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‘So What if Abortion Ends Life?’: Pro-Choice Writer Says Some Babies Are ‘Worth Sacrificing’

Jan. 24, 2013 2:12pm Billy Hallowell

Salons Mary Elizabeth Williams Asks: So What if Abortion Ends Life?

Photo Credit: AP

Abortion continues to be a highly-contentious issue, even as this week marks the 40th anniversary since the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court verdict was handed down. It’s a never-ending battle, typically colored by raw emotion. While one polar side traditionally argues that life begins at the moment of conception, the other tends to shy away from any recognition that the unborn qualify as human lives.

This pro-life versus pro-choice dynamic often leads to intense clashes in the public sphere, with both sides accusing the other of restricting rights and advocating damaging policies. In a new piece that was published this week, Salon’s Mary Elizabeth Williams, a pro-choice adherent, decides not to steer clear of the “life” issue and asks: “So what if abortion ends life?”

The question, itself, is enough to send anti-abortion advocates into a tizzy. Williams, who identifies herself as pro-choice, takes a divergent route from others on the left who have staunch views about abortion rights. Rather than denying the fact that fetuses are human lives, she, like pro-lifers, fully embraces this ideal. However, Williams differentiates between the rights that the unborn have from those that belong to women.

“Yet I know that throughout my own pregnancies, I never wavered for a moment in the belief that I was carrying a human life inside of me. I believe that’s what a fetus is: a human life,” Williams wrote. “And that doesn’t make me one iota less solidly pro-choice.”

She went on to decry the “semantic power” that is inherent within the modern-day debate, taking particular aim at those who oppose abortion by using the word “life” to win the debate. But rather than cowering to what the writer says are the “sneaky, dirty tricks of the anti-choice lobby,” Williams proposes that pro-choice advocates should not cower when the word “life” is brought into the discussion. Instead, she believes that pro-choicers should double down and explain why women should have more rights than fetuses.

“Here’s the complicated reality in which we live: All life is not equal,” she wrote. “That’s a difficult thing for liberals like me to talk about, lest we wind up looking like death-panel-loving, kill-your-grandma-and-your-precious-baby storm troopers.”

Photo Credit: AP

See, Williams believes that a fetus, while it is a human life, does not need to be afforded the same rights as the woman who it resides in. She goes on to say that the woman is the “boss” and that it is her right to decide whether having that baby fits in with her life circumstances and health. In the end, Williams argues that this personal decision — predicated upon a woman’s individual situation — should always take precedent over the fetus that is inside of the female.

As for the semantics surrounding abortion, Williams calls for pro-choice advocates to be less squeamish, especially when it comes to avoiding whether or not an unborn baby should be considered a “life.”

“When we try to act like a pregnancy doesn’t involve human life, we wind up drawing stupid semantic lines in the sand: first trimester abortion vs. second trimester vs. late term, dancing around the issue trying to decide if there’s a single magic moment when a fetus becomes a person,” she continued. “Are you human only when you’re born? Only when you’re viable outside of the womb? Are you less of a human life when you look like a tadpole than when you can suck on your thumb?”

At the end of the piece, Williams notes that she believes that women’s lives can be saved in certain circumstances and that the life of a mother should always be put before a fetus. In these complicated scenarios, she said the unborn life being aborted is, “A life worth sacrificing.”

Read the entire piece over at Salon and commentary on TheBlaze blog.

(H/T: LifeNews.com)

–

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Comments (350)

Free2speakRN
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 5:23pm
This woman is lost.

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PrzLesu
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 5:09pm
Margaret Sanger was the founder of Planned Parenthood. A few of her choicer quotes:

On blacks, immigrants and indigents:
“…human weeds,’ ‘reckless breeders,’ ‘spawning… human beings who never should have been born.” Margaret Sanger, Pivot of Civilization, referring to immigrants and poor people

On sterilization & racial purification:
Sanger believed that, for the purpose of racial “purification,” couples should be rewarded who chose sterilization. Birth Control in America, The Career of Margaret Sanger, by David Kennedy, p. 117, quoting a 1923 Sanger speech.

On the right of married couples to bear children:
Couples should be required to submit applications to have a child, she wrote in her “Plan for Peace.” Birth Control Review, April 1932

On the purpose of birth control:
The purpose in promoting birth control was “to create a race of thoroughbreds,” she wrote in theBirth Control Review, Nov. 1921 (p. 2)

On the rights of the handicapped and mentally ill, and racial minorities:
“More children from the fit, less from the unfit — that is the chief aim of birth control.” Birth Control Review, May 1919, p. 12

On respecting the rights of the mentally ill:
In her “Plan for Peace,” Sanger outlined her strategy for eradication of those she deemed “feebleminded.” Among the steps included in her evil scheme were immigration restrictions; compulsory sterilization; segregation to a lifetime of farm work; etc. Birth Control Review, April

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Whatmeworry-never
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 5:09pm
Why not have the mother watch the heartbeat, then sign a waiver where she understands she is “killing’ the fetus/baby and not just terminating a pregnancy, would stop a lot of the infanticide.

When a country kills its babies it is doomed.

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sparxz
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 5:04pm
The “Sacrament” of Abortion – a book written by Ginette Paris

The Sacrament of Abortion is the title of a book written by Ginette Paris and published in 1992. In this short book, the author claims that abortion is “a sacred act”, a sacrifice to Artemis (known to the Romans as Diana).
Artemis is both a protector of wild animals and a hunter who kills them with deadly aim. How can these contradictory roles be found in the same female deity? The view proposed in this book is that a mother properly cares for life only if she possesses full power over life and death. Death is sometimes preferable. The one who can provide death, in order that one may escape an unfriendly life, is really loving the one who is being killed.
Abortion, then, is seen as “an expression of maternal responsibility and not a failure of maternal love” (p.8). “Artemis stands for the refusal to give life if the gift is not pure and untainted….As Artemis might kill a wounded animal rather than allow it to limp along miserably, so a mother wishes to spare the child a painful destiny” (p. 55).
Artemis, of course, is the same goddess whose worshippers felt so threatened by Paul’s proclamation of the Gospel in Ephesus, where a riot nearly broke out.
The fact that some defend abortion as a sacred act should alert us to the depth of the spiritual warfare that is going on. Abortion has never been merely or even primarily a political issue.

Extract of critique by: Fr. Frank Pavone, Founding Direc

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LivingInGodsGrace
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 5:02pm
Old news…I tweeted / posted this yesterday! Are you copying me, Billy?

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Camptown Races
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 5:01pm
How much money would anybody like to put on a bet that if I said…. “You know, Ms. Williams, you’re right…. and that also means that I then get to keep my guns, because, you know… what’s one more kindergartener’s life at Sandy Hill?? Some of those kids deserve to die because they’re only going to grow up to be selfish insufferable women who then kill their own babies through abortion…” that she wouldn’t be screaming THAT’S DIFFERENT, you MURDERER!! ??? Anyone??? Anyone??? Buellerrrrrrrrrr??????

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WiseFox
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 4:53pm
Abortion is a MURDER of innocent Americans who do not have a “choice”. Those who do Abortions are MURDERERS. Anyone who murders innocent children are not doctors, but are MURDERERS. Why would anyone want their innocent child MURDERED? Only MURDERERS!

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ranepowel
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 4:26pm
God kills more infants in the womb than man ever has or will via abortions. Blame God.

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Kaste
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 4:22pm
A message from an innocent child….
I will me murdered tomorrow and no one will grieve for me except God. No one will ever hug me, or hold me because there is an appointment for me to be murdered tomorrow at 3:00pm, washed down a drain as waste.
You see, i am only 4 months old and I am still in my mothers body, and pro abortion people have made it possible for people to murder me.
What I do not understand is why you feel that I am worthless, that I should not have the chance to have birthdays, that i do not deserve to go to dances, or any of the things children are supposed to do.
I have fingers, toes ,ears and eyes, yet you say it is ok to murder me. You , with your pro abortion policy, have said that I have no worth, and should be disposed of as waste. You have told my mother, that it is ok to murder me. Because I am nothing. Where is my choice? I choose life.
If my mother does not want me, or can not keep me, could you not help me find a mom and dad that does want me. i am sure there is someone out there for me.
God does not make “nothing”. I am something.

I will be murdered tomorrow and join over 50 million of my brothers and sisters in heaven.
Please don’t let this keep happening. How many more like me will be murdered ? Who will cry for us?

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- Xylliab_of_the_Znarghh
  Posted on January 25, 2013 at 1:53am
  Wait fetuses go to heaven? How does that work? Are they a heavenly host of fetus spirits eternally blind, mute and mindless because they remain -4 months old forever? Do they appear as they would have if they had been born, which isn’t much better, since all a newborn can do is eat and cry? Do they still look like half-formed babies but develop a wisdom and insight beyond human comprehension? That’s kind of creepy! Or do they somehow grow up in heaven into the spirits of the people they would have been? In that case, aren’t we doing them a favor? It’s hard to believe heaven could be a worse place to grow up than some dump with a stressed-out, irresponsible teenage mother. If you grow up in heaven you must turn into the best possible version of yourself. Hardly anybody on Earth does that. And you claim that all of them are in heaven. If they had been born and lived a full life surely a lot of them would have turned out to be creeps and ended up in hell. They’re really getting a good deal if they get a free trip to the reward the rest of us have to earn.
  
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urrybr
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 4:20pm
She missed her Biology 101 class when they talked about where babies come from.

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denkat56
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 4:15pm
I’ll bet Williams has never been pregnant. No boyfriends either, just her and her box of toys. Pretty lonely at the top Williams. Your ego probably says that you should be able to do the picking and choosing who lives and who dies. Self righteous hypocrite.

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Owt_Raged
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 4:15pm
I wonder how many other lives this woman finds not as important as hers and would have no problem killing those people too?

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tradcatholicgirl
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 4:13pm
Fulton Sheen told this story about the time when he was still a bishop and sitting on a plane next to a woman who was not partaking of the in-flight meal.

He asked her if she too was fasting for Lent.

She said, “Yes, I am fasting for an increase in abortions. I am a witch.”

In the church of Satan, abortion is considered an important “sacrifice.”

Ms. Williams was very correct when she used the word sacrifice in relation to why some babies should be aborted.

Look it up. Lucifer is delighted by abortion.

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commoncents5
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 4:09pm
You know there is a place in the God’s Word that we should not sacrifice our children to Molech because it is an abominaion to the LORD thy God.

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mrspolitikoz
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 4:08pm
The much-admired MLK, Jr agreed that some babies are worth sacrificing. From Planned Parenthood’s own website: http://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/who-we-are/reverend-martin-luther-king-jr-4728.htm
Hopefully someone with access will read this and get it to Glenn so he can stop invoking them in the same breath and stop putting MLK,Jr on the same level and line as the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

And the other common man that Beck invokes along with the Son of God, Gandhi, well he was a racist bisexual rapist philanderer who had a friendship with Mussolini and offered one to Hitler with the ridiculous offering that one single Jew could melt his heart by standing for non-violence. What a role model! Of course, this all comes from that crazy conspiracy site: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703529004576160371482469358.html?mod=djemEditorialPage_h

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RaydocX
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 4:05pm
but he will virulently curse anyone who suggests capital punishment…
by his position, why just before delivery… parents would retain the right, ad infinitum to choose to abort their children… and just adapt that for Ocare, and we can save millions by simply euthenisizing people who are too sick or who even if healed will not be of some positive impact on their community and the nation at large…

and yet the Left claim Fascism is a curse of the Right…

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jeffile
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 4:03pm
A fetus is the first stage of human development followed by infant, toddler and adolescent. If one can kill a fetus then one can also justify the killing of a toddler.

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MIldman
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 3:55pm
Germany’s Adolf Hitler, a pro-Aryan adherent, decides not to steer clear of the “life” issue and asks: “So what if Jew-gassing ends life?”

The question, itself, is enough to send anti-gassing advocates into a tizzy. Hitler, who identifies himself as pro-Aryan, takes a divergent route from other National Socialists who have staunch views about Aryan rights. Rather than denying the fact that Jews are human lives, he, like pro-lifers, fully embraces this ideal. However, Hitler differentiates between the rights that Jews have from those that belong to Aryans.

“Yet I know that throughout my own German residence, I never wavered for a moment in the belief that I was supporting human lives inside of Germany. I believe that’s what a Jew is: a human life,” Hitler wrote. “And that doesn’t make me one iota less solidly pro-Aryan.”

He went on to decry the “semantic power” that is inherent within the modern-day debate, taking particular aim at those who oppose Jew-gassing by using the word “life” to win the debate. But rather than cowering to what the writer says are the “sneaky, dirty tricks of the anti-Aryan lobby,” Hitler proposes that pro-Aryan advocates should not cower when the word “life” is brought into the discussion. Instead, he believes that pro-Aryans should double down and explain why Aryans should have more rights than Jews.

(Continued)

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tradcatholicgirl
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 3:54pm
“All life is not equal” wrote Ms. Williams
____________________________________________________

She called this a “reality.”

No, Ms. Williams, it is an opinion. That you can’t see the difference says a lot about you.

It comes down to whether we believe or not that God created Ms. Williams and every other human being in the world. And whether we understand that no one but God should then decide who is more valuable, who is more human, and who is more loved.

It is a sin of pride that you have Ms. Williams…a complete lack of humility… to profess that you know — absolutely –.that each human life is not equal to another.

Ms. Williams, you are in elite company. The sin of pride was also Lucifer’s. Lucifer had enormous intelligence. But intelligence without humility creates great evil.

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denkat56
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 3:54pm
Its a shame that some adults can’t be put down, aborted or euthinized just for thinking that their opinion counts. I volunteer Williams to be our first test subject. Check to see if stupidity is any way transferable by printing stupid articles.

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blackfeather
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 3:49pm
maybe you are a proponent of giving the kids coat hangers too?

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imsteph
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 3:41pm
55.77million child sacrifices and counting…oh how satan must just sit back licking his chops.

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commoncents5
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 3:37pm
What if there were established facilities set up to counter the abortion clinics? Instead of the abortion clinics making a fortune why not offer women an alternative to keep the child by giving them a fresh
beginning. We collect for the homeless,stray animals,hurrican victims, cancer research, so why not have a fund for the pregnant women? I’m sure a conservative billionare would be happy to start a foundation in his/her name. Let’s really save the children Orlando Bloom!

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- soybomb315_II
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 3:51pm
  They would not be willing to give money to that cause since it doesnt involve telling people what to do
  
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- EnoughOfTheBull
  Posted on January 24, 2013 at 7:22pm
  CommonCents, There ARE established facilities set up to counter the abortion clinics. They are called CRISIS PREGNANCY CENTERS (CPC) and they DO offer women an alternative to keep the child by giving them a fresh beginning, if they choose, or to place the child with a loving adoptive family. If a woman still chooses abortion, the volunteers still continue to pray for her and mourn her child, and when she finds how horribly she has scarred herself physically and spiritually, they counsel her back to forgiveness and wholeness. Here’s a good place to start: http://www.silentnomoreawareness.org/resources/support-and-recovery-groups-usa.aspx
  Can you IMAGINE what good they can do with the MILLIONS AND BILLIONS corporations and our government lavish on Planned Parenthood, which ONLY promotes carcinogenic pills, more abortion, more disease and sexual and emotional irresponsibility for women and for men?….in a word – they promote SELFISHNESS – the SIN of Lucifer – PRIDE – ARROGANT PRIDE – that says, I will not serve, ***I*** am GOD. All for the sake of them making money off their “clients” when they become pregnant and diseased from following their bum advice and taking their poison pills.
  Next time you see Orlando Bloom, tell him his local CPC could really use the help!
  
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nonofmybiznez
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 3:35pm
We have to offer the choice. You can 1) kill the baby that is growing inside you, that is part of you or 2) you can give birth to the baby and let a loving couple adopt that baby and give it a loving home or 3) you could raise that baby and give it the life you never had. What if Justin Bieber’s mom had had an abortion…you wouldn’t have Baby, baby, baby!

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JMJME
Posted on January 24, 2013 at 3:34pm
WOW You have to see this Youtube video. It tells the truth about all of this !!!
http://youtu.be/3J1z-zDKP1M

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