Francis Kissling weighs in on abortion being "bad"

HT: After Abortion

Choice and Moral Agency

Having followed with great interest the dialogue between Katha and Will and the responses in the "fray," many things surprise me. I think this discussion embodies the core tensions within prochoice circles at this time. The fact that not a single leader of the movement has entered the dialogue is disturbing.

They dare not open their mouths because no matter what they say they'll alienate a huge chunk of their constituency. Look at the flac Hillary is enduring!

There seems to be a prevailing liberal sensibility that letting people know what you believe is synonymous with being "judgmental" or imposing your views on others.

Gee, maybe some on the Left don't like being treated the way conservatives have been treated for the past twenty years!

In her next paragraph Kissling mentions working with "persuadables". Which are.... ? Can anybody enlighten me?

A newer dimension is genuine public concern about the relationship between abortion and building a society in which many forms of life are valued -- fetuses, animals, nature, This concern emerges from a fear that prochoice advocates, who constantly hammer away about the "who" of abortion, may be distancing themselves from the "what" of abortion in a way that devalues all human life.

Doyathink? Gosh, parading about crooning about how liberating it is to snuff fetuses makes people devalue human life! And it took Kissling how long to catch on? Better late than never.

Unfortunately, in the world of politics and in the face of an unrelenting and increasingly successful political effort to simply deny women the opportunity for moral reflection by making abortion illegal, thoughtful moral discourse in which ambiguity is honored is seen as impossible.

Earth to Kissling: banning abortion in no way denies women "the opportunity for moral reflection." In fact, a little more moral reflection is something we'd like women to engage in! What we don't like is snuffing fetuses. Please, engage in some moral reflection about fetus-snuffing! That's something we encourage!