From the stage of the Golden Globes to the homepage of The Washington Post, women are praising abortion. What does it all mean, and what are we to do?
Last week, The Washington Post offered this headline: “Five years after an abortion, most women say they made the right decision.”
Researchers questioned 667 women across the country in an effort to determine “how abortion affects women physically, socially, emotionally and economically.” The key reported finding was that, at the five-year mark, 84 percent of the women surveyed reported primarily positive emotions about their abortions, or none at all. And 99 percent of women felt they had made the right decision.
Researchers concluded that these results “challenge the rationale for state-mandated counseling protocols…and other policies regulating access to abortion premised on emotional harm claims.”
In other words:
-Most women report that they don’t regret their abortions.
-Therefore, there should be unrestricted access to abortion.
Let’s ignore for a moment that the study’s findings have been challenged. Let’s set aside the fact that less than 700 women participated, and that more than two-thirds of the women who were asked to participate in the study refused to do so. Let’s even disregard the significant detail that half of the women who initially agreed to participate later dropped out of the study.
If the results actually demonstrated that women could end the life growing inside of their wombs and then happily carry on their lives with few negative emotions and no regrets, what would it mean?
Would it mean that abortion should now be celebrated as a public good and a personal gain? Or that the 61 million babies aborted in the United States since 1973 were necessary sacrifices to the gods of bodily autonomy and personal convenience?
Would it mean we can forget about the corpses of 2,246 unborn children found at the home of an abortionist last September? Or that selling baby parts for research is nothing more than a shrewd economic venture?
Or would it mean something even worse?
Would it mean that our society has become numb to the horror of abortion? That we’ve believed the foundational lies of abortion: that a bundle of joy is only a bundle of tissue, and that “bodily autonomy” excuses the use of lethal violence by a mother against her child?
On Jan. 5, 2020, actress Michelle Williams stood on stage at the Golden Globe Awards. As she offered her acceptance speech, Williams suggested that her abortion years before had enabled her to win the best actress award. Let that sink in.
Unlike those who thank the men and women whose shoulders they stood upon to reach new heights, Williams credited her own dead child for enabling her to clutch a trophy. Her fingers were wrapped around a cheap award. Her hand could have been holding the hand of a precious child. And people cheered and applauded.
What does this mean? It reveals the awful truth that our society has forgotten that every life matters. Every life.
The unborn child.
The mother, who is convinced of the lie that death is the best option for her child.
The father, who loses the chance to be “Daddy,” when his child is killed in the womb.
The would-be adoptive parents, who are denied the chance to love and care for a precious life.
The brother or sister, who is denied the chance to play with, fight with, eat with, study with, laugh with and live with their sibling. . . a lifetime of lost memories.
The grandparents, who never get the chance to show the picture of their grandchild to strangers at the supermarket, or to learn about FaceTime, GIPHY and emoticons, for no other reason than to connect with the most important child they’ve ever met.
The classmates, friends, teachers and co-workers who all miss the chance to meet the one person who might impact their life like no one else could.
And the staff at abortion facilities, who participate in and are exposed to unthinkable violence against the unborn: men and women who will never be able to erase from their hearts and minds what they have seen.
That’s what it means. Now, what can we do?
On Friday, tens of thousands will participate in the 47th annual March for Life. Maybe you will be one of those marching and demonstrating your continued commitment to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. But if not, you can still show your strong support for life.
In our families, our communities and with our votes, we can speak for the unborn. And we can act, by supporting mothers and fathers and children. Together we can remind our society what really matters.
Abortion ends one life…and it irrevocably alters so many others.
It’s time…it’s finally time… for the horror to end.