I am writing in response to Amanda Rhoades’ article, “40 Years Since Roe v. Wade Some Still Determined to Halt Progress.” I am grateful for my USF degree in Psychology, and graduate degree, which have enabled me to become the woman and mother I am today.
It is not my business to judge Amanda nor her uterus. Each of us has a right to our own opinion. I do, however, take issue with her “facts” regarding the Walk For Life and the reality of abortion.
I wish to express my compassion for Amanda, and my hope that she might come to understand that the word “compassion” contains the Hebrew root, “rechem,” meaning “womb.” To have compassion means to “love from the womb.” Amanda refers to her uterus quite often. While catchy, this circumvents the heart of the matter. Do unborn girls have uteri? If they could speak, would they want them to be preserved for their future?
My uterus and I joyfully attended the Walk For Life with my husband and three sons. We were overwhelmed by thousands of diverse and open-minded people passionate about the dignity of the human person.
Amanda asserts “… abortion does not have a negative impact on mental health…” Yikes! I wish she could have stayed and heard the courageous speakers from “Silent No More,” an organization of women and men who suffer greatly from their abortion(s). I suggest Amanda study www.silentnomoreawareness.org to be better informed.
I first studied post-abortion syndrome at USF, while writing a term paper in my Lifespan Psychology class. My research was heart-wrenching. I know that when speaking to someone who has experienced abortion, compassion and understanding are paramount. Although some women and men are able to overcome their choice to end the life of their offspring, many suffer for deciding to flatline their baby’s heartbeat. This is why WFL signs read: “Women Regret Abortion…I regret my abortion…I regret my lost fatherhood… etc.”
Amanda calls unborn human life “a microscopic group of cells.” Amanda, please do your biology homework. Our entire human DNA is present at conception, far from a random “group of cells.” A unique, distinct, and unrepeatable human life trumps a uterus. YouTube a 12 week, 4D ultrasound and if you have the stomach, learn how abortions are performed. I doubt you would consider penning “just a group of cells” in the future.
In all debates, one must discern what each side is trying to protect. 50,000 walked to protect a culture of life. Amanda, what are you trying to protect? The legal option to kill a preborn child is neither a humane nor progressive choice for a mother, a father, an innocent child, nor the cosmos in which the drama of life unfolds. Empowering options exist for pregnant women, including adoption and numerous resource centers, whose raison d’etre is to truly love and support Mom and Baby.
Forty years of legal killing equals 55 million surgically aborted Americans. Is that really progress for our country, or will it be our demise?
The human rights issue of abortion is far from a “squabble,” and I promise it will not go away. If we do not protect and preserve the first right to life…liberty and happiness are moot. Patriotic Americans are grateful that Abraham Lincoln persevered when slavery was legal.
Thank you for respecting my thoughts. Please share them with Amanda, who will remain in mind, heart and prayer. It is my hope that she will soon defer more to her heart and prefrontal cortex than to her uterus.
compassionate regards,
Colleen (McGuigan) France
USF Class of 1996
This is what I hate about Pro-Lifers. They act like they are being caring by being totally condescending and authoritarian. You never even respond to the thrust of the argument, which is that people should be able to make their own decisions about their own bodies and about whether they think a grouping of cells (whether they are “unique, distinct, and unrepeatable” makes them “good” or “bad” is totally subjective) is a totally personal philisophical issue that one should be able to makes for onesself. The problem is the you wish to take away that choice. How that “empowers” women is like how telling women what not to wear empowers them. Sorry, but we don’t live in a patriarchal society anymore, and luckily not in one where the Catholic church makes the laws. If you don’t want to have an abortion, fine, don’t. But don’t force you views on others. Liberal society is built on pluralism and accepting different viewpoints and if you can’t accept that then you are the one you needs to do your homework.