Roe v. Wade, January 22, 1973: The birth of "choice"
Doesn't "choice" sound so appealing, so pleasant, so desirable? I think so. Personally, I love to choose. After all, I chose where I went to college, I chose my spouse, my wardrobe, the names for our children, and even the drapes in my home (well, with Danya's help!). Choice is super-cool! Good golly, who doesn't love choice? Heck, everyone loves choice!
Well, except the "choice" to shred little babies in their mothers' wombs. In that case, we all understand that "choice" is merely a euphemism, no?
Here's the definition of euphemism, from the Merriam-Webster online dictionary:
The substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant.See, they substitute "choice" (agreeable, inoffensive) for "willful, direct killing of unborn human children" (offensive, unpleasant).
Get how that works? Isn't that something?
Jill Stanek has encouraged pro-life bloggers to call out abortion advocates on their pretty little euphemism of "choice".
So I turn to pro-"choicers" who have embraced the soothing euphemism: What do you mean by "choice"? You demand a "woman's right to choose", but why don't you finish the sentence? A woman's right to choose… what?
What do you mean by "choice"?
*Heartbreaking testimony about "choice", here, from my friend Karen Williams.
It needs to be what it is: A Woman's Right to Murder Her Unborn Child..." That's what it is; nothing else. Use the right words.
ReplyDeleteDD
As you eloquently point out, words are important. "Choice" is easy, positive, good. Killing is not. The media realizes this. Have you ever noticed that we are not "Pro-Lifers" but "Anti-Choicers"? Words make a difference.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all your great words!
Thank you for this! It's hard to even imagine a number that high. When someone uses a euphemism, they only admit that they've lost the argument.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite quotes:
ReplyDelete"The greatest destroyer of peace is abortion because if a mother can kill her own child, what is left for me to kill you and you to kill me? There is nothing between."
Mother Teresa
THank you,
ReplyDeleteWhat Choice to commit abortion is is the Choice to choose evil over love, to choose to kill vs to give life. SIn over Love.
Choosing to go against a mothers natural instinct to protect, nurture, and love her child growing in her womb and instead kill it.
Going against all that is good.
It's awfully quiet over here today. :-) Funny how that works....
ReplyDeleteI posted it on my blog...and no one is answer the question there, either.
Amen sister. Yes, pro-choicers, we're asking you to finish your sentence.
ReplyDeleteIt is so sad to think of women who have made the tragic decision to abort. Everything we're saying about abortion is true - it kills an innocent person, and it violates her instinct to protect, love and nurture her own child. These women pay a very high price of suffering for that choice, when they are finally able to come to terms with the reality of it. Then there are the women who did not really choose the abortion at all - women who were abandoned, coerced, or otherwise felt forced into the abortion. Both groups of women are in a position where they lose a child, but are not supposed to grieve that loss. My heart truly goes out to them, and I admire the brave women who grieve and then share their stories so that others might not make the same mistake. Abortion fails women terribly.
ReplyDelete*crickets*
ReplyDelete"Terminated pregnancy" only sounds slightly better than "aborted fetus," which actually doesn't sound much better than "prematurely dead baby." Eventually the euphemisms will run out, and people won't be able to explain how less girls are being born without admitting that they're being killed in the womb.
ReplyDeleteKaren's story always makes me teary
ReplyDeleteIts interesting that abortion is a choice and that the term 'abortion' is used to refer to an ended pregnancy, whether the mom has a choice or not..
ReplyDeleteFor example, if you miscarry a baby it is a 'spontaneous abortion' but if you willingly end that baby's life in the same developmental stage, they still use the word abortion... I wonder where the terminology evolved. No doubt in some pro-death think-tank. No one chooses to miscarry; the loss is devastating to the mother. And yet medical science paints it with the same brush to 'normalize' a mother killing its young.
Actually, that's not true. The word "abortion" has been used to refer to both spontaneous miscarriages and intentional terminations since the 14th century. It's only since the 19th century that a distinction started to be made between the terms "abortion" and "miscarriage".
DeleteI'm as pro-life as they come, but let's not throw out ad hominem attacks on the medical profession. It doesn't make us look any good!
Choice to have a child or not.
ReplyDeleteOnce you're pregnant, you *have* a child. What are you choosing then?
DeleteThe child is already there. The woman is already a mother. (There is a whole branch of obstetrics called "maternal-fetal medicine". Maternal means mother, of course, and fetus means "little one".) The choice then is what to do with the child.
DeleteI have eight children. Do I have the choice to have those children or not? Am I allowed to end their lives if I don't want to "have a child" anymore?
(People who say there is no child have a whole other problem to solve: What is the "thing" in their womb that they wish to terminate?)
(People who say there is no child have a whole other problem to solve: What is the "thing" in their womb that they wish to terminate?)
DeleteI was trying to explain this thought process to my 10 year old the other night. His response, "What do they think it is? An alien?" Love that kid!
On another note. You and your family have been in my prayers. Patience, Healing, Strength, and God's Grace be with you.
The irony is that so many women go through with abortions because they Don't think they have a choice. Godwilling we can continue to provide care and counsel, and supportive environments like the Archdiocese of NY new initiative to help parents of babies with health issues, so that parents can respond in hope, instead of fear.
ReplyDeleteWhere's the "LOVE" button? ;) Great post, L, as always.
ReplyDeleteDid anyone go to the March? Hear any discussions along these lines? I suppose you are marching with "the choir" but you still might get into some conversations with people on the subway, etc. Or maybe some of you had a chance to talk with the crowds of (4 or 5!) pro-choicers that the media always manages to find at the March!
ReplyDeleteJust wondering. I have yet to make it to DC for the March, I am sorry to say!
If we found a fetus on another planet, would we call it "life"?
ReplyDelete