A Response to “Pro-life” Arguments Against Equal Protection for the Unborn

Written By NDCAN

A resolution in support of establishing equal protection under the law for the unborn is being met by staunch opposition from some pro-life organizations within the state. This resolution will be voted upon by the delegates at the upcoming NDGOP State Convention held in Fargo on April 5-6th, and if passed, could pave the way for future legislation that protects all unborn life. Despite claims to the contrary, abortion remains legal for women in North Dakota because pro-life legislators have carved out that right for them specifically within our Century Code. Thankfully, because of North Dakota’s trigger law going into effect after the reversal of Roe, we no longer have an abortion mill within our state. However, with online access to abortion pills from providers in shield law states, organizations that require no consultation or prescription, and underground community networks run by volunteers, women continue to have the ability to have an abortion in North Dakota. The pro-life establishment understandably wants to spike the football and declare a win over abortion in North Dakota, and while it’s true that we’ve had significant victories thanks to the hard work and dedication of so many, we are still several yards short of a touchdown. Unborn babies whose mothers are considering abortion remain vulnerable in North Dakota. The Equal Protection Resolution is an attempt to pave the way for legislation that establishes true justice and bans abortion completely.

The following are responses to common pro-life objections to equal protection for the unborn.

“Women are victims of abortion and should not be held legally responsible for their decision.”

Many women go through terrible suffering and guilt after having an abortion, and they should be offered compassionate post-abortive care that points them to the love and forgiveness of Christ, but that does not mean they are victims of the decision they made. The pro-life mantra that women are victims of abortion has become so ingrained in the doctrine of our movement, that we have become blind to the intellectual and moral inconsistencies of our stance.  Should a mother who purposefully takes the life of her born child face the criminal justice system? Obviously, yes. Pro-lifers who oppose equal protection need to explain why it is more egregious and worthy of prosecution for a mother to kill her born child than it is to kill her unborn child whom they claim has the same inherent worth as anyone else.

Some will claim that because women live in a culture of lies and propaganda, they should be exempt from any liability for killing their baby. But is “living in a culture of lies” adequate legal justification for the murder of an innocent life? Can we use that justification in any other context? Injustice for the innocent always follows the replacement of impartial justice with emotional reasoning. One clear way to fight against the pro-abortion propaganda within our culture is to have the truth - that all innocent lives deserve to be legally protected - clearly outlined and codified into law.

Providing a legal boundary specifically for pregnant mothers considering abortion would be the ultimate act of compassion because it would act as a deterrent. Many women have expressed that they wish there had been a clear legal consequence in place for having an abortion because it would have kept them from making the biggest mistake of their lives. The women who are self-administering their own abortions go through significant physical pain and suffering, and we should be protecting them from being able to access these dangerous drugs. Of course, women who are determined to abort their baby will find a way to do so, but for many women considering abortion, knowing there could be legal consequences for pursuing a self-managed abortion would be enough to cause serious reconsideration. The end result will be more babies and mothers saved from the tragic consequences of abortion.

“We don’t even know how many, if any, women are accessing abortion pills in North Dakota.”

Self-Managed Abortions (SMAs) are abortions that are performed by the pregnant woman without assistance or oversight from a clinic or provider. She simply orders the abortion pills online and uses them at home. SMA’s, unlike medication abortions provided through telehealth, are not reported to state or federal agencies, so it is difficult to get a clear picture of how many women are choosing that option. However, a study published in November 2022 in the Journal of the American Medical Association examined data provided by Aid Access, the single largest provider of SMA pills, and found a significant increase in abortion pill requests following the reversal of Roe. One year after the Dobbs decision, Aid Access self-reported a 270% increase in average daily pill requests and that they had shipped abortion pills to over 3,500 people living in states where abortion is banned. Do we know exactly how many women are ending their pregnancies with abortion pills in ND? No. Does it matter? Again, no. A better question for someone opposing equal protection for the unborn might be this: Is there a certain number of babies dying through medication abortion that is acceptable to you?  We don’t need data on exactly how many women are ordering abortion pills in North Dakota to know that they should not be able to do so.

“All major pro-life organizations and leading politicians are against criminalizing abortion.”

All major pro-life organizations oppose equal protection for the unborn because it goes against their central doctrine that women are victims of abortion.  This widespread agreement among established organizations is used to dismiss the minority view of establishing equal rights for the unborn. Listen to the experts, we’re told. But if recent and ancient history has taught us anything, it’s that consensus of opinion among the experts and professionals tells us very little about what is right, what is correct, and what is Biblical.

“The optics of criminalizing abortion are terrible and will give further ammunition to abortion-rights activists to portray pro-lifers as harsh and uncaring toward women.”

Advocates of abortion and the activist media always have and always will misrepresent pro-life motives and will never accurately portray the issue of abortion in a fair and objective light. The attempt by pro-lifers to create an image of the movement that pro-aborts would approve of is a losing battle and a distraction from the primary goal of saving lives. While pro-abortion activists rabidly advocate for the slaughter of unborn human beings all the way up to and even after birth, are unapologetic in their blatant disregard for human life, and financially profit off the genocide of millions of lives, pro-lifers save lives, establish free pregnancy resource clinics, make up the vast majority of those who foster and adopt, create ministries for pregnant and post-abortive mothers, and much more. Pro-lifers have no reason to be timid and prevaricate on this issue as they are clearly on the right side of the battle between good and evil.  If we are fighting for justice with integrity and honor, the optics of our efforts should be one of the last things considered, if at all.

“Advocating for equal protection for the unborn will cause Republicans to lose more elections.”

If abortion has become a losing issue for the Republican Party, it is likely due to inconsistent messaging and leadership that is plagued by hypocrisy. Pro-life Republican politicians give convincing speeches outlining their fight for life, but when it actually counts, they side with pro-choice Democrats. Both sides show partiality towards certain groups of people. Both agree that some lives deserve more legal protection than others. Both agree that mothers should have a special right codified into law that allows them to kill their unborn children with impunity. The NDGOP has the historic opportunity to choose principle over pragmatism and declare that we truly are the party of equal rights by codifying into law the right to life as outlined in the 14th Amendment. The Republican Party’s very first platform prioritized the abolishment - not the regulation - of slavery. Fighting for equal rights for the unborn is a winning message because it’s ideologically consistent, affirms the inherent worth and dignity of every human, and most importantly, is the only Biblical response to abortion. God does not bless political pragmatism nor efforts to establish our own form of justice. He rewards faithfulness to his Word, and Scripture clearly states that God despises partiality and unequal weights and measures. Republicans claim to be the party of life, liberty, and justice.  We fall short of those principles by denying equal protection under the law for the unborn.

“Some women are coerced into getting an abortion.”

First, it is illegal in the state of North Dakota to coerce a woman into having an abortion. Secondly, the vast majority of women choosing abortion are not coerced into their decision, but for those that are, existing law already contains protections from coercion to commit crimes. Our justice system determines which cases were committed willingly or under a state of duress.

“What about [insert extremely rare circumstance that does not reflect 99% of all abortions committed]?”

It is never necessary to perform an abortion to save the life of the mother. In the extremely rare circumstance that a choice must be made to end the pregnancy in order to save the mother’s life, the unborn baby can be treated with dignity and delivered whole. All efforts should extend to saving the life of the baby as much as it is medically possible.

In the case of pregnancies resulting from rape and incest, it is the perpetrator who should be sentenced to death, not the unborn human being who has no control over how he or she is conceived. Humans who have been conceived through rape or incest have the same inherent worth and value as anyone else and deserve equal protection under the law.

NDCAN

Advocating for conservative values in policy and culture

https://www.ndcan.org
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