We Asked, You Answered: What are some of the reasons people say you’re “not really pro-life”?
Secular Pro-life recently asked this of followers on social media: What are some of the reasons people have told you you’re “not really pro-life”? Responses shared common themes of frustration with being misunderstood or stereotyped by both pro-lifers and pro-choicers, regardless of political and philosophical beliefs. Below is a sampling of those replies, lightly edited for clarity.
On a related note, SPL’s Monica Snyder and Herb Geraghty recently shared their discussion of the motivations behind pro-life purity tests, the psychology of gatekeeping, and the impact of exclusionary language on the abortion debate. You can listen to or watch that replay here:
Jenna Carodiskey-Wiebe: Because I’m pro-contraception, including surgical sterilization, and believe the decision to not have kids should be respected.
Kayla Cherise Pich: Because I’ve had an “abortion” myself. To clarify, I had an ectopic pregnancy in 2021, my tube ruptured and they removed it and the pregnancy which presented no heartbeat even at 7-8 weeks.
Jessie Bee: Because I’m not “traditional” enough to be pro-life, according to those “pure” pro-lifers. According to pro-choicers, I haven’t adopted or fostered, therefore I cannot be enough anti-abortion. Never mind those other pro-choice people who keep telling me that I am not supposed to adopt a child.
FranCatholica: Because I don’t support IVF (it goes against my religion)
ProLifeIVF: Being pro IVF
Destinesia: Pretty much all the reasons that can fall under being unable to magically, instantly, single-handedly fix every problem in the world from wars to climate fluctuations
Mary Flannery Jensen: From traditional pro-lifers: because I hate Trump, support contraceptive use, don’t care what consenting adults do in the bedroom, support LGBT+ rights, and don’t follow any of their accepted versions of Christianity; from pro-choicers (and some nontraditional pro-lifers): because I’m not a socialist and I support gun ownership rights
Valerie Jung Finnigan: Because they assume (falsely, natch) that I’m a Fundamentalist Christian and a Republican.
Michael Cammack: Maybe not quite a reason, but another silly thing I hear is “don’t you think about your daughter?” Yeah, I do. I think about how her life was just as precious and valuable in the womb as it is now.
Amanda Virginn: Because I believe women who regret their abortions and now fight for unborn children should be welcomed into the pro-life movement. Pro-choicers as well as pro-lifers sometimes call these women hypocrites. I find their testimony the most compelling because they went through it.
Kimberly Ferri Cakebread: I’m in favor of oral contraception. I’m in favor of the morning after pill. Im in favor of justified military action. One objection raised early on did change me: you can’t be pro-life and pro-death penalty. I changed my position on capital punishment after much thought on that.
Additional Resources
- “You either support reproductive autonomy or you don’t.”
- On the Single-Issue Struggle
- We Asked, You Answered: What are points of agreement you have with the other side?
- How to talk (not fight) about abortion (brochure)
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