Your views and Patricia Ireland’s may not be that different…
This week, as a movement, the Pro-Life community has been fiercely attacked by the mainstream media. Unfortunately, because of the few who came out in support of Dr. Tiller’s murder, the many of us have suffered by being called terrorists and extremists. All of us who believe in the dignity of life from conception to death understand that this was a ruthless killing of what Kansas law considers to be an innocent man. Therefore, I am not writing about whether or not we are terrorists; I don’t wish to dignify that accusation with a response. I do think, however, something far more worthy of discussion has come to light as a result of this controversy, and it starts with a quote from Patricia Ireland, former President of the National Organization for Women.
Ms. Ireland was on the O’Reilly Factor Tuesday night to discuss the media’s portrayal of Dr. Tiller’s life as a late term abortionist versus the public’s opinion on late term abortions. During the course of their conversation, O’Reilly asked Ms. Ireland when she believes life begins. She responded by saying, "I think immediately upon conception there is life." She believes just as you and I do that life begins at conception! How then does she reconcile the fact that abortion is murder with a “woman’s right to choose”? She went onto say, "but that is the wrong question. Fetuses do not grow inside Petri dishes, they grow inside real live women who have their own issues of health, their own responsibilities, their own dreams and hopes.”
So, as long as a woman feels that a child wouldn’t coincide with her plans for life, then she should be allowed to have an abortion? How far shall we carry out this ideology? I would assume that Ms. Ireland doesn’t contend that you “gain” life as you move forward in it. So, if she feels that life begins at conception but it is okay to end that life at 28 weeks of pregnancy, what is to stop her from ending the child’s life at 5 years old when the mother gets a job in another city and just doesn’t feel like a child will fit in with those plans? Obviously Ms. Ireland wouldn’t condone this, because it doesn’t make any sense. Just like it doesn’t make sense that one would condone an abortion for some arbitrary reason like the hopes and dreams of the pregnant woman, if you understand that life begins at conception.
Personally, I think this could prove to be the proverbial “chink in the armor” of the pro-abortion movement. I think we, in the pro-life community, need to hold her out as an example to demonstrate the absurdity of this position. I think they were able to pick up a lot of followers in the movement, because they sold them on the idea that life didn’t begin at conception and therefore abortion wasn’t murder. I don’t think the general population of people who are pro-choice understand that life does begin at conception. What will be the impact now that one of their leaders has readily admitted on national television that it does?
