Whose Right to Choose?

The right to choose. Who coined that mantra? It has to be one of the most successful slogans ever developed. It rolls well off the tongue. It sticks in the brain. And besides, as Americans, there are few things we value more than the freedom to choose. It is a brilliant catchphrase—aside from the small detail that it is an abject falsehood.

For years, those of us who are vehemently opposed to abortion have understood that so-called reproductive choice undermines the fundamental right of all individuals to live. In other words, the right to life should trump all other “rights”, but it doesn't. It should be evident that abortion steals the inherent right for babies to live.

But now we are seeing that abortion is trampling even more freedoms.

Elliot Institute spokesperson Amy Solby tells OneNewsNow that one study found 64 percent of women who had abortions reported they felt pressured to abort by others.

The commonality of intimidation is one thing, but forced abortions are on the rise as well.

Solby also mentions forced abortions, which are not widely discussed in the U.S. An article released from the Institute cites two cases in 2006 in which teenage girls were violently persuaded to have abortions. In Maine, a couple abducted their 19-year-old daughter, bound and gagged her, and drove her to New York for an abortion. However, she escaped from her parents in the parking lot of a store and called police from her cell phone.

That same year, a Georgia mother forced her pregnant 16-year-old daughter to drink turpentine in hopes of aborting her baby. She was later arrested for criminal abortion after her daughter told the school counselor about the incident. The Institute has studied other cases where women are commonly threatened, pressured, or subjected to violence for refusing to abort.

Pro-choice? The sad fact is that in our current culture of death, the freedom of choice is only being preserved for the strong.

Matthew 5:3