March for Life 2015 Watch Thread

[lilwriter85]

This is the third annual watch thread here on FJ. March for Life is coming up soon and we will be discussing fundie events related to March for Life, fundie responses, and other things going on social media sites.

Common hashtags to search

#marchforlife

#prolife

#abolishabortion

and any others you can think of

[lilwriter85]

March for Life has an offical IG page and they are reposting of pics of people responding to #whywemarch

Other people's pregnancies and children don't belong to you.

[DGayle]

I'm pro-life. I believe in preserving as many lives as possible. Pushing women into back-alley abortions kills people.

[NachosFlandersStyle]

Oh yuck. I work just up the street from one of the Planned Parenthoods in DC. Last year I was out of town during the march but I saw pics on social media of obnoxious teens crowded in front of the clinic. I know that the best response is always to not engage, but part of me is tempted to hand out some contrarian leaflets or something.

[salex]

At the most, they will end legal abortion in their generation. Abortion, however, will not end simply because it is illegal.

Kansas legislators are expected to introduce a bill that would outlaw a common medical procedure, effectively banning abortion in the state past 14 weeks’ gestation, or even earlier.

Kansas Right to Life announced its support for the legislation during a press conference Wednesday, the Kansas City Star reports.

The bill would prohibit doctors from using clamps, forceps, scissors, or similar medical implements to dismember a fetus during an abortion procedure. The legislation targets a procedure called dilation and evacuation (D and E), which is often used during second-trimester abortions. Depending on the language of the bill, it could ban all surgical abortions in the state past 14 weeks’ gestation, or ban abortions even earlier in pregnancy.

rhrealitycheck.org/article/2015/01/15/kansas-legislature-expected-introduce-bill-effectively-ban-abortion-14-weeks/

[Hane]

In the book "Freakonomics," the author posits a controversial opinion on why the crime rate has dropped in recent decades: there have been fewer men born who would fall into the most common age-span of criminals. This trend coincides with the post Roe-vs.-Wade period.

[formergothardite]

It will be hard to beat "OMG! A fat person dared to get in my March for Life photo!" from a couple of years ago. What was the name of that poster/blogger? She went a little bit crazy when people called her out here.

I used to be one of those pro-life teens. Most of them don't have a clue. All they have been told is that if you make abortion illegal it will stop.

[FloraKitty35]

My father always said that since he wasn't a woman, that a woman deciding whether or not to get an abortion was none of his business.

[Jana814]

My father always said that since he wasn't a woman, that a woman deciding whether or not to get an abortion was none of his business.

Love this.

[crazyforkate]

Yes - have you noticed that the most vocal opponents tend to be men? When I see elderly men with the "Harrumph" face marching in front of our local hospital, I just want to scream at them. They have no idea what it's like to have to confront this kind of problem!

[Sundaymorning]

My father always said that since he wasn't a woman, that a woman deciding whether or not to get an abortion was none of his business.

This. It's her body, her responsibility and she is the one who will have to deal with the consequences either way.

[GeoBQn]

I discovered the Swedish period drama "Anno 1790," which is basically CSI: Enlightenment Era. The female love interest character used to be a midwife before she married into the upper class. There is a story arc where her goddaughter confesses that she is pregnant after being gang-raped and begs her to "do what the midwives do." The woman refuses because it is a crime and potentially dangerous, but reconsiders when her goddaughter tries to commit suicide.

My great-grandmother tried to get an abortion in the 1920's when she had 4 children and found herself pregnant with #5 after the doctor ordered her not to get pregnant again for health reasons. She ended up not getting one because my great-grandfather found out about it and literally dragged her home.

As long as women have been getting pregnant, they have been getting abortions. Telling women about how they will love their cute babies doesn't work when most women who have abortions already have children and they know damn well what a baby is. It doesn't work when a woman is so desperate not to be pregnant that she is willing to jump off a roof or drink poison.

[ViolaSebastian]

Oh yuck. I work just up the street from one of the Planned Parenthoods in DC. Last year I was out of town during the march but I saw pics on social media of obnoxious teens crowded in front of the clinic. I know that the best response is always to not engage, but part of me is tempted to hand out some contrarian leaflets or something.

I have a cousin who lives in DC and it's her opinion that the 'March for Life' gathering is hands down the most irritating, pushy, rude, and destructive of any of the many, many gatherings that go on in DC. Granted, she's a fellow flaming liberal and that may play into her opinion, but I remember last year she posted photographs of all the signs and garbage left behind in random piles all over the city. She noted that they seem to be all gung-ho about "saving" fetuses, but don't seem to give much of a care about the environment in which these children are going to live.

[Coldwinterskies]

I can't agree that the March for Life is just a fundie thing, since I am friendly with an atheist woman who started a secular pro-life organization and will be at the march with her group: http://blog.secularprolife.org/2014/12/ ... nuary.html

The person who started the March for Life was a very Catholic older lady named Nellie Gray who was not a fan of pro-lifers who had other views that she considered immoral (like PLAGAL, the pro-life alliance of gays and lesbians, which she tried to stop from marching) so back then they may not have let an atheist group march. However, that woman has passed away now and it seems the new organizers are not as uptight about such things.

Personally I would like it if people would stop making the abortion about religion, because I think that gets in the way of having a rational conversation about the issue. The religious stuff really has no more to do with abortion than it does with the death penalty. Yes, there are some Catholics who see the death penalty as part of their religion, but most of us (I hope) see that the death penalty should not be debated on the basis of religion.

[lilwriter85]

I can't agree that the March for Life is just a fundie thing, since I am friendly with an atheist woman who started a secular pro-life organization and will be at the march with her group: http://blog.secularprolife.org/2014/12/ ... nuary.html

The person who started the March for Life was a very Catholic older lady named Nellie Gray who was not a fan of pro-lifers who had other views that she considered immoral (like PLAGAL, the pro-life alliance of gays and lesbians, which she tried to stop from marching) so back then they may not have let an atheist group march. However, that woman has passed away now and it seems the new organizers are not as uptight about such things.

Personally I would like it if people would stop making the abortion about religion, because I think that gets in the way of having a rational conversation about the issue. The religious stuff really has no more to do with abortion than it does with the death penalty. Yes, there are some Catholics who see the death penalty as part of their religion, but most of us (I hope) see that the death penalty should not be debated on the basis of religion.

I agree. Some non-fundie types do get involved in March for Life and other events. I have a friend who is against abortion because she was adopted. She was a member of a now defunct FB group called Adoptees Against Abortion and she is a member of Democrats for Life. I have met other people who are religious and liberal many things except abortion. I also remember coming across an atheist blogger promoting pro-life atheists a few years back.

I have to give credit to Democrats for Life and secular organizations that care about infants after they are born.

The death penalty among Catholics is always complicated. Some are very much against it and others are in favor of it. Back in the 80s here in New Mexico, a Catholic governor commuted the death sentences of several death row inmates before leaving office. That is still debated around several Catholic communities in New Mexico.

[KittenMitten]

Yes, these anti-choice people can be pretty awful. When my son was an infant, my husband, my son and I went to a Planned Parenthood fundraiser. There were anti-choice people standing on the sidewalk. As I was carrying my baby into the building one woman shouted to me "Aren't you glad you did not abort your baby?" My husband and I had to fight hard not to go balistic. I was tearful when we got inside. A father that supported Planned Parenthood told me that they confronted his 8 year old daughter with pictures of what they claimed were aborted fetuses and she was pretty traumatized. Really cruel.

But one summer I had some fun with them. I volunteered for our local Planned Parenthood at our local county fair (yes, I'm rural). In the booth next to me was some sort of rabid anti-choice group, with their nasty pictures and tiny dolls that are to represent tiny embryos. Not surprisingly info on how to help the babies after they were born was missing. Anyway, at my table was info on ALL of Planned Parenthood services and a petition about women's health for people to sign. One summer I was 8 months pregnant with my son. I wore my shirt that said Choice all over the shirt (in rainbow colors no less, double whammy). I pulled a Jill Duggar-Dillard and stuck my stomach out way far and waddled back and forth. They seemed to not know what to say. They are dreadful in their beliefs, but it was fun.

[PennySycamore]

This is a link to a great diary on Daily Kos about the anti-choice men:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/01/1 ... tion-thing

It was also covered by RawStory.

[Emme]

If these people put the amount of money/energy they put into getting their asses to the march, buying tee shirts, creating signs, etc into actually helping pregnant women/parents who need support and services, I'd believe they were truly pro life. This is just a pro fetus-fest about controlling women and shaming them into not making informed decisions about their own bodies and lives.

[NachosFlandersStyle]

I can't agree that the March for Life is just a fundie thing, since I am friendly with an atheist woman who started a secular pro-life organization and will be at the march with her group: http://blog.secularprolife.org/2014/12/ ... nuary.html

The person who started the March for Life was a very Catholic older lady named Nellie Gray who was not a fan of pro-lifers who had other views that she considered immoral (like PLAGAL, the pro-life alliance of gays and lesbians, which she tried to stop from marching) so back then they may not have let an atheist group march. However, that woman has passed away now and it seems the new organizers are not as uptight about such things.

Personally I would like it if people would stop making the abortion about religion, because I think that gets in the way of having a rational conversation about the issue. The religious stuff really has no more to do with abortion than it does with the death penalty. Yes, there are some Catholics who see the death penalty as part of their religion, but most of us (I hope) see that the death penalty should not be debated on the basis of religion.

You're right that it SHOULDN'T be a conversation about religion, but I'm not sure that will ever happen. Your atheist friend is probably pretty lonely in the movement. All the pro-lifers I know are ultra- Catholics whose idea of a protest is praying the rosary. They are opposed to abortion on the basis of specific religious beliefs about the soul (and about the role of women, although they'd never admit it in public). Asking them to debate the issue on secular terms would only get them more riled up about our fallen, godless world.

[DGayle]

Yes - have you noticed that the most vocal opponents tend to be men? When I see elderly men with the "Harrumph" face marching in front of our local hospital, I just want to scream at them. They have no idea what it's like to have to confront this kind of problem!

To be a devil's advocate for a moment, I think some men are thinking about what happens if their wives decide to abort babies that they, the men, would want. Since men are told it's none of their business, a lot of them feel like it's wrong to feel a sense of loss, and indeed our society tells men who are sad that it wasn't their business, so why are they upset? Yet it's every bit their business when a woman keeps the baby and wants financial support through the pregnancy.

[DGayle]

This. It's her body, her responsibility and she is the one who will have to deal with the consequences either way.

Wrong. If she keeps it, the man has to deal with the consequences. Financial support is having to deal with is.

[Sundaymorning]

Wrong. If she keeps it, the man has to deal with the consequences. Financial support is having to deal with is.

Well, that is true that the man (if he father is known) has to pay child support. But usually, the mother has to deal with the much bigger consequences, whether she decides to keep the child, give it up for adoption, or any other solution. Men usually can get away with much lesser impacts on their lives than the women.

[Sundaymorning]

To be a devil's advocate for a moment, I think some men are thinking about what happens if their wives decide to abort babies that they, the men, would want. Since men are told it's none of their business, a lot of them feel like it's wrong to feel a sense of loss, and indeed our society tells men who are sad that it wasn't their business, so why are they upset? Yet it's every bit their business when a woman keeps the baby and wants financial support through the pregnancy.

I agree that it's really a problem if the man wants the child and the woman wants to have an abortion, or the other way round. However, I think since it's the womans body, she should have the ultimate right to decide, even if that admittedly sometimes leads to unfortunate situations for men.

[slh12280]

I agree that it's really a problem if the man wants the child and the woman wants to have an abortion, or the other way round. However, I think since it's the womans body, she should have the ultimate right to decide, even if that admittedly sometimes leads to unfortunate situations for men.

In an ideal world when women didn't want to be pregnant they would use a reliable form of birth control and if men didn't want to become fathers then they would get a vasectomy or use condoms. Then they would both communicate about what would happen in the event of an unplanned pregnancy. This would help a lot but of course this is not an ideal world. When a live child is born then someone needs to be there to care for it. Just the way it goes. The reason the woman gets to decide is because she is the one that has to physically carry it.

[Cleopatra7]

For the most part, the participants in the March for Life are white conservative evangelicals and white conservative Catholics. Someone mentioned up thread about the original organizer of the march not letting an lgbt group participate. Has the prolife movement in general made any entries to other religious communities or is it understood to be based in Christianity? Based on what I've read, other religions seem to regard abortion as generally not desirable but not the death of a human person as conservative Christians do. Not even Islam or Orthodox Judaism agree with the "life begins at conception" concept.