the 'pro-choice' side may yet discover choice

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Jan 30, 2009

 Stop the presses! Columnist Ellen Goodman is tired of the stale old debate about abortion. Actually she's been tired of the debate for at least 20 years, but that hasn't stopped her from churning out column after column on the topic. But now she's achieved a breakthrough; she's found a solution. If we'd all just agree with her, the debate could be ended. 

Thanks for that insight, Ellen. Got anything more? Yes.

Many prochoice supporters too are eager to move from a defensive crouch protecting rights to an open stance in favor of both prevention and a wider support system for families. As Frances Kissling, a longtime philosopher for the prochoice community, puts it, "We can use these years to reestablish a reproductive health movement that is clearly recognized for also helping women who want to have babies." 

So now Kissling is a "philosopher." Run an abortion clinic, get Playboy Foundation money to set up a phony paper organization that claims to be Catholic and shills for the abortion industry. Those credentials make you a "philosopher." But I digress.

For the space of a full generation, the people who discovered the rhetorical magic of the term "pro-choice" have claimed that they want to help pregnant women decide for themselves whether or not to continue a pregnancy. But all the money they've raised, all the legislation they've sponsored, all the spurious arguments they've advanced have channeled support not toward the women but toward the abortion clinics. Now, having retired from her full-time advocacy role, Frances Kissling discovers that some pregnant women want babies rather than abortions. Again, thanks for the insight. 

Meanwhile, for as long as abortion advocates have been crowing about "choice," pro-lifers have been working to give pregnant women a real choice. In thousands of pregnancy-resource centers-- sustained by donors and staffed by volunteers, without help from Uncle Sam or the Playboy Foundation-- young women facing crisis pregnancies can find real practical help. Yes, the staff members do their best to persuade women to have their babies. But if the women choose abortion, there's nothing the center staff can do to stop them. They have a real choice. 

The need is enormous and these pregnancy-resource centers are constantly strapped. Any time the "pro-choice" advocates want to put their money where their mouths are...