“Pro-Lifer’s Aren’t Really Pro-Life, They’re Only ‘Pro-Birth!’”
Perhaps you’ve heard the clever saying, “Atheism is better at smelling rotten eggs than laying good ones of its own.” This is also true of the abortion lobby (many of whom are atheists). Consider their often-repeated accusation that “pro-lifers have a ‘fetus fetish’”, that we are unfeeling hypocrites obsessed with saving the baby in the womb but that we disappear after the baby has been born. Let’s analyze this baseless claim.
First, even if true this would do nothing to defeat our argument that abortion unjustly kills innocent human beings. For instance, suppose we grant the premise that pro-lifers don’t care about babies after they’re born. Where does this leave us? How could our not caring about babies after they’re born justify someone else killing them before they’re born? This simply doesn’t follow; our alleged hypocrisy could never render the vile practice of abortion a moral good.
Moreover, while pro-lifers work tirelessly to protect nascent human life, our love doesn’t end with the birth of the child. In fact, the same love that compels us to care for babies in utero also compels us to love and care for babies after they have been born, as well as to provide tangible help for their mothers and fathers. This fact is easily proven thanks to the remarkable efforts of nearly 3,000 pregnancy care centers (PRCs) throughout the United States.
Unlike the current president of Planned Parenthood whose 2023 annual salary was over $663,000[1], the limited paid employees of PRC’s make modest salaries, and their countless volunteers aren’t paid at all. And unlike abortion clinics, many of which are owned and operated by men for financial profit off of women in crisis and off the blood of their children, PRC’s are led almost exclusively by women, for women, at no cost to women. These vital ministries offer free ultra-sounds, clothing, diapers, parenting classes, post-abortion counseling, and a host of other services.
The IZA Institute of Labor Economics reported that as of November 2023, over 32,000 babies had been saved from abortion because of the June 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. [2] This has resulted in a substantial increase in clients for PRCs and an ongoing challenge to continue to provide needed services. According to a 2022 survey of over 2,750 PRCs across all 50 states conducted by the Charlotte Lozier Institute[3],
· PRC’s met with clients over 16 million times, both in person and virtually, with an estimated total service value of at least $358 million annually.
· PRC’s provided services like the ones mentioned above to almost 975,000 new clients.
· Of the 16 million client interactions, 97% self-reported a positive experience.
While these vital ministries are being stretched even further, they face increasing attacks from federal and state governments to silence their message or force them to close. For example, at an October 2023 press conference, New Jersey congressman Josh Gottheimer shamefully referred to PRCs as “brainwashing cult clinics” and argued they are “dangerous to women’s health.”[4] New Jersey issued a state-wide “Consumer Alert” calling into question the professionalism and ethical practices of PRCs and even suggesting they cannot be trusted to keep their client’s health information private.[5] In New York and Washington, efforts are underway to censure PRCs by requiring them to turn over reams of information regarding their donors, organizational networks, staff lists and much more. In Massachusetts and California, there are threats to close PRCs that offer the highly effective abortion pill reversal (APR) despite the fact over 5,000 babies have been saved from this medical protocol as of this writing.[6]
Much more could be said in defense of the pro-life movement, but just follow the money: if the abortionist is the champion of women, why doesn’t he offer his services for free in her time of need? Jesus provides the answer; “a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.”[7] Thousands of pro-life advocates are working hard to rescue the preborn and to meet the physical, spiritual, and emotional needs of mothers and their little ones. While the self-serving abortion lobby is consumed with laying rotten eggs, we’re busy laying good ones of our own. These facts are not difficult to substantiate, which leaves one wondering why abortion enthusiasts insist on saying otherwise.
[1] American Life League, https://www.all.org
[2] IZA Institute of Labor, “The Effects of the Dobbs Decision on Fertility,” November 2023
[3] https://lozierinstitute.org/pregnancy-centers-provided-over-350m-of-services-goods/
[4] https://njrtl.org/statement-in-response-to-congressman-gottheimers-attack-against-pregnancy-centers/
[5] https://www.christianpost.com/news/pregnancy-center-sues-new-jersey-ag-for-probing-donor-information.html
[6] Jor-El Godsey, Heartbeat International, e-newsletter, February 28, 2024
[7] Matthew 7:18, NIV 1984