The Pre-lifers' secret fear
May 01, 2006News & Politics
But what if Christina were in prison? What if these other women were in prison?
After Jack Hitt's devastating exposé on the draconian abortion laws in El Salvador a few weeks ago, one of the most troubling though seldom asked questions is making its way back into the discourse: If abortion is outlawed, should we prosecute the women?
There's a reason the pre-lifers don't ask.
Last year Lee Goodman made a video asking veteran pre-life protesters whether A.) They favored making abortion illegal (which they all did), then B.) whether they favored prosecuting the women who have abortions.
The resolute answers to "A" only underscore the absolutely shocking silence to "B."
Only one protester agreed, with caveats, that women should be prosecuted. Though pointing out that the entirety of the situation ought to be taken into account, she did agree that women ought to be tried for murder.
Which is the ONLY logical outcome of outlawing abortion.
In the case of the 700 Club's shining example, Christina would've gotten no bachelor's degree, found no love in a new husband, spoken to no Christian congregations, and her son would be visiting her in prison, where she'd be serving a long sentence -- perhaps, as one of the pre-life protesters in the video said, for life. (AtCenterNetwork)
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There's an elephant in the Pre-life room.
A story from Pat Robertson's 700 Club traces the story of Christina Ryan Claypool, a Christian TV ministry employee filled with pain and guilt over an abortion she'd had some years before.
Classic story... boilerplate stuff. Pretty woman has abortion, life goes to hell in a bottle, finds Jesus, repents, speaking circuit and the gates of heaven await.
"Abortion is a terrible sin, a blight upon our society, yet God’s grace is so sufficient. We need to say that God’s forgiveness covers this sin," says Christina.She now speaks to others about how wrong abortion is, in addition to encouraging "all Christians to reach out to post-abortive women."
But what if Christina were in prison? What if these other women were in prison?
After Jack Hitt's devastating exposé on the draconian abortion laws in El Salvador a few weeks ago, one of the most troubling though seldom asked questions is making its way back into the discourse: If abortion is outlawed, should we prosecute the women?
There's a reason the pre-lifers don't ask.
Last year Lee Goodman made a video asking veteran pre-life protesters whether A.) They favored making abortion illegal (which they all did), then B.) whether they favored prosecuting the women who have abortions.
The resolute answers to "A" only underscore the absolutely shocking silence to "B."
Only one protester agreed, with caveats, that women should be prosecuted. Though pointing out that the entirety of the situation ought to be taken into account, she did agree that women ought to be tried for murder.
Which is the ONLY logical outcome of outlawing abortion.
In the case of the 700 Club's shining example, Christina would've gotten no bachelor's degree, found no love in a new husband, spoken to no Christian congregations, and her son would be visiting her in prison, where she'd be serving a long sentence -- perhaps, as one of the pre-life protesters in the video said, for life. (AtCenterNetwork)
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