Rare indeed are the times I utter positive statements about the New York Times. This is one of them.
On their opinion pages on January 2, we see an editorial by Ross Douthat that is, to some extent, pro-life. At the time of this posting, there are 418 comments on Mr. Douthat’s op-ed. The extraordinarily vast majority of them are anti-life (and not entirely coherent.)
Some highlights from the article:
Rare it isn’t: not when one in five pregnancies ends at the abortion clinic. So it was a victory for realism, at least, when MTV decided to supplement its hit reality shows “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom” with last week’s special, “No Easy Decision,” which followed Markai Durham, a teen mother who got pregnant a second time and chose abortion. (I hate to be the voice of reason here, but did she learn nothing from the first go-round?)
MTV being MTV, the special’s attitude was resolutely pro-choice. (Shock! Awe!) But it was a heartbreaking spectacle, whatever your perspective. Durham and her boyfriend are the kind of young people our culture sets adrift — working-class and undereducated, with weak support networks, few authority figures, and no script for sexual maturity beyond the easily neglected admonition to always use a condom. (An admonition that, while immoral, is also relatively ineffective. Better idea: keep on thine pants)
…
Some of this shift reflects the growing acceptance of single parenting. But some of it reflects the impact of Roe v. Wade. Since 1973, countless lives that might have been welcomed into families like Thernstrom’s — which looked into adoption, and gave it up as hopeless — have been cut short in utero instead.
And lives are what they are. (The New York Times! This was said in the New York Times!) On the MTV special, the people around Durham swaddle abortion in euphemism. The being inside her is just “pregnancy tissue.” After the abortion, she recalls being warned not to humanize it: “If you think of it like [a person], you’re going to make yourself depressed.” Instead, “think of it as what it is: nothing but a little ball of cells.” (a distorted view of reality makes the truth no less real.)
It’s left to Durham herself to cut through the evasion. Sitting with her boyfriend afterward, she begins to cry when he calls the embryo a “thing.” Gesturing to their infant daughter, she says, “A ‘thing’ can turn out like that. That’s what I remember … ‘Nothing but a bunch of cells’ can be her.” (And yet, she killed her child. Knowing this. Pray for her. Pray for her child.)
To read the rest, see here.
I read into this special a bit more, and came across this which mentions the same incident.
She said that at the clinic it was suggested that she “think of it as a little ball of cells.” But afterward, she became angry — at James, and at herself — and racked with remorse. “Nothing but a bunch of cells can turn out to be her,” she said to James, pointing to their child Za’karia. No Easy Decision, in the space of a half hour, did a striking job of showing viewers a full range of thoughts and emotions, without a trace of MTV flash or, at the other extreme, timid solemnity. (Nor did they bury their dead, or have a funeral…it was all about the mother’s CONVENIENCE, rather than the child’s LIFE.)
…
“No one is pro-abortion … but you have to do what’s right,” (by “right” she means “easier”) she concluded.
“I wouldn’t choose abortion as a first option for anyone, but it was the best decision for me,” she said. “I know I’ll make it through.” (unfortunately, your child did not “make it through.” Her words are telling…”it was the best decision for ME.” )
The first comment under that article from a woman named “Jessica” states,
i was 22 yrs old when i had an abortion, during the summer before i was about to start my senior year of college before I headed into medical school. it broke my heart to decide my decision and i praise you for being brave enough to show your’s on tv. i still regret my decision but realize that it was best, not only for me, but my future baby. it just wasn’t the right time for me and my boyfriend of 5 years.
Whomever it was best for, Jessica, I assure you that it was NOT best for your “future baby.” I’d bet my life that, given the choice, your child would rather have lived than have you murder him or her.
Pray for an end to abortion.
Tags: Abortion, Pro-life, Progressive Drivel
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