Recently I wrote about a few pro-abort men and women who turn my stomach and for whom I turn off my TV. A few weeks ago, I also told you about five pro-life male celebrities I make it a point to support.
It took me a while to bring you the ladies, but it was, well, kind of hard. See, I wanted to bring you five women you haven’t heard about over and over, those you’ve seen in movies and on TV and didn’t know were opposed to abortion. Unfortunately, though, there just aren’t that many women who are both vocally pro-life and highly visible in the entertainment world. I doubt that’s a coincidence, either.
But after some serious research, I am happy to report that the five women below are very pro-life. I want them to keep working, so I will make sure I support them.
It is incredibly refreshing to be able to include someone on this list I had never heard of. Cadena is currently involved in a Metanoia project — these are the good people who brought you an extraordinary film called Bella — and starred in the 2011 film The Roommate. The 27-year-old actress, along with Bella executive producer Jason Jones and others, will appear at the Students for Life rally following the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., on January 23.
4. Dolores O’Riordan
I honestly don’t know if O’Riordan identifies herself as pro-life, if she’s ever done anything for the pro-life movement, or if she ever recanted the one anti-abortion statement she made.
All I know is that I was a child of the grunge age, and looking back at a decade of Eddie Vedders and Gwyneth Paltrows, crushed to see the adorable Janeane Garofalo of Reality Bites become a shrill, shrunken, anti-life shadow of herself, I needed someone from the 90s to say something pro-life. Please? Anyone?
I was delighted to read this quote from the lead singer of Irish grunge band The Cranberries:
I am in no position to judge other women, you know. But I mean, why did she get pregnant? It’s not good for women to go through the procedure [abortion] and have something living sucked out of their bodies. It belittles women. Even though some women say, ‘Oh, I don’t mind to have one,’ every time a woman has an abortion, it just crushes her self-esteem smaller and smaller and smaller.
Also, rumor has it the Cranberries’ song “The Icicle Melts” has a pro-life message too. An excerpt:
There’s a place for the baby that died / And there’s time for the mother who cried. / And she will hold him in her arms sometime, / ‘Cause nine months is too long, too long, too long…
I was devastated a few years ago when I watched Reality Bites for the first time since becoming pro-life. I backed up the DVD several times, and finally had to accept that Winona Ryder’s character refuses to order a pizza from Domino’s because the owner is pro-life. Ouch. Dolores helped me through that by giving me something pro-life from the 90s, and I thank her.
Click here to sign up for pro-life news alerts from LifeNews.com
“Everybody Loves Raymond” and “The Middle” star Heaton is an Emmy-winning actress and mother of four who became chairwoman of Feminists for Life of America in 1998. This extraordinary organization seeks a return to the intelligent, virtuous, moral, and pro-life principles of early American feminists such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
I am a fan of Patricia Heaton as an actress because she’s really good — always believable and funny and warm — but I am a fan of her as a person because once upon a time on “The O’Reilly Factor” she was making a very pro-woman statement — talking about how Feminists for Life want to make sure women are taken care of when they get pregnant — when O’Reilly challenged her to take a harder, and less PC, stance. She did not shrink from the challenge:
O’REILLY: … would you ban it if you were a Supreme Court justice? Would you vote to ban it?
HEATON: Yes.
O’REILLY: You would?
HEATON: Yes.
O’REILLY: OK. Now that, obviously, takes guts in Hollywood because, in Hollywood, there’s a subtext that, if you don’t play the game, you know, you could lose jobs.
HEATON: Yes.
O’REILLY: Did you ever think of it?
HEATON: Yes, I’ve thought about it. On a personal level, as a Christian, it will not be Barbra Streisand I’m standing in front of when I have to make an accounting of my life.
This is a woman who takes her advocacy for life very seriously, and in so doing has earned my respect and support.
I saw Ireland speak recently at a Council for Life Luncheon here in Dallas. I walked by her in the reception area and wanted very badly to dislike her. She was incredibly tall and her hair, which was so shiny it hurt my eyes, floated around her head in a gravity-defying cloud, like a shampoo commercial. She is nearly 50, but looked roughly 26. Then she walked up to the podium, and out of her mouth came this adorable California squeak of a voice. Strike three. But it wasn’t over. The personality: Bubbly. Cute. Sweet. Ugh. I am the Daria of the pro-life movement. I know and accept this. I am the resident eye-roller, the anti-Kathy. So I was ready to write her off as an airhead with good morals… And then I started listening to what she was saying.
This lady was smart. Engaging. Funny. The more I listened, the more I liked what I heard. By the time she was done, I was a Kathy Ireland fan. I wanted to give her a hug. Because unlike Daria, I am secretly an 8-year-old boy inside, and you can totally win me over if you convince me you’re rad. America, Kathy Ireland is rad.
By way of proof, here is an excerpt from a live, on-air argument between Ireland and former FOX News pundit Alan Colmes:
IRELAND: Is it all right for the government to allow the murder of an innocent human being? The evidence I see tells me the unborn is a human being. From the moment of conception, a new life comes into being with a complete genetic blueprint. The sex is determined. The blood type is determined.
COLMES: Well, we have a system of laws and a Supreme Court decision that does not define life the way you do. So legally, that’s not how it would be defined. If you want to define it that way for your personal — that’s how you want to do it, that’s fine, but that’s not the standing law of this country.
IRELAND: If you can, Alan, if you can show me evidence that the unborn is not a human being, I will gladly join the pro-choice side. If you can show me any evidence. It’s very clear and simple.
Last time I was on, you said we’re not going to resolve this right now but it’s very simple. The bottom line is this. If the unborn is not a human being, have as many abortions as you want, whenever you want. It doesn’t matter. No justification is necessary. If, on the other hand, the unborn is a human being, no justification is adequate unless another human life, that being the mother, is in danger.
Check out my coverage of Ireland’s Council for Life speech here, and pay close attention where she talks about making the decision to defend her pro-life beliefs against the Man Himself, Bill Maher, on HBO’s “Politically Incorrect.” For an ex-supermodel to debate any issue, let alone one so divisive, with someone as cut-throat as Maher took serious guts. Her new billion-dollar business was at stake, and she knew it. But she has principles. In Hollywood! And did I mention really, really good hair? I don’t know what kind of stuff her company makes, but if it’s any good I’ll consider buying it, and meanwhile if she’s on TV I’m watching.
1. Michelle Duggar
The Duggars married in 1984 and stopped using contraceptive pills in 1988 when their doctor suggested it could have contributed to Michelle’s miscarriage. As a result, they have 19 living children and 2 grandchildren. The subject of scorn and ridicule by people who don’t seem nearly as happy as they are, the Duggars continue to have lots and lots of babies, live fairly simple lives, and love each other.
I admit I have never watched “The Duggars.” I’m not big on reality TV. But recently a powerful story drew my attention when Michelle Duggar lost her 20th baby, Jubilee Shalom.
The media, being the media, immediately reacted negatively to photos of the baby’s hands and feet displayed at her funeral. Sources close to the family say the photos were never supposed to be seen by the public, but are now up on the family’s website, along with a heartbreaking audio letter from Michelle to Jubilee, which says in part:
We were so thankful to God when we found out we were expecting you. So often in society babies are looked upon as a trial, a problem, a responsibility. But God says babies are a blessing. We do not believe that babies are a bother, a headache, or a financial drainer or a career interruptor. We love babies!… Only God knows how much you were already loved… We are blessed because you lived… It’s an awesome thought to me that you fulfilled your life’s purpose in such a short time… You were loved. You were wanted… I will miss listening to your heartbeat and praying for you as you grow in my womb.
You can listen to the rest, but be prepared to cry.
I was disheartened while researching this article. I spent hours looking for pro-life female celebrities, and all I found were ones we already knew about — like the wonderful Ms. Ireland and Ms. Heaton, or Ms. O’Riordan, who made one pro-life statement 15 years ago, or Ms. Cadena, who is brand new to the scene. The guys have us beat, from Caviezel to Tebow to Bieber. There is just a staggering shortage of pro-life women in entertainment, and it’s saddening.
But then I remembered that Michelle Duggar, a mother of 19 children, lost a child, and in her simple, human love for that baby and her acknowledgement of its life said more than any celebrity on any talk show. She may not have a camera-ready wardrobe or win Emmys, but her visible love for every last one of her children as unique, precious human beings — even those that are never born — is a powerful message.
Where you spend your money, what you watch, and who you listen to makes a powerful statement. I choose to support pro-life entertainers. Do you?
LifeNews.com Note: Kristen Walker is Vice President of New Wave Feminists.
