What Does it Mean to Be Pro-Life?

A group of mostly aging men and a priest who we assume never had children stood around a gravestone in Belleville Cemetery last November. This Knights of Columbus chapter raised funds for this monument to "victims of abortion" in keeping with Roman Catholic doctrine.While many  Roman Catholic women may support this stance on abortion its telling that men have chosen to do this. I see this as misguided, at best, and a waste of money. Who will this benefit? 

We have seen a rise in anti-abortion sentiment in many jurisdictions and in the States mostly male legislators have worked to make abortion illegal in virtually all circumstances with prison terms as a consequence. 

As an aging white male I usually keep my mouth shut on this subject, and I should.. I can't say that I'm in favour of abortion -- this isn't a popularity contest-- but I don't think it is my place  to tell women what their reproductive rights may be. Choosing to have an abortion can be frightening and traumatic for women yet there are many reasons to proceed, including ensuring the health of the prospective mother. 

It disgusts me when some religious people become obsessive about being "pro-life" yet are willing to deport innocent children or incarcerate them, as well as being in favour of the death penalty.  They are clearly pro-birth, rather than pro-life, and the movement has become almost cult-like over the past 50 years in some conservative religious circles. 

I was interested to read an article which indicates that there isn't the same outlook in Judaism and Islam, and that it was possible to have an intelligent conversation on the subject in evangelical circles in the 1960's. It's fascinating that while neither Jesus nor the apostle Paul addressed abortion it has become a central religious tenet for conservative Christians. 

This isn't an easy subject, yet I would agree with the Rev. Katy Zeh of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Rights in the United States

“As a follower of Christianity, as a minister of Christianity, to me the core message is really about, first of all, love and compassion and care for the neighbor but also really eliminating systems of oppression no matter what kind they are.”

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qjd3b7/the-argument-for-abortion-as-a-religious-right