Sunday, January 22, 2012

Over 50 million "choices"?


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.



21 comments:

  1. 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.

    DD

    ReplyDelete
  2. 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.

    Thanks for all your great words!

    ReplyDelete
  3. 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.

    ReplyDelete
  4. One of my favorite quotes:
    "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

    ReplyDelete
  5. THank you,
    What 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.

    ReplyDelete
  6. It's awfully quiet over here today. :-) Funny how that works....

    I posted it on my blog...and no one is answer the question there, either.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Amen sister. Yes, pro-choicers, we're asking you to finish your sentence.

    ReplyDelete
  8. It 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
  9. "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.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Its 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..

    For 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.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 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".

      I'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!

      Delete
  11. Choice to have a child or not.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Once you're pregnant, you *have* a child. What are you choosing then?

      Delete
    2. The 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.

      I 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?)

      Delete
    3. (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?)

      I 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.

      Delete
  12. 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.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Where's the "LOVE" button? ;) Great post, L, as always.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Did 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!

    Just wondering. I have yet to make it to DC for the March, I am sorry to say!

    ReplyDelete
  15. If we found a fetus on another planet, would we call it "life"?

    ReplyDelete

PLEASE, when commenting, do not hit "reply" (which is the thread option). Instead, please put your comment at the bottom of the others.

To ensure that you don't miss any comments, click the "subscribe by email" link, above. If you do not subscribe and a post exceeds 200 comments, you must hit "load more" to get to the rest.