{"id":91142,"date":"2016-03-29T14:39:05","date_gmt":"2016-03-29T18:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=91142"},"modified":"2016-09-01T16:33:47","modified_gmt":"2016-09-01T20:33:47","slug":"abortion-center-owner-i-had-no-conception-that-life-was-sacred-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-center-owner-i-had-no-conception-that-life-was-sacred-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Abortion center owner: I had no conception that life was sacred"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p>Retired abortion center\u00a0owner and administrator Merle Hoffman, who remains pro-abortion, wrote the following about counseling women for their abortions:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">&#8220;Choice\u201d is sometimes not a choice at all. It is an outcome determined by the economic, physical, sociological, and political factors that surround women\u2026 At times this reality would move me profoundly as I sat opposite the women I counseled prior to their abortions, acutely aware of the potential lives growing inside them that would soon cease to exist. I began to think critically, to come to terms with what was going on. Each time I did that, I came out of that process more committed than before. I had no conception, either religious or philosophical, that \u201clife was sacred.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><!--more-->First, Hoffman acknowledges that, rather than being empowered by the right to choose, many women feel they have <em>no<\/em> choice when it comes to abortion. While there are documented stories of women <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lifenews.com\/2013\/12\/26\/woman-has-abortion-because-she-couldnt-fit-into-her-wedding-dress\/\" target=\"_blank\">choosing abortion for frivolous reasons<\/a>, many abortion patients feel overwhelmed by their circumstances. \u00a0Financial hardship, fear of lost jobs, fear of losing access to education, and lack of support often drive women to abortion facilities. Deep down, some women wish they could have their babies. And in addition, <a href=\"http:\/\/theunchoice.org\/intro.htm\" target=\"_blank\">up to 64%<\/a> of women who have abortions are coerced by others (often their partner).<\/p>\n<p>This is one of the reasons why pregnancy centers, which give women concrete help and support, are so important, and why pro-lifers should support initiatives to help pregnant and parenting students and poor families. It is also a good reason to reach out to abortion-minded and post-abortive women with compassion.<\/p>\n<p>Hoffman then describes struggling with her conscience and then subduing it. She uses the term \u201cpotential life\u201d to describe the preborn babies killed in her facility, but readily admits that she has no belief that life is sacred. Perhaps deep down she realized that what happened in her facility\u00a0dozens of times a day was the taking of actual, not potential, human lives. However, by thinking \u201ccritically\u201d she could come to terms with this killing, or at least repress it. By repressing all sympathy for aborted babies and hardening her heart, Hoffman could run the clinic and preside over thousands of abortions in her career. \u00a0Any profession that requires one to beat one&#8217;s\u00a0conscience into submission is an immoral one.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/AbortionProcedures.com\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-88619\" src=\"https:\/\/www.liveactionnews.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/levatino-ad-LAN.jpg\" alt=\"levatino-ad-LAN\" width=\"306\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/levatino-ad-LAN.jpg 306w, https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/levatino-ad-LAN-300x221.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 306px) 100vw, 306px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Hoffman\u2019s words give insight\u00a0into\u00a0the mental state of abortion clinic workers. The silencing and stifling of human feeling and doubts may be a necessary component to abortion work. Perhaps this repression\u00a0of feeling is one of the reasons many abortionists show contempt for\u00a0<a href=\"\/news\/abortion-workers-reveal-disturbing-facts-abortion-industry\/\" target=\"_blank\">their patients<\/a> and ignore\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/abortiondocs.org\/worst-offenders\/\" target=\"_blank\">general medical standards<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Source: Merle Hoffman <em>Intimate Wars: the Life and Times of the Woman Who Brought Abortion from the Back Alley to the Board Room<\/em> (New York: Feminist Press, 2012)\u00a0108 \u2013 109<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Retired abortion center\u00a0owner and administrator Merle Hoffman, who remains pro-abortion, wrote the following about counseling women for their abortions: &#8220;Choice\u201d is sometimes not a choice at all. It is an outcome determined by the economic, physical, sociological, and political factors that surround women\u2026 At times this reality would move me profoundly as I sat opposite [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":153,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[5846,86,2305,1143,8067,5481,3751],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Abortion center owner: I had no conception that life was sacred<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By repressing all sympathy for aborted babies and hardening her heart, Hoffman could run the clinic and preside over thousands of abortions in her career.\" \/>\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\/abortion-center-owner-i-had-no-conception-that-life-was-sacred-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Abortion center owner: I had no conception that life was sacred\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By repressing all sympathy for aborted babies and hardening her heart, Hoffman could run the clinic and preside over thousands of abortions in her career.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-center-owner-i-had-no-conception-that-life-was-sacred-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-29T18:39:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-09-01T20:33:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/fetus_at_16_weeks.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sarah Terzo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sarah Terzo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-center-owner-i-had-no-conception-that-life-was-sacred-2\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-center-owner-i-had-no-conception-that-life-was-sacred-2\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sarah Terzo\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/2f32fb25f4ca350784baf5509b1b6eb2\"},\"headline\":\"Abortion center owner: I had no conception that life was sacred\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-29T18:39:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-09-01T20:33:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-center-owner-i-had-no-conception-that-life-was-sacred-2\/\"},\"wordCount\":474,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"abortion facility\",\"Choice\",\"coerced abortion\",\"conscience\",\"life is sacred\",\"Merle Hoffman\",\"potential life\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Issues\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-center-owner-i-had-no-conception-that-life-was-sacred-2\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-center-owner-i-had-no-conception-that-life-was-sacred-2\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-center-owner-i-had-no-conception-that-life-was-sacred-2\/\",\"name\":\"Abortion center owner: I had no conception that life was sacred\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-29T18:39:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-09-01T20:33:47+00:00\",\"description\":\"By repressing all sympathy for aborted babies and hardening her heart, Hoffman could run the clinic and preside over thousands of abortions in her career.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-center-owner-i-had-no-conception-that-life-was-sacred-2\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-center-owner-i-had-no-conception-that-life-was-sacred-2\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-center-owner-i-had-no-conception-that-life-was-sacred-2\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Abortion center owner: I had no conception that life was sacred\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Live Action News\",\"description\":\"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, &amp; Pro-Life Issues\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Live Action\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"width\":701,\"height\":710,\"caption\":\"Live Action\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/2f32fb25f4ca350784baf5509b1b6eb2\",\"name\":\"Sarah Terzo\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be2e9491114fa98a73c4031634f89b2b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be2e9491114fa98a73c4031634f89b2b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sarah Terzo\"},\"description\":\"Sarah Terzo is a pro-life author and creator of the clinicquotes.com website . She is a member of Secular Pro-Life, Pro-Life Humanists, and a board member of Pro-Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians, and Consistent Life.. You can reach her at https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sarahl.terzo. https:\/\/twitter.com\/PLClinicquotes\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/sarah-terzo\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Abortion center owner: I had no conception that life was sacred","description":"By repressing all sympathy for aborted babies and hardening her heart, Hoffman could run the clinic and preside over thousands of abortions in her career.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-center-owner-i-had-no-conception-that-life-was-sacred-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Abortion center owner: I had no conception that life was sacred","og_description":"By repressing all sympathy for aborted babies and hardening her heart, Hoffman could run the clinic and preside over thousands of abortions in her career.","og_url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-center-owner-i-had-no-conception-that-life-was-sacred-2\/","og_site_name":"Live Action News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","article_published_time":"2016-03-29T18:39:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-09-01T20:33:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":700,"height":450,"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/fetus_at_16_weeks.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sarah Terzo","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@liveaction","twitter_site":"@liveaction","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sarah Terzo","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-center-owner-i-had-no-conception-that-life-was-sacred-2\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-center-owner-i-had-no-conception-that-life-was-sacred-2\/"},"author":{"name":"Sarah Terzo","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/2f32fb25f4ca350784baf5509b1b6eb2"},"headline":"Abortion center owner: I had no conception that life was sacred","datePublished":"2016-03-29T18:39:05+00:00","dateModified":"2016-09-01T20:33:47+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-center-owner-i-had-no-conception-that-life-was-sacred-2\/"},"wordCount":474,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"keywords":["abortion facility","Choice","coerced abortion","conscience","life is sacred","Merle Hoffman","potential life"],"articleSection":["Issues"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-center-owner-i-had-no-conception-that-life-was-sacred-2\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-center-owner-i-had-no-conception-that-life-was-sacred-2\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-center-owner-i-had-no-conception-that-life-was-sacred-2\/","name":"Abortion center owner: I had no conception that life was sacred","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-03-29T18:39:05+00:00","dateModified":"2016-09-01T20:33:47+00:00","description":"By repressing all sympathy for aborted babies and hardening her heart, Hoffman could run the clinic and preside over thousands of abortions in her career.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-center-owner-i-had-no-conception-that-life-was-sacred-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-center-owner-i-had-no-conception-that-life-was-sacred-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/abortion-center-owner-i-had-no-conception-that-life-was-sacred-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Abortion center owner: I had no conception that life was sacred"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","name":"Live Action News","description":"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, &amp; Pro-Life Issues","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization","name":"Live Action","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","width":701,"height":710,"caption":"Live Action"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/2f32fb25f4ca350784baf5509b1b6eb2","name":"Sarah Terzo","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be2e9491114fa98a73c4031634f89b2b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be2e9491114fa98a73c4031634f89b2b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Sarah Terzo"},"description":"Sarah Terzo is a pro-life author and creator of the clinicquotes.com website . She is a member of Secular Pro-Life, Pro-Life Humanists, and a board member of Pro-Life Alliance of Gays and Lesbians, and Consistent Life.. You can reach her at https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sarahl.terzo. https:\/\/twitter.com\/PLClinicquotes","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/sarah-terzo\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91142"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/153"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91142"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91152,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91142\/revisions\/91152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}