Growing up as one of five kids, life was always cherished in my home. I knew abortion was wrong, however it wasn’t until I went to university and became involved in pro-life groups that I started to realise not everyone shared this view.
In 2019 I was struck to the core by the debate in the NSW parliament on a radical new law that would allow abortion up to birth. I sat in the public gallery and watched politicians debate on the issue of life with such cold, illogical and unsubstantiated arguments. With the exception of a few who courageously fought for the human rights of in-utero babies, the majority of politicians voted to shut down amendment after amendment including one that sought to protect babies born alive after failed abortions.
I remember weeping that day. I remember being infuriated because the media coverage was skewed. Pro-choicers typically came with their purple glitter to protest for an hour or two. Whereas double the pro-lifers stayed at parliament day after day.
One night 10,000 pro-lifers gathered. One media source reported that over 100 attended. Others simply didn’t report at all. Over those instructive years I realized there was a dire need for education around abortion.
I believe that if a society cannot recognize and defend the most vulnerable of its citizens, it can no longer claim to be civilized. We must defend the unborn child, and be a voice for the voiceless.
All human rights are contingent upon the fundamental right to live. Without life, there is no vote, no free speech, no autonomy, no property, no happiness. When a society begins to pick and choose who is eligible for such a fundamental right, we become no better than the heinous dictators of the past. Human rights are either universally applicable or they cease to exist at all.
There is clear evidence that life begins at conception. Science shows us. Consistency in the philosophy of personhood shows us. Reason shows us.
My pro-life beliefs extend to the mother.
No woman should experience pressure, shame, poverty, or discrimination at work because she is pregnant. In a supposed ‘feminist’ era, society’s inability to properly recognize, cater for and honour the necessity of motherhood is one of our greatest failures.
Women are often subjected to a paradigm where many feel coerced into choosing their career or motherhood, work or motherhood, status or motherhood. Feminism claims to be pro-female.
This is an insult to the original vision for ‘feminism’ by the first wave feminists.
My heart goes out to every woman who has felt that an abortion was her only option. For women who have experienced violence. We should not patronize them with the band-aid solution of fixing a violent crime, by offering another violent action. Women deserve real help. I believe that all women deserve the comfort of a world where pregnancy is honoured, women in crisis are protected, and legislation seeks to honour, defend and respect all life.