How Abortion is Useful for Rape Culture
by Rachel MacNair During this time of uproar over an allegation against Brett Kavanaugh of committing attempted rape when he was 17, I’d like to remark on the connection of the violence of rape with the violence of abortion. I see it much differently from many of the pundits. It’s a mark of social progress…
Answering Objections to the Consistent Life Ethic from Mainstream Pro-Lifers
by John Whitehead Advocacy for the consistent life ethic (CLE) requires making the CLE more comprehensible and appealing to those with very different philosophies. Consistent Life Network Vice President Rachel MacNair offered valuable guidelines for discussions about the CLE in her blog post, “Tips on Dialogue.” Taking a cue from her post, I offer thoughts…
Media Stories on Abortion Access
The PBS NewsHour ran a 10-minute story called Even with Roe v. Wade intact, many states have aggressively restricted abortion access (September 7, 2018). We offer below a letter in response from one of our board members, and then some comments on this kind of story from another board member. Since the episode and a…
Tips on Dialogue
by Rachel MacNair Many times you’ll find yourself with opportunities to dialogue with individuals or small groups who aren’t familiar with the consistent life ethic. When these people are open-minded, these dialogues can feel very productive. When they’re not quite open-minded, the dialogues are still important in the long run. We can run ads and…
How to Value People Like Mister Rogers
by Andrew Hocking NOTE: Fred Rogers continues to receive media attention beyond the documentary discussed here. Tom Hanks will be portraying Mr. Rogers in an upcoming movie, “You Are My Friend” The new documentary, Won’t You Be My Neighbor, reveals how Mister Rogers valued others. If you’ve never watched his television shows, you can…
Sinn Féin and the New Legacy of Violence
by Maria Horan “The [Irish] State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right.” Inserted into the Irish Constitution on the…
Right-to-Life Issues in Contemporary Gay and Lesbian Literature
by Jeff Koloze Note: The post is based on a paper that was to be presented at the University Faculty for Life conference in 2018. The complete paper and bibliography can be found on LifeIssues.net. Now retired from his most recent position as associate professor at South University, Dr. Koloze continues teaching at various…
Defining Reproductive Justice: An Encounter
by Julia Smucker Among the overwhelming plethora of workshop options at this summer’s Wild Goose Festival, one in particular piqued my curiosity – not in the sense of appearing purely edifying, but as something that might be worth an effort to engage from a Consistent Life perspective. Titled, “Reproductive Justice Is _______: Moving Beyond…
The Wages of War: How Abortion Came to Japan
by John Whitehead “I hate Japs. I’m telling you men that if I met a pregnant Japanese woman, I’d kick her in the belly.” — Remark attributed to Admiral William Halsey, commander of U.S. naval forces in the South Pacific during World War II “Tsubachan, I’m sorry I couldn’t give birth to you. I…
Would My Grandparents Have Died in the Pogroms?
by Lisa Stiller As I watch the events that have unfolded over the past several weeks, I can hardly believe I live in the same country as I did a year and a half ago. No, things weren’t perfect before. Our immigration system was broken, and the process used for granting asylum and refugee…