Being pro-life is more than being pro-birth

Many individuals may directly associate the phrase “pro-life” with being pro-birth or opposed to abortion. While of course both of these statements are true, what many people perhaps fail to fully grasp is that being pro-birth is only a part of being pro-life. The truth is that pro-life is pro-woman, pro-adoption, pro-child, and pro-family.

Opposition to abortion has historically been a feminist issue. Many of the most capable and vigorous proponents of the pro-life message are strong women. Pro-life is pro-woman, says Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life. “We know that a message many people hear in our country is that in order to be ‘pro-woman,’ you have to be pro-choice. I would offer that nothing could be further from the truth,” she told Cosmopolitan.com. “I see that as rhetoric and I see that as false. Life is empowering for women. A woman’s capacity to have children is an incredible thing, not something to be ashamed of. It doesn’t mean that I am defined by that, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to pretend it’s not part of me. It’s an incredible gift.”

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, echoed this sentiment, writing in an op-ed for Newsbusters:

Clearly, the public visibility of strong women who oppose abortion on demand is causing a big change.

Protecting our unborn children from abortion is not an attack on women. Women know this because women are the ones who understand what it is to nurture, shelter and grow an infant in our own bodies.

Pro-life is also pro-adoption, as Vice President elect Mike Pence explained during the Vice Presidential debates. “If you’re going to be pro-life you should be pro-adoption,” he said, hinting that adoption needs to have a bigger part in the abortion debate. A woman experiencing an unplanned pregnancy may feel tremendous pressure and may feel completely unequipped to handle the responsibilities of parenting a child. She may feel her only option is to abort her preborn child — but it isn’t. Adoption is a beautiful, lifesaving option, and mothers experiencing unplanned pregnancies have the right to information about how adoption works.

Pro-life is also pro-child. Abortion exports violence against the lives of the most innocent among us. “If we don’t treat the weakest members of society with the respect that we have for ourselves, how is that justice?” asks Lila Rose, President of Live Action. “How is that equality? How is that upholding human rights?”

Pro-life is pro-family. It has been said that the things most important in life are the things closest to home, and Confucius stated, “The strength of a nation derives in the integrity of the home.” Nothing hits closer to home than family, and individual lives are what constitutes a family. Pope Francis has famously said, “The right to life is the first among human rights.” By protecting the lives of the preborn, we protect the institution of the family, thereby promoting a healthy society. 

Every life has value because every person endowed by their Creator with life is created in the image of God. Being pro-life means that every life deserves to be respected regardless of circumstances because human life is created with an inherent sanctity and dignity. Being pro-life is more than just pro-birth; it’s pro-woman, pro-adoption, pro-child, and pro-family.