March 17, 2023
In our Post-Roe world, misinformation is often used as a weapon by the abortion lobby to confuse and militarize Americans against the pro-life movement, and one of their favorite fallacies is that we want to punish abortion-seeking women. While wildly untrue, this myth is unfortunately prevalent among abortion supporters who consistently accuse pro-lifers of the hidden intention to prosecute women.
As an example, when the Georgia Department of Revenue recently declared that their residents can claim preborn children as dependents on their tax returns, abortion supporters went crazy. Instead of seeing this life-affirming law as rightfully helping expectant mothers and families who are experiencing new costs as they prepare for their child to be born, the abortion lobby was quick to allege that this was just another way to create a “surveillance state” in order to prosecute women for illegal abortions. Don’t think too hard about that spin; it can make your head hurt.
An article examining the abortion lobby’s “political theater” on this specific claim was recently written by Students for Life of America (SFLA) President Kristan Hawkins and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser. Published at Fox News and entitled “We’re Two Pro-Life Women Who Say ‘No’ to Prosecuting Women for Abortions,” the authors exposed the fact that pro-abortion media outlets are allowing false claims to run rampant in order to fearmonger Americans. They wrote,
“Few things cause more alarm than the idea of prosecuting women for abortion, which the pro-life movement as a whole has rejected repeatedly…As leaders of two national organizations operating in all 50 states and working to pass life-affirming legislation, we state again emphatically that we oppose prosecuting women for abortion.”
(Click HERE to read another op-ed by Hawkins at Fox News declaring this same resolution entitled, “RIP Roe: Supreme Court Abortion Ruling Sets Stage for What Pro-Life Groups Do Next.”)
Why is the pro-life movement so avidly against prosecuting women? Because we are pro-women. We understand that women have been used as pawns and secondary victims in the abortion industry for years, and the root of the problem that needs to be wiped out is the abortion industry itself. Hawkins and Dannenfelser further explained this in their op-ed, writing:
“The pro-life movement includes many women who have experienced and been deeply hurt by abortion. We understand that women are targeted by a predatory, multibillion-dollar industry in the United States and worldwide that profits from ending their children’s lives and from their misery. First abortionists sell women short – repackaging the same old misogyny that women can’t handle career and family – and then they sell them abortions.
“Instead of practicing the ancient maxim of “do no harm,” the abortion industry uses medical knowledge to end young life. Rather than offering women a helping hand, they take her money and her child’s life, leaving her exactly where she was before – perhaps in need of economic assistance, education, or an exit strategy from a bad relationship.”
Rather than prosecuting women, the pro-life movement wants to empower women. We know that whatever problems women are facing when they go to an abortion facility are not solved by taking away a child’s life. With the proper support, women can succeed in their goals while being mothers. That’s why the pro-life movement has always had the corner on helping women through service initiatives like SFLA’s Standing With You. Hawkins and Dannenfelser expound on this, saying:
“As pro-life leaders, we embrace pregnant mothers looking for a path forward. We want to see unborn children protected in the law, and we want to offer loving service to women in need. Together we have decades of pro-life work to prove that. Thousands of pregnancy centers and community-based health clinics outnumber Planned Parenthood facilities 14 to one across the United States, according to a recent analysis. Pregnancy centers provide critical resources throughout pregnancy and after their child is born, typically at no charge.”