BY ERIN STOYELL-MULHOLLAND
Photo courtesy of Erin Stoyell-Mulholland.
So in case you have not heard, the Feminist Majority Foundation is hosting an online event called the #AbortionMatters blog carnival. This will consist of "a series of blog posts celebrating decades of access to abortion." Kari Ross, the spokeswoman for the Feminist Majority Foundation, compares the abortion procedure to a wisdom tooth extraction, saying it is a lot safer and nearly as common. This event is particularly targeting college students, because Ross says abortion heavily impacts them: "College students, you may not always have a job, you may not always have health insurance through your parents or even through your school."
Let's just start with the fact that they are using the word "carnival." According to dictionary.com, a carnival is defined as "a festive occasion or period marked by merrymaking." I have never, ever heard anyone refer to their abortion as "a festive occasion." Even those who say that they do not regret their abortions never refer to their abortion as a happy thing. It is most often referred to as a difficult decision. Using the word "carnival" to describe abortion is demeaning and makes light of very difficult decisions that women have had to make.
Comparing an abortion procedure to that of removing wisdom teeth also alienates many women who have had an abortion. After abortion, many women do feel deep regret; some become depressed; some develop eating disorders or experience flashbacks. Some women even become suicidal as a result of their abortion. These side effects are not attributed to a surgery such as wisdom tooth extraction. These side effects are the effect of ending the life of your child in the womb. But it is in part due to groups like the Feminist Majority Foundation that women continue to suffer. Because they are told that the abortion is nothing more than extraction of wisdom teeth, they feel that their feelings are invalid. They are told that they should not be having these feelings. An abortion is a cause for celebration, according to the Feminist Majority Foundation. But in stating this, they are alienating the very women whose rights they claim to be fighting for. They are telling them that their feelings are not worthy. Their feelings are wrong. By doing this, they perpetuate the cycle of hurt, because these women feel too ashamed to speak about their abortions. The "feminists" who touted abortion as a solution to their problems are telling them that they should be celebrating their abortion, as if they were removing wisdom teeth.
The Feminist Majority Foundation is targeting college students, because they might not have the financial capability to handle a pregnancy or child. They said that in their very statement. Instead of offering help to those women who might want to keep their child, they are preying on their insecurities by pointing to abortion as the solution to their problems. If they truly cared about women, they would not be propping abortion up as the answer to financial difficulties. I know many pro-life groups who offer to financially help mothers who choose life. But the Feminist Majority Foundation only truly believes that one option is the best. That's abortion.
As pro-lifers, we know that #LifeMatters, but we also know #AbortionMatters. Abortion matters because it is hurting women in our life every day. Abortion matters because it has killed 1/3 of my generation. Abortion matters because women deserve better. Women deserve our support and our love.
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