Jessica Valenti, a pro-abortion writer who once admitted that she believes abortion should be legal in every circumstance, wrote an article entitled Bravo for Wendy Davis, but Women’s Abortions Are None of Your Business. The article argues that although it was brave for Davis to reveal that she had two abortions earlier in her life, women shouldn’t have to expose very private details of their lives to be accepted by society.
In 2013, Davis was at the center of a highly publicized abortion debate at the Texas Legislature after filibustering a pro-life bill that would protect babies from painful late abortions. The bill passed and pro-life Governor Rick Perry signed the legislation without hesitation. Now, Davis is campaigning for governor of Texas, and some believe her abortion story will resonate with women all over the country.
Valenti said the following about Davis’ decision to share her experience:
In a political climate so antagonistic to women and reproductive rights, this kind of disclosure is undoubtedly brave. But in a world where there is no privacy for women and their bodies, it’s shameful that we have to lay bare our reproductive lives just so others can – maybe, if we’re lucky – view us as full people. (Emphasis added)
Because, really, women’s abortions are none of your business – not even those of a public figure, not even one who became an international figure because of abortion rights. We shouldn’t have to explain ourselves or justify our life decisions: our abortions are ours alone.
Research shows that talking with people about issues like abortion helps to lessen stigma around terminating a pregnancy. But why must women splay their most intimate moments out into the world in order for people to understand how basic and necessary abortion rights really are? If you look closely, at politics and beyond, these disclosures are not so much willingly-shared stories as they are desperate reminders of women’s humanity.
Surprisingly, this is one of those moments where I agree with some of what Valenti is arguing. I know– shocking, but try to hear me out.
I agree that women shouldn’t have to share their most personal and private experiences to the world in order to be accepted. And I agree that women shouldn’t feel like they have to justify why they had an abortion before they can be considered fully human. That’s absolutely ridiculous.
But this is not what the pro-life movement is all about. Valenti argues that we refuse to see post-abortive women as full people. This is not true because the majority of pro-lifers will tell you that while they believe abortion is wrong 100% of the time, they also believe it is critical that we care for the real and sometimes dire circumstances a woman faces in an unplanned pregnancy.
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However, this does change the bottom line about abortion. There is simply never a good reason to end the life of an unborn child. Abortion is a black and white issue. Abortion doesn’t become okay when a baby has a fetal abnormality, Down syndrome, or when the circumstances of a woman’s pregnancy are horrific.
Abortion isn’t okay when an unborn baby is 28-weeks-old, nor is abortion okay when a woman first finds out she’s pregnant. The truth of the matter is abortion supporters refuse to see unborn babies as full people. If they did see them this way, we wouldn’t even be having this discussion.
The pro-life community exists to help women heal from their abortions and to prevent more women from having abortions. Why? Because if we remain silent, pro-abortion writers like Valenti –whether they know it or not– will use the death of children, and the heartbreaking situations women find themselves in, to promote a relentless abortion-on-demand agenda.
