On Being Pro-Life At The Women's March

A few days before the March I started to see articles on my Facebook feed about a pro-life organization being asked to withdraw it's support as an official sponsor for the Women's March on Washington that was accompanied by the reiteration of the pro-choice Unity Principles of the March. Before these articles surfaced, I had not given a second thought to whether or not, as a women morally opposed to abortion, I was welcome to stand with my sisters against injustices perpetrated against women. Of course I would be welcome.

Out of a deep passion and strong conviction on nearly EVERY other principle of the Women's March (including the REST of the Reproductive Freedom Principle), I decided to attend.  And...I WAS welcome. My fellow sisters and I applauded when a young Muslim woman asked us to treat one another with respect regardless of our differences. We applauded when we heard a Jewish rabbi promise to stand up for Muslims if, like the Jews, they were ever required to register. We applauded when a black imam advocated for responsible policing. We applauded when a LGBTQIA advocate asked to be treated with dignity. We applauded when a rape victim stood up to say that she would NOT be shamed by law enforcement and public opinion for being raped. We applauded lots of people with lots of messages. No one ever asked me to make any allegiance to the cause of abortion.

When the ONE abortion rights presenter spoke, I did not applaud her points. I heartily disagreed with her. I saw my own babies little heart beats at six weeks gestation and I would never, under any circumstances, terminate a pregnancy. I believe that life begins at conception and that abortion is infanticide. But, though I disagreed with her, I did listen to the story she was telling. What I heard was a rational, caring woman who, in her deepest heart, felt that abortion was a kindness for her child with severe congenital defects....a child she wanted and loved and mourns.

It is not OK that the official platform for the Women's March intentionally excluded a large group of women who think differently about abortion than they do. It is my opinion that all types of women need to come together to dialogue about reproductive rights. Pro-life women need to come into the conversation with swords sheathed. Pro-choice women need to come into the conversation with shields down.

We, as a faith community have made this (as well as several other social issues) an issue without nuance and devoid of humanity. We've painted a picture of a selfish, morally loose, murderous, pro-choice woman that isn't accurate. They have created images of pro-lifers as people who point fingers of shame and joyfully damn them with self righteous smirks on their faces while simultaneously denying them the help they need to raise their children. None of these caricatures are helpful for anyone.

We gain nothing by surrounding ourselves with people who think and act exactly like ourselves, If we can't find ways to labor together on common ground nothing will ever change.  During the rally I stood alongside my friend who is both pro-choice and a loving mother to her daughter. She knows my beliefs about abortion. We care about each other, even though we fiercely disagree with each other on a lot of fronts. We stood together in defense of justice and equality for millions of other humans. If I, a pro-life woman, do not show up to the conversation, how can I communicate my heart for life in all it's stages of development and diversity.