John Pavlovitz leads North Raleigh Community Church, and he has a message for his conservative friends: “I actually don’t believe you’re pro-life.”
Why question their convictions? According to a Huffington Post article the pastor wrote, it’s because they support Donald Trump and oppose left-wing politics. Pavlovitz also feels they focus on abortion out of concern for “straight, white, Christian fetuses” while ignoring victims of sexual assault, racism, domestic violence, and human trafficking.
In his view, this means they’re merely “anti-abortion, which is a far more selective and convenient defense of Humanity.” Further, he doubts anyone celebrates “when a woman terminates a pregnancy.” If that’s what he thinks, he’s in for a surprise.
Leaving aside the “shout your abortion campaign,” there are those who see abortion as something to celebrate, which is understandable. After all, many of them prey on the victims listed above.
Abortion makes it easier.
To stay out of jail, sexual predators need to keep their crimes hidden. That’s why Gary Cross had a problem when his wife noticed her daughter was gaining weight; he knew it was because he’d gotten the 13 year-old pregnant. In response, Cross brought her to Planned Parenthood, America’s largest abortion chain. She was well below the age of consent but staff didn’t contact authorities. Instead, they arranged an abortion at 20 weeks. Here’s what that involved:
With the evidence gone, Cross continued raping her for over a year. He wasn’t the only child rapist to to receive help from Planned Parenthood: the victims of Edgar Ramirez, Gary Cross, Luis Gonzalez-Jose, Andrew King, John Haller, Adam Gault, Grey David Woods, John Blanks, Jr., and Timothy Smith got cover-up abortions too. During a lawsuit filed by Timothy Smith’s victim, a Planned Parenthood staffer admitted that “being thirteen and pregnant alone is not a red flag” there.
And there are other victims the abortion industry turns a blind eye to. A survey of trafficking survivors published in Annals of Health showed over half had at least one abortion; some were in double digits. Helping them doesn’t seem to be a priority: one victim reported, “No one ever asked me anything anytime I ever went to a clinic.”
It doesn’t always help when they do: Live Action investigators caught a Planned Parenthood clinic director offering to arrange abortions on child prostitutes who “can’t speak English” and “won’t know what’s going on.”
But it’s not just rapists and human traffickers who find abortion helpful; so do men looking to avoid child support. They often pressure women to abort and can get violent when that pressure is resisted. Joseph Minerd did, firebombing his pregnant ex-girlfriend’s house when she decided to keep her baby. The woman died along her 3 year-old daughter. Their fate wasn’t unique: Hawa Gabbidon, Shamari Jenkins, Shaniesha Forbes, Roxanne Fernando, and Tasha Rossett also died for refusing abortion. Cases like this help explain why homicide is a leading cause of death during pregnancy.
Racists also celebrate abortion. Former KKK leader Tom Metzger calls it “non-white population control,” telling followers to “invest in ghetto abortion clinics” and “raise money for free abortions.” “White nationalist” Jared Taylor backs public funding for abortion while the alt-right Radix Journal derides pro-lifers. Meanwhile, in 2008, Planned Parenthood staff were willing to accept donations from people who said they wanted black children aborted:
How’s the abortion industry working to change all of this? It’s not. Planned Parenthood opposes legislation against race-based and sex-selective abortions. Similarly, it stands in the way when states try to protect women and girls from violence and abuse. You can contact your elected representatives and demand action in those areas. There’s something else you can do.
You can tell Congress that Planned Parenthood’s half billion in funding should go to federally qualified health centers and community health centers instead. They’re places where people of limited means can get the care they need. They’re also more accessible and offer services that Planned Parenthood won’t.
John Pavlovitz wishes conservative pro-lifers “actually gave more of a damn” about things like “forced prostitution” or “racism and bigotry.” Then we could be “partners in that wider affirmation of the living.” What Pavlovitz doesn’t understand? That we’ve been fighting those things for years. So he’s welcome to stop wishing and come lend a hand.
