{"id":48040,"date":"2014-03-30T21:27:53","date_gmt":"2014-03-31T01:27:53","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=48040"},"modified":"2014-03-31T09:13:52","modified_gmt":"2014-03-31T13:13:52","slug":"why-pro-aborts-cant-avoid-occasionally-sounding-pro-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/why-pro-aborts-cant-avoid-occasionally-sounding-pro-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Why pro-aborts can’t avoid occasionally sounding pro-life"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

\"SeussIt\u2019s obvious why graphics like the above, quoting from Dr. Seuss\u2019s classic children\u2019s story Horton Hears a Who!<\/i>, are popular in pro-life circles: it\u2019s appealing to see a universally beloved cultural figure voice a simple truth with such obvious implications for the abortion debate.<\/p>\n

Recently, I came across the below image on the Proudly Pro-Choice Tumblr<\/a>, featuring a quote from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows<\/i>, which holds a similar appeal:<\/p>\n

\"Personhood<\/p>\n

The other side often complains about our use of such quotes, particularly when the meaning we take from them allegedly contradicts the pro-abortion views of their authors. PPC says:<\/p>\n

I\u2019m so sick of anti-choicers taking quotes out of context – this is from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which has nothing to do with abortion<\/em>. Exactly like Dr. Seuss and his Horton Hears a Who. Stop it! You\u2019re not accomplishing anything!<\/p>\n

I also looked into Rowling a little – nothing about her being pro-life but I did find some stuff that points to her being pro-choice. So I have a feeling she probably wouldn’t want her book quotation being used in such a way.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I couldn’t find examples of Rowling directly discussing abortion, but she did declare<\/a> she wanted a Democrat in the White House and called Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton \u201cextraordinary,\u201d so killing the unborn apparently doesn’t bother her much. As for Seuss,\u00a0 AKA Theodor Geisel, his biographer Phillip Nel writes<\/a>:<\/p>\n

In fact, during his lifetime Seuss threatened to sue an anti-abortion group unless they took that off their stationery and they did take it off their stationery but it’s still used. I’ve still seen propaganda in recent years from pro-life groups that have adopted Horton’s line, ‘A person’s a person, no matter how small.’ It’s one of the ways in which Seuss has been misappropriated. He would not agree with that. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Former Seuss attorney Karl ZoBell says<\/a> he cannot confirm the veracity of internet rumors that Geisel\u2019s widow Audrey actively supports Planned Parenthood, but he does claim she was bothered by pro-life fliers distributed with the quote at the 2008 premiere of Horton<\/i>\u2019s big-screen adaptation: \u201cShe doesn’t like people to hijack Dr. Seuss characters or material to front their own points of view.\u201d<\/p>\n

So how is it that authors can give us such elegant affirmations of the pro-life ethic without actually being<\/i> pro-life? Simple: the pro-life ethic is embedded in every<\/i> affirmation of human decency – and tolerance for abortion is a massive, glaring affront to it.<\/p>\n

Universal human equality, basic compassion for the weak, protection of the helpless, the ugliness of violence, the unfathomable potential of every life\u2026by default, each of these values necessarily includes all human beings, including those in the womb. It\u2019s simply impossible to praise or promote any of these values without tacitly paying lip service to the unborn.<\/p>\n

First, to exclude the unborn, you have to consciously go out of your way. \u201cEvery human life except x, y, or z<\/i><\/b> is worth the same, and worth saving.\u201d In the case of Horton<\/i>, not only do you have to add an exception, but you also have to remove \u201cno matter how small\u201d – half of the quote!<\/p>\n

Second, there\u2019s no way around the fact that accepting abortion is an affront to all the other values we associate with basic human dignity. If some of us may be killed by another human being for any reason, we cannot be equal. Suctioning and slicing apart a tiny human being can\u2019t be considered \u201ccompassionate\u201d per any sane understanding of the term. The \u201cpre-viability\u201d argument for abortion turns the idea of weakness on its head, changing it from sign of needing protection into a license to kill. And the cheap rationalization that \u201cunwanted\u201d or disabled babies wouldn’t have lives worth living anyway is the ultimate in cynicism, a declaration that we\u2019re all ultimately hopeless slaves of circumstance.<\/p>\n

Like it or not, these quotes are inherently pro-life, and pro-lifers who use them as such are hardly guilty of twisting anything. If anything, our only crime is assuming their own authors actually meant what they wrote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s obvious why graphics like the above, quoting from Dr. Seuss\u2019s classic children\u2019s story Horton Hears a Who!, are popular in pro-life circles: it\u2019s appealing to see a universally beloved cultural figure voice a simple truth with such obvious implications for the abortion debate. Recently, I came across the below image on the Proudly Pro-Choice […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":48041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy pro-aborts can't avoid occasionally sounding pro-life - Live Action News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/why-pro-aborts-cant-avoid-occasionally-sounding-pro-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why pro-aborts can't avoid occasionally sounding pro-life - Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s obvious why graphics like the above, quoting from Dr. Seuss\u2019s classic children\u2019s story Horton Hears a Who!, are popular in pro-life circles: it\u2019s appealing to see a universally beloved cultural figure voice a simple truth with such obvious implications for the abortion debate. 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Calvin is an editor and administrator for TheFederalistPapers.org, and his work has appeared on NewsRealBlog.com, PatriotUpdate.com, LifeNews.com, LifeSiteNews.com, RightWisconsin.com, AmericanThinker.com, Stream.org, AmericanClarion.org, and more. Please check out his official website, ConservativeStandards.com. 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