Sometimes pro-choice activists say things that show they are completely out of touch with reality. On my website Clinicquotes, I have a collection of quotes from pro-choicers that show a stunning lack of logic or an almost delusional set of opinions. Here are ten statements made by pro-choicers that might make you shake your head:
- “The majority of women who abort do so because they know that the unwelcome child, born of constraint or misfortune, will be wounded in some unacceptable way. As Artemis [Greek goddess of hunting] might kill a wounded animal rather than allow it to limp along miserably, so a mother wishes to spare the child painful destiny.” (1)
- “Taking antibiotics terminates more life than an abortion. One organism < the billions you kill with antibiotics….If you can believe an embryo is greater than a woman, I can believe bacteria has a right to live.” (2)
- “Is the fetus alive? Is it alive? Algae is alive, and earthworms, and your appendix. Mold on the bread in the refrigerator is alive. People are not agreed on what a life is.” (3)
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“I believe that an abortion is a murder of a fetus — different ethically than the murder of a child, but still a death,…But I swatted a fly earlier; I’m a murderer. I’m also a carnivore. It’s a choice.”(4)
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“Denying women access to safe abortion (whether we have been raped or not) is itself a form of figurative, if not literal, violation…Rape denies us bodily integrity; so does restricting abortion. Both are strategies designed to subjugate women.” (5)
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“I think most people won’t deny d [the] fact that ‘abortion’, is in its most fundamental form, d [the] taking of another person’s life (some of us will beg to differ) .. yet nobody can say for sure, if d legalizing of this ‘murder’ is ultimately right or wrong[.]” (6)
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“Even feminists, even pro-choice activists can be heard to say, ‘Well, of course abortion is a terrible thing, but it’s better than…’ or ‘Sometimes it’s necessary,’ or ‘It is the better of two terrible choices.’ … In fact, there are good reasons to think that abortion is not terrible, not merely expedient. There are many reasonable, ethical people who believe that although abortion may be emotionally trying, it can be a most positive, moral, life loving choice.” (7)
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“Pretty soon you can imagine legislation prohibiting the washing of hands because thousands of cells are flaked off that could be turned into a stem cell and you can grow a foetus – so you’re killing a person. It’s attacks on women’s rights.” (8)
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“A lot of times people say that women who have abortions have selfish reasons. No – it was an act of love.” (9)
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“If anything, a fetus is merely a parasitical creature that uses the mother as its host. Tapeworms are parasites that house themselves in the intestinal tracts of humans, feeding off the food the host consumes. Comparatively, a fetus is little more than a tapeworm. It is quite common for humans to annihilate parasites with medications or toxins, so why not allow for fetuses to suffer the same fate?” (10)
Footnotes
- Ginette Paris, The Sacrament of Abortion (as translated by Joanna Mott) (Dallas: Spring Publications, 1992) 146 – 147
- Feminist Amanda Marcotte (Twitter): Lifenews, 11/18/13
- “Let’s Tell the Truth About Abortion.” Pamphlet distributed by Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood. 1985, 22 pages. Fight Back Press, Post Office Box 61421, Denver, Colorado 80206. Pages 3 and 4
- Gwen Goldsmith, a 42-year-old actress and seminary student from Brooklyn interviewed for “The Abortion Diaries,” on the abortion she had. Laura Barcella “The A-word” Salon SEP 20, 2004
- Wendy Simonds. Abortion at Work: Ideology and Practice in a Feminist Clinic (New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1996) 229, She wrote this after observing abortions at up to 26 weeks in a clinic
- Blog: “Should We Legalize Abortion” claims that an unborn baby does not have rights until he/she can feel pain saying before the baby can feel pain it is “just another cell” December 21, 2005
- Sheila Ruth “Sexism Realized: Women’s Lives in Patriarchy” Issues in Feminism 3rd Edition, 230
- Prof Noam Chomsky, speaking at a reception in UCD’s O’Reilly Hall. He was awarded the UCD Ulysses Medal, the university’s highest honor. Colin Gleeson “Chomsky criticises restrictive abortion laws” The Irish Times Apr 3, 2013,
- Coral Lopez, in Ziba Kashef “Her Body, Her Choice” Colorlines, winter 2005
- Shane Krouse, MSU sophomore and State News columnist, MSU State News: “Wad of cells does not equate to human life, abortion isn’t murder” July 26 2006
