What does it mean to be Pro-life?

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE PRO-LIFE?

I am very taken with the idea, raised by a person on twitter, about the need for the Democrats and the progressive coalition that supports Biden/Harris, to reclaim and redefine the term ‘pro-life’.  This is not meant as a personal attack on any one person in my Facebook feed or on Twitter.  In fact, it is not meant as an attack at all.  It is meant to question, probe, and explore.  I invite you to explore with me.

Rather it is an attempt to reclaim and redefine what it means to be pro-life.  Language matters. 

I am cross that the term pro-life has been co-opted by a group of Conservative American Republicans to mean to be pro-life is only to be against abortion and to be against gay marriage.  And given that, it is rich to claim that all Democrats or all left-wing progressives are not pro-life.  To the extent anyone champions the widows, the orphans, the aliens in our midst, the oppressed and the downtrodden and seek to encourage and help them to flourish, they are pro-life. 

The right-wing Conservative Evangelicals who are anti-abortion have co-opted this term for themselves and we ‘Democrats’ and ‘Progressives’, us ‘libs’, have done little or nothing to challenge it.  Do they really represent what it is to be pro-life in all its aspects?  Some conservatives will say oh I’m pro-life in every aspect, but then vote as if the abortion issue is the only thing that matters, no matter how nefarious the Anti-Abortion movement’s tactics are, no matter how corrupt or lacking in character their champion, Trump, is. 

I have an issue with that.  To me pro-life means:

Character matters

Character matters in our elected officials no matter which party they represent.  Corruption, lying and cheating, stealing, dividing, and supporting white supremacists, is not being pro-life. The bible talks about this a lot.  Read the major and minor Prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, Micah and see what they consider to constitute justice and injustice and how God feels about it.  Warning:  It makes him/her angry!  Read Amos 5.

Refugees, asylum seekers and refugees all matter.

Separating children from parents and putting them in cages is not pro-life.  Caring for refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants is pro-life. 

The elderly matter. 

How is it that it’s okay to sacrifice seniors to the Covid-19 Pandemic?  Wearing masks is pro-life.  Caring for the elderly is pro-life.  Loving one’s neighbor enough to social distance, wear a mask and not expose people unnecessarily to Covid even though you might not get it or be symptomatic is to be pro-life and to be pro-social.

To be pro-social is to care about the common good, not just one’s individual rights. To be pro-life and pro-social is to recognize that human rights come with human responsibilities.

Women and girls matter. 

Discrimination based on sex is wrong and is anti-life.  Caring for women and girls and their health and well being is pro-life.  Ending all forms of violence against women and girls is pro-life.  Democrats campaign to do this.  Hilary Clinton was instrumental at the Beijing Women’s Conference in 1995 to campaign on this.  She and the US government at the time were instrumental in promoting and ratifying the Beijing Platform for Action.  This is pro-life.

For example, campaigning against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is to be pro-life. Democrats would agree that this is a problem and campaign against this.  Therefore, they express pro-life and prosocial values.

Similarly, campaigning against the trafficking of women and girls for the purposes of sexual exploitation is pro-life.  Democrats are against the sexual exploitation of women and girls.  Therefore, they are pro-life.

Black and brown lives matter. 

Racism is anti-life.  Democrats championing the end of racism and discrimination against Black Americans is pro-life and pro-social. Championing white supremacists and white terrorist groups like the Proud Boys is anti-life and anti-social.

Therefore, I am going to publishing examples, pictures and stories, of what might be considered prolife and what might not be over the coming days.  I am going to reclaim what it means to be prolife.  Feel free to publish your own stories and examples.