Another Blind Spot: Win Without War
Win Without War broadcast an email with a pro-Roe position. Here’s an excerpt:
With the stroke of a pen, five people curtailed the rights of millions when they overturned Roe v. Wade two summers ago , , , If you care about self-determination, justice, and freedom, it’s been a difficult moment. But the good news? People are pushing back . . .
We can carry this amazing momentum to Congress, where Rep. Nikema WIlliams (D-GA-05) will introduce a resolution that would affirm abortion as a human right in just a few weeks. Passing a bill like this will be an uphill challenge — and that’s why we need it to come out of the gate with resounding support from dozens and dozens of original cosponsors. Can you help us build that power?
Several of us responded to their email, and then shared our responses with each other. We would love for the staff at Win Without War to take this feedback seriously, but this is unlikely. We can at least give the writing a broader audience:
Bill Samuel:
I find this very disturbing. My interest in Win Without War is because I believe in nonviolence. I don’t believe in violence as a “solution” to problems. I am a Vietnam-era draft resister. I happened not to be prosecuted, but I was ready to serve a prison term for refusing to participate in a system of mass killing if necessary. I oppose violence across the board. I not only oppose war, but also the death penalty and abortion (a type of death penalty). It is profoundly inconsistent to oppose the killing of human beings in international conflicts and yet to support the idea of a “right” to kill innocent children.
The term “reproductive rights” would literally mean the right to reproduce, which I support. The immense personal cost of childbirth in the U.S. severely limits real reproductive rights in this country. Almost all other affluent countries (and many countries which are not affluent) provide free childbirth, have mandatory paid parental leave for anywhere between 6 and 24 months, and often provide a cash payment and/or supplies needed to take care of the baby upon birth. These I vigorously support. I am outraged by the misuse of the term “reproductive rights” to mean a supposed right to kill children in the womb. All human beings have an inherent right to live.
I cannot support “Win Without War” as long as it supports the war against unborn children. I strongly urge Win Without War to adopt a policy of nonviolence.
Rachel MacNair:
You’re actively supporting the war on unborn children? Mass killing is OK so long as you have euphemisms you can use to pretend it’s not happening?
You’re proposing that mothers are somehow supposed to benefit from being pressured into killing their children. They’re to raise no objection if their needs as mothers and children aren’t met, because they can use this piece of violence to get rid of those needs, and they can be blamed if they don’t. You’re facilitating men who are sexually irresponsible to feel self-righteous about even meeting minimal child support duties. You’re telling good fathers who want to participate in their children’s lives that they have no say about those children being killed instead. You’re supporting the abortion facility as accomplice to pedophilia and sex trafficking, which makes those practices more likely to happen.
You’ve lost my support, and you’ve lost it permanently absent a major turnaround.
Carol Crossed
I am a Democrat Party member and have been because they generally oppose military spending as opposed to the militant Republican Party.
Your position on “reproductive rights” is not aligned with nonviolent principles. “Rights” language erroneously justifies violent solutions. Like war, abortion is a violent solution.
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For more of our posts on organizations contradicting their own principles by supporting abortion, see:
Amnesty International’s Blind Spot
An Example of Why the Peace Movement is in Deep Trouble
Violence Bolstered by Professional Contradictions (American Psychological Association)
Unconnecting a Dot? (Campaign Nonviolence)
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