Top 15 stories of 2011

I couldn’t limit myself to just 10!  Without further ado, here are the 15 most-read Secular Pro-Life blog posts of 2011.

15) It’s a tie.  Cognitive dissonance and the power of language analyzes two stories from Slate that revealed the mental and linguistic gymnastics abortion supporters have to go through to deny the humanity of unborn children.  Lautenberg’s shocking comment slams New Jersey senator Frank Lautenberg for his remark that pro-life Americans “don’t deserve the freedoms in the Constitution.”


14) Abortion Rights vs. Sexual Assault: Guest writer Michelle Ye Zhang criticizes abortion advocates who exploit survivors of sexual assault for their cause.  She asks: “Do [pro-choicers] not realize how highly insulting it is to be told that I should feel more pain and anguish due to not being able to kill my preborn child than from a man placing his hands on me without my consent? “

13) China to move to 2-child policy by 2015: “Pro-lifers have long criticized the one-child policy as a violation of human rights. Pro-life leaders are rightfully skeptical that a two-child policy will be much better.”

12) GAP visits Liberty U.: Argues that bringing the pro-life message to evangelical Christians is important outreach.  “Secular Pro-Life is quick to point out that not all pro-lifers are Christian. . . . But we need to remember that the opposite is also true: not all Christians are pro-life. And among those who are pro-life, many are apathetic.”

11) Is the pro-life movement anti-sex?: This was a lot of fun to write.  I’ll leave it at that.


10) Gender selection in Australia: Guest writer Amelia Linne reminds us that sex selection is not just an Asian problem.

9) Abortion after sonogram: This post, which was reprinted on LifeNews.com, tries to explain the psychology of a woman who aborted after receiving a sonogram from a pro-life pregnancy center.  She experienced post-abortion stress, but remains staunchly pro-abortion.  “She apparently thinks that if only she had been able to maintain her ignorance of human development, everything would have been fine. She blames the pregnancy center for allowing her to see the situation for what it really was. And now, she wants to impose her wished-for ignorance on other women by fighting sonogram laws.”




8) Pro-life atheist’s review of 180 Movie: Guest writer Patrick Ptomey has some positive things to say about the movie, but wishes that producer Ray Comfort had refrained from playing the “Hell card.”  (Also check out Comfort’s response on Life Report.)


7) On NARAL report card, high abortion rate gets you good marks: By comparing NARAL rankings to abortion statistics from the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, this post demonstrates that “killing unborn babies at a higher than average rate virtually guarantees a state a position in the top 25. Even Florida, the only such state not in the top 25, received a passing grade with a D. And of the twelve highlighted states, eight received grades of A- or better. Working to make abortion rare? Apparently, that’s extracurricular.”


6) The sad story of Joseph Maraachli: Describes the plight of the Maraachli family, whose terminally ill son Joseph was ordered off of life support by a Canadian judge.  (That decision was later changed.  Baby Joseph was transferred to the United States, where he spent his last days as comfortably as possible, with his family by his side.)


5) Remembering Kortney: My personal memories of Students for Life of America staffer Kortney Blythe Gordon, who was a great friend of Secular Pro-Life.  She and her unborn baby, Sophy, died instantly in a car accident on October 8.  Fellow SFLA staffer Jon Scharfenberger, who was in the passenger’s seat, died later that month.


4) Stages of Life: “The simple truth is that human development is gradual. At no point in the human lifetime does a Personhood Fairy magically endow us with rights.”


3) Abortionist Gosnell arrested on post-natal murders: Breaking news that Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell was arrested on eight counts of murder.