worse.
She happily concedes that abortion is murder, only to argue that terminating a life is just a calculated trade-off. (Keep in mind, she’s not arguing that abortion should be legal in order to save the literal life of a mother — but instead, to preserve “the roads that women who have choice then get to go down, in the possibilities for them and for their families.”)
The obvious rebuttal to this is to say that an infant can sometimes also be inconvenient (trust me, I have one.) I love him dearly, but our two-month old, no doubt, limits our career options — at least, for now.
And clearly the lives of two adults trump the life of a two-month old, right?
Would Williams also agree that an infant is “indeed a life. A life worth sacrificing”?
Usually people who hold these repellent beliefs at least have the good political sense to conceal them. They say they want abortion to be “safe, rare, and legal.” Not Williams. By being so honest and forthcoming about her position, she undermines her cause — which, I suppose, is good news for the unborn.