Here’s just two of the super-classy, super-clever signs abortion rights activists are carrying around in Texas.
More here.
This is a fundamental disadvantage that pro-choice activists have in the public debate. Most of the pro-lifers I know have the moral imagination to at least understand where pro-choice women are coming from (I still wrestle with the issue of very early abortions myself). Every pro-lifer I’ve ever talked to has understood that unwanted or unexpected pregnancies can pose a real crisis for women (and men). That’s one reason pro-lifers invest so much in counseling efforts. I haven’t been to too many pro-life protests, so maybe I’ve missed the signs belittling pregnant women who want to have an abortion. But something tells me that if such signs existed, MSNBC & Co. would hype them relentlessly.
Regardless, when you see these people cheerfully making terrible puns and rhymes about fetuses and embryos, like it’s all a big joke, it’s hard not to conclude that they lack a moral imagination of any kind. Even most pro-choice women understand that there’s some moral significance to a fetus, which is why they tend to support some restrictions on late-term abortions. It is also why, when they decide to have a baby, they treat their in-utero child as something truly precious. Meanwhile, these activists trivialize what to most Americans is not trivial. I’m sure they have their giggles and someone writes them a check. But it’s no way to persuade the unpersuaded.