“I’m trying to make a surprised face, but I just can’t manage.” A suggestion, Waldo, that you would expect a pro-lifer to be misogynistic?

Posted by tomr on 18 September 02009 @ 8pm

I wouldn’t expect a pro-lifer to be misogynistic. But I would expect a significant percentage of men who define their lives in terms of the hours that they spend holding up gruesome photographs of dead fetuses to have a great disrespect for women. I have known women facing the prospect of abortion for life-threatening medical reasons, and only an absolute monster could say “you must carry to term this grossly deformed fetus that will not live for a second outside of the womb and will quite probably die and rot within your body.”

Posted by Waldo Jaquith on 18 September 02009 @ 10pm

I applaud the son’s willingness to be honest about his father’s motives, behavior, and abuse. Especially since the son himself is pro-life/anti-abortion/anti-choice whatever you want to call it.

There are many, many loving, kind, calm, sane people who believe that there should be significant restrictions placed on abortion in this country, and who sincerely wish that there would never be another elective abortion again. But a pro-lifer who employs the tactics of Dr. Pouillon’s father is not a loving, kind, calm, sane person. He’s a violent, abusive, sicko. The moderate anti-abortion centrists would do well to distance themselves from the lunatic fringe. (Same thing is true about the “reduce the need/demand, retain the choice” reproductive freed om advocates who don’t distance themselves from the folks who seem to believe that elective abortion on demand is acceptable up until 5 minutes before labor begins. It’s like some on the left think that any restriction on abortion is going to inevitably mean an overturning of Roe v. Wade. I understand the fear, but we (on both sides of this issue) mustn’t embrace wacko ideas and people if we want to be taken seriously by the mainstream moderate majority. My two cents.

Posted by ChrEliz on 19 September 02009 @ 10pm

Point taken

Posted by tomr on 19 September 02009 @ 11pm