Dear “Pro-lifer”,
You are not pro-life. No, really, you’re not. You’re a lover of the fetus.
Here's the thing about the lovers of the fetus. The fetus is an easy thing to care about. It doesn't require an education. It doesn't require clothing or shelter. It doesn't need child care. It doesn't require a job. It doesn't require the things that everybody needs after they're born. After birth, caring for human beings takes effort, and that's where you lovers of the fetus stop.
People can bring up the many thousands of people being killed by gun violence in America. Where are you on that? You’re holding on to a gross misinterpretation of the 2nd Amendment of the US Constitution, defending the ownership of assault rifles, whose sole purpose is to kill other human beings, and deflecting from the tragedy by saying, ‘Oh yeah? Well do you know how many babies (aka fetuses) were killed last year?” Caring only about the fetuses and not the actual human beings who are dying in wholesale slaughter means you’re not actually pro-life.
Mothers are being separated from their children at the border, some of them as young as 4 months old. Children have died in American concentration camps (you call them detention centers). Where are you on this? Your answer is, “Well, they broke the law. These are the consequences.” As so many of you call yourselves Christian too, pro-life and Christian being put together like bacon and eggs or apple and pie, it might be worth it to remember, “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”(Matthew 25:35). If that’s too general for you, how about, “Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of my brethren you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:40). Not convinced yet? Need something more explicit? Okay. “Do not oppress a foreigner” (Exodus 23:9). What do you do? You deflect all of this with, “Oh yeah? Well, ‘Jeremiah 1:5! ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations’!” Well, while that may be your “case” against getting rid of a fetus, it doesn’t excuse you from protecting the lives of strangers (even those brown ones) at the border. Your failure to do this makes you, well, not pro-life.
And how about the deaths of thousands from corporate-sponsored interventionist wars? The Ten Commandments tells you, “Thou shalt not kill.” That’s pretty unambiguous right there. Or try, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44). That’s also pretty simple to understand. If you’re Catholic, as so many who support unbridled breeding are, Pope Francis, Pope Benedict, and Pope John Paull II all spoke out against America’s wars. Still out there “supporting the troops”? Still got your pomp oms out to cheer on the carnage? The median estimate for all war-related deaths in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq is 500,000 people. If you back this, then I hate to say it, but you’re not pro-life.
And let’s talk about the death penalty, which most prominently involves, well, death, the opposite of life. The Popes have hated this one too. Romans 12:19 tells us exactly what role our governments should take when it comes to killing. None. “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “’It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.” But you’ll argue it deters crime, so it ultimately saves lives (because God loves it when you rationalize about His word). Numerous universities, law enforcement, and human rights groups have conducted studies that indicate the death penalty is not a deterrent to crime. Because of the court costs and endless litigation involved in capital cases, it’s also more costly to the state than life sentences (key feature of which is “life”). Let’s face it, people love it, because it’s satisfying payback. If you support the death penalty, and you’re all into that “eye for an eye” garbage, guess what? Yeah. You’re not pro-life.
But let’s stop talking about the dying, shall we, and let’s focus on those who get born. How many of you pro-lifers support abstinence only education and the restriction of birth control to people, most notably women and teens? According to the National Library of Medicine & the National Institutes of Health, states with comprehensive sex education, including how to use and the supply of birth control have lower teen pregnancy rates than states who use abstinence only in their schools. I hear you say, “But giving kids condoms and birth control pills only encourages sex”. Well, sex encourages itself, let’s face it. Preparing kids properly for it will encourage safe sex, which is very much less likely to result in the destruction of that fetus you love so much. If you think you can just tell people, “Don’t do it” and then keep the means to prevent pregnancy unavailable to them, you are not pro-life.
Every rabid fetus lover I know loves the idea of fetuses becoming babies, but when I ask you, “Say, have you ever considered adopting a child, you know, from a pregnant girl who’s considering an abortion”, the answer is no right? Probably. Raising a child is much harder than fighting for that fetus, right? To do it, sometimes women need the support of social programs, including TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), SNAP (food stamps), Head Start (federally funded child care for working moms), WIC (Women, Infant, and Children program, providing nutritional support to pregnant women as well as mothers of children 5 or younger), or NSLP (the National School Lunch Program). You being the conservative you are, you’ve probably gone on about “big government” and “people leaching off of Uncle Sam”, and you’ve acted against the existence of such programs. Yeah, and you know what that makes you? Not pro-life. Have you donated your time and/or money to help these struggling women, who in your mind, made the right choice? Probably not. Why not? Because you’re not pro-life.
Have you considered that the Climate Crisis is a threat to all life on this planet, everybody, even your own children? Oh, I hear you. “It’s a hoax.” Sure. Most of the world’s scientists have gotten together to pull an elaborate prank on everybody. Come April Fool’s Day 2031, they’ll all admit it. What a lark! Is that what you think? No. What next? “There’s no consensus.” Really? 97% of climate experts agree. So, there’s consensus. “It’s not caused by people. Climate change ins natural.” Part of it is, but it’s caused by gasses like CO2 in our atmosphere, and guess how nearly all of the CO2 gets up there. Yep. Humans, burning fossil fuels like there’s no tomorrow (which there may not be, in point of fact). It’d be ironic if the remains of the dinosaurs, one extinct species, lead to the extinction of people, don’t you think? If you ignore the science about this because you think a stable capitalist economy is more precious than the planet you believe God created for you, if you’re willing to gamble so recklessly with the lives of every creature on earth, then there is no way you should ever dare call yourself pro-life.
For you, it’s all about the fetus. You even voted for a lying, philandering, criminal, treasonous, mentally ill, sexually predatory oligarch whose corrupt administration puts that of Ulysses S. Grant to shame (you can pick up a history book for that one). Why? Because you knew he was going to stack the courts, especially the Supreme Court, with judges who would work to overturn Roe V. Wade. I’m sure just the imagining of this gets you aroused in unspeakable ways. Is that drool on your chin? You chose the worst president in history, and you now laud him as a savior, as God’s chosen one, just because he promised he’d save the fetuses. Well, have you noticed a pattern here? Reagan promised it. He had two terms to deliver. Did he? George H.W. Bush campaigned on the promise too. Did he make it happen? W promised it too. Did he get ‘er done? Yeah. You know why? They know how fanatical you are about the fetus, so much so that it overrides all reason and discernment, and they’ve been playing you to win their elections for decades. Satan himself could run for office, running campaign ads with pornographic images, peeing on the stage at debates, and punching old ladies in the stomach at random. As long as he promised an end to Roe V. Wade, you’d vote for him, and why is that, because you are not pro-life.
At every turn, you default to, let's save the fetus. Forget everybody that's been born. Let's save the fetus. Forget war. Let’s save the fetus. Forget the death of democracy. Let’s save the fetus. Forget the health and well-being of women. Let’s save the fetus. Forget clear air and water. Let’s save the fetus. Forget anything that really matters. You just want to save that #@$*ing fetus. That’s it. Your crusade to save the fetus creates the illusion that you’re sympathetic when you’re absolutely not. It makes you call yourself pro-life when, as your God is my witness, you truly, truly, truly are not even close to being anything of the kind. You are pro-fetus, anti-woman, or anti-sex, but you, my deluded friend, are not pro-life.