Women who had abortions against abortions.

The next group I have decided to focus on is one that I find the most interesting. It is a group made up of mostly women, and some men who have all been affected in some way by either there own abortions or a loved ones abortion. I think that by having a group formed by women who have been through an abortion the effect on potential supporters is vastly greater then other groups. They do not hold up disturbing graphic signs, instead they tell their stories, and hold up signs saying I regret my abortion. This group seems less like a hardcore protesting group and more like a safe zone for people who feel they have been hurt by abortions. After listening to many of their stories it reinforces the idea that their protests are more like a healing process for themselves then a place to change peoples minds. I don’t see this group as one that is going to single handedly changed laws about abortion but I do think it is an effective and good place for women and families to feel welcome in. This group is much easier for me to understand then Missionaries to the preborn, because they are not holding up graphic signs, they are merely venting about how their decisions changed their lives. They participate in many marches in Washington D.C. sharing their stories on the steps of Supreme Court. They believe that their testimonials about exercising their legal right to get an abortion will turn the law around. By saying that legal abortions tricked them into a horrible mistake they hope to change the law. I can understand their pain from the way they tell the stories, and I understand the hurt that they feel from making such a hard decision, but I do not believe that their emotional testimonials will change a law. I believe that this group will continue to grow, and accumulate supporters because of its inviting and accepting stance. Even though I don’t agree with the fact that these women are upset with their abortions, I do understand the guilt they feel, it is almost like the opposite of post-partum depression, instead of not wanting to see or hold their baby, all they want is to take back their mistake. I am beginning to understand that this group is not trying to tell manipulate people’s views, but instead just trying to create a space where women who are emotionally fragile can go and speak out about how they feel. I never thought I would actually be saying this since I have always been so stubborn in my dislike of pro-lifers, but whether these women stories are a bit extreme or slightly delusional in my view, I cannot dislike this group or condone them for what they are trying to do. Even if I don’t believe in their message I don’t want to try to stop them because they are a group who is approaching this controversial subject with experience and well-articulated opinions. I hope that they are not able to overturn any laws, but I am learning to value the opinions they hold.

Reference: 2009, The silence no more awarness campaign, http://www.silentnomoreawareness.org/index.aspx

Missionaries to the preborn, not killers of the living.

For my first entry I am going to focus on a group called Missionaries to the preborn. After going to their website they definitely stand out as being an extreme group, but not in a violent way. This group’s main purpose is to travel around the country and use graphic pictures to evoke emotion from passersby. The history of the group says they began in 1990 in Milwaukee Wisconsin. Reverend Matt Trewhella led the group. The group sets out to shut down clinics, and save babies. They claim to have saved over 700 babies from being “murdered”. They have many “tours” where they travel to high traffic areas and hold up graphic images of dead babies, and various scriptures supporting their views. This site is very straightforward about what they do, it definitely is not trying to sugar coat any of it. They lay everything out on the table, which makes me more inclined to think of them as a legit group and not as some violent cult like organization. I definitely believe that when people think of pro-life groups they immediately think of them as consisting of violent people who kill abortionists. Although I do not agree with this groups methods of protest they are far from killers. After reading some posts on their website they in fact lost one of their protesters, after he was murdered by a man who did not like the fact that he was showing pictures of an aborted fetus on the side of the road. The killer Harlen Drake did not like that this protester James Pouillon was showing pictures in front of a high school where students could see it. I cannot say that I agree with the fact that Pouillon was holding these signs in front of a high school, but he wasn’t physically harming or harassing anyone, so the fact that he was murdered is absolutely unjust and horrific. He was a 63-year-old man trying to share his views with other people. From what I have read on this site, I do not believe that these protesters get in peoples faces, or yell at them, they merely sit holding signs that speak for themselves. The website has more then a page written about the murder and most of what is written is anger towards the media and press for not publicizing the story more. After reading much of it, I believe that the anger that many pro-choice people feel coming from these pro-life groups stems off of the fact that the pro-lifers are not receiving as much positive national coverage as the pro-choice activists. I think because of the publicity violent groups like Army of God creates, Missionaries to the Preborn and other non-violent groups get stereotyped as being violent too. Even if I don’t believe in their methods of getting their views across they deserve to be separated from the violent stereotypes that follow them.

Reference: 2009,Our History, http://www.missionariestopreborn.com/index.html

With this blog I am setting out to understand a point of view that up until now I have never even tried to make sense of. Growing up in a liberal family when the discussion of abortion rights would come up the only logical stance to take would be pro-choice. It's not to say that I am only pro-choice because the rest of my family is, but the fact that I have only seen my views on this subject as the right views shows that they did have some influence on me. I had always heard my parents muttering about crazy extreme pro-life groups and had seen articles and pictures from protests in Washington D.C. but I never considered myself to be well learned in both sides of this controversial topic. With each entry in this blog I want to research and discuss why pro-life groups feel the way they do. I know where my stand on this subject comes from, and now I want to know where they come from. I invite people to comment and discuss what I write, and if I offend please let me know I do not wish to offend I only wish to understand. I plan on researching groups that are made up of teens, families, and even a group full of women who themselves had abortions. I want to cover all sides of the pro-life spectrum. I need to step away from my family and friends opinions on pro-life groups and begin to form my own through this blog.