There is an interesting conversation going on at the Abortion.com Facebook page. 

It seems like every other day, a pro-lifer comes on shouts “ABORTION IS MURDER!”  Real simple and to the point.  Nothing about how we can all work together to reduce the need for abortion.  Nope, just a plain ole “ABORTION IS MURDER!”   In response, the pro-choicers will say that “murder” is a legal term as defined by the state legislatures and that, if abortion were “murder,” then it would be against the law. 

I’m not going to haggle about how one defines abortion.  I personally acknowledge that abortion is a form of killing.  Something is alive in the woman’s body, she goes to the clinic and that something is gone.   How you define that act is up to you.

What I want to talk about is how some pro-life people can be so mean-spirited.  Yes, there are many out there that are well-intentioned, that actually adopt children or volunteer at the local homeless shelter.   They are to be commended.   But then there are the mean ones.

Imagine the woman who has just learned she is pregnant and has decided to have an abortion.  She is not feeling good about things.  Her whole life has flashed before her.  She knows that, if she did not have an abortion, she would give birth to a child.  She thinks about those possibilities with some hope, but ultimately decides it is not time.  She is either too young or does not have the resources to bring a child into this world, so she decides to have an abortion.  She nervously picks up the phone and calls a clinic for an appointment.  She arranges to take the day off from work, giving her employer some lame excuse.

On the day of her appointment, she drives to the clinic.  She is probably accompanied by her husband, boyfriend or a family member.  As she drives up, she sees a bunch of people in front of the building waving signs and shouting.  At first, she is not sure what they are doing but as she focuses she realizes they may be anti-abortion protestors.  The pictures of the bloody fetuses confirm her suspicions.

She parks her car and as she walks to the front door of the clinic she hears people in the group shouting “Don’t Kill Your Baby!” or “Choose Life, not Death!”    Then someone yells out at the top of her lungs:   “Murderer!”

The pro-life movement is quick to claim that they have God or Jesus on their side.   The Bible says this, the Bible says that.  God says you will burn in Hell if you have an abortion. 

But if Jesus really was pro-life, would he really go down to the local abortion clinic on a Saturday morning and stand outside screaming at women?  Can you imagine Jesus yelling “Murderer?”   Would he really try to embarrass this woman who is already in a very difficult emotional situation? 

There is something very mean-spirited about the use of these words.  Oh, sure, a pro-lifer would say that “we need to tell the woman the truth.”   Well, earth to the pro-life movement:  women know the truth.  They know they have a living organism in their body and they have made the extremely difficult decision to “kill” it, to abort it, or even, yes, “murder” it.   How she defines that act is her decision. 

So, why stand outside of a clinic on a Saturday morning (don’t these folks have kids with Little League games or Girl Scout meetings?) and scream at a woman as she enters a clinic in an already emotional state?   Why make things even more difficult for her?  Why be so mean?    

WWJD?