The Meaning of Pro-Life

I designed the following graphics in 2018. The words that accompany each graphic, however, did not come to me until several incidents related to abortion and gun control happened in 2022.

Part I
(Written in May 2022, shortly after a draft opinion leaked from the U.S. Supreme Court, indicating that it intended to overturn Roe v. Wade)

Given recent news, here’s a graphic & a few thoughts on the meaning of pro-life:

It fascinates me how, in so many cases, the term pro-life is defined so narrowly — that is, only in terms of being against abortion. When discussing something as broad and all-encompassing as life, you would think the definition of pro-life could be a little bit broader as well.

For instance — what if pro-life meant valuing someone’s sexual life & sexual health enough to avoid giving them an STI / STD?

What if pro-life meant valuing life enough to be thoughtful, cautious, & responsible (in another time, one might’ve summarized that as being conservative) about how & when you bring new life into the world? Especially when there are over 7.5 billion lives that are already here and already struggling to live with each other?

And what if pro-life meant valuing women’s lives and empowering women so that they only get pregnant when they want to get pregnant?

Because if pro-life could mean all of the above, then something like easy access to birth control should be completely consistent the meaning of pro-life.

Part II
(Written in May 2022, shortly after the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX)

What if being pro-life meant caring for and protecting the people who’ve already been born — those whose lives have already begun?

If pro-life did mean that, then the least we could do is keep guns — or any other weapon that can so easily take a life — far away from those who desire to take someone else’s life. Especially the life of a child.

Going full Isaiah 2:4 might be too much to ask of this world, but even if we don’t have enough courage to go that far, the fact remains that those kids, as well as their teachers and families, deserved better.

Part III
(Written in June 2022, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court officially overturned Roe v. Wade)

One more graphic and a few additional words from me (for now) regarding the term “pro-life”:

In a morally consistent world, being pro-life would mean valuing the lives of LGBTQ children, couples, and families enough so that they see themselves reflected in media, institutions, and classroom conversations. If cisgender / heterosexual people can be represented in media, institutions, and classroom conversations without accusations of sexualizing or grooming children, then the LGBTQ community deserves at least that much. Anything less is immoral.

In a just world, being pro-life would mean valuing Black lives enough to easily declare that Black Lives Matter, and live in a way that reflects that. This starts with white people seeing everything they take for granted in their own lives (a list that could fill an entire library or two), and acknowledging that Black people deserve at least that much. Anything less is injustice.

In a fairer world, being pro-life would mean valuing women’s lives enough to allow them the same bodily autonomy that men already enjoy. Women deserve at least that much, and anything less is unfair.

It’s a shame cisgender men’s bodies are never subjected to all the complications that come with unwanted pregnancy and childbirth; maybe then it’d be easier for more men to have a little empathy for women who’ve had (or want to have) an abortion.

Or if not that, then fairness in the real world would at least look like criminalizing men who cause unwanted pregnancies — and in turn, abortions — in the first place. After all, if you got a woman pregnant when she didn’t want to get pregnant, then the buck ought to stop with you, not her.

Or, if we wanted a fairer world, maybe forcing men to get vasectomies before they’re sexually active — and only doing a vasectomy reversal when a female partner explicitly says she wants a baby — would be a great solution to unwanted pregnancies / abortion. But a wretched, patriarchal world just can’t imagine subjugating men’s bodies in that way, can it? Nor can it imagine giving women that much authority and agency over their own bodies, right?

That lack of imagination is part of the reason why we don’t live in a world that is morally consistent, just, or fair. Instead, we have a world that constantly makes an idol out of heteronormativity, whiteness, and patriarchy — all parts of what Audre Lorde would call the mythical norm.

Along with giving each other space to grieve how we are punished for demanding dignity outside of that mythical norm, I hope in that grief we find comfort in each other, as well as the courage to come together and continue fighting for a better world.

Because even if the current world wouldn’t label us pro-life for doing so, a better world that is morally consistent, just, and fair is always worth fighting for.