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Roe v Wade Anniversary: Future Directions in the Anti-Abortion Movement

Happy anniversary, Roe vs wade ! Recently, NPR invited Jay Sekulow, Rev. Thomas Reese and Randall Terry to answer the question, “what’s next for the anti-abortion movement?" 

According to Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, politically overturning Roe v Wade in the near future looks dim in the political sense, but this doesn’t mean the fight is over for the pro-life side. The advance of medical science, specifically the availability of the sonogram has been the biggest shift for the pro-life cause. As medical technology becomes more advanced, more people (especially young people) will re-think abortion. “ Jay Sekulow noted that the most significant impact on the abortion movement comes from crisis pregnancy centers, like Life Choices, that are now becoming medical centers with ultrasound equipment and trained personnel on site. When a woman sees that beating heart, sees that baby suck its thumb in utero, sees it wave back at its mama, the mother will choose life."  This concept is not new—mandatory sonograms for women has gained popularity the past few years, and Sekulow has hope that more states will require the practice within the next few years—having a democrat as our president for the next 4-8 years doesn’t mean the pro-life side has to end its battle. 
Some argue that finding a common ground on the issue of abortion is important, and that this cultural battle has gone on long enough. Those who are pro-life and those who are pro-life may agree that reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies could certainly reduce the number of abortions, which is a good thing. Everybody wins! However, Sekulow stands firm in his belief that abortion is a human rights issue and that it is ultimately murder it is NOT an issue those on the pro-life side should compromise. 

Randall Terry,founder of Operation Rescue urges the pro life side to use different language when it comes to talking about abortion and suggests the rhetoric needs to be changed—people need to take the word “abortion” out and put the word “slavery” in or “killing Jews” in its place. “We need to find common ground with slave holders so that need to slavery is reduced. Find common ground with the Nazis so that the need to killing Jews is reduced...” Abortion should be compared to the Holocaust and slavery. Finding common ground is a good idea if it means ending at least some of the injustices. Finding common ground with slave owners and Nazis would not be a bad idea if it could reduce the number of Jews exterminated or the number of Africans used as slaves. Women terminating a pregnancy and those who are pro-choice are then lumped into the same category as Nazis and slave owners—they are evil people, but perhaps a compromise would be possible.


And while we are comparing certain atrocities to other “atrocities,” Sekulow believes the pro-life’s battle to protect life can and should be compared to other social movements. Important historical movements like “women’s voting rights, ending slavery, child labor and segregation” shared in common a strong and tireless minority fighting against injustices. 

 

Call me crazy, but in my opinion, fighting with the pro-life team  is not the same as fighting for a woman’s right to vote—besides, why would we want slave owners and Nazis to vote in the first place?

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