The Advocates

Thr Advocates

by

Burt Sage

I had just landed at Dulles and picked up my luggage. On my way to get a rental car, I passed the inevitable gaggle of limo drivers waiting for their riders. Each driver held up a sign with the name of the rider they were waiting for. One of the signs read ‘Derrick Bronson’.

A neuron fired somewhere in the deep recesses of my mind. “I wonder if that’s the Derrick Bronson I used to know?” So I stood beside the limo driver and waited.

I recognized him immediately. He’s 50 years older now, a little over 70 like me, but his rugged countenance was unmistakable. He pointed to the driver to indicate he was his rider, then glanced at me. For a moment he had that ‘do I know you?’ look on his face. Then he smiled. “You’re Bill Adams, aren’t you,” he said.

“Yeah, Rick, it’s me,” I said.

“My God, Bill, what a pleasant surprise. It’s been what, 50 years?” He shook my hand vigorously. “It’s so good to see you again. We had such a great time back then, didn’t we?”

His voice turned sober. “We didn’t do much good, though, did we.”

“At least our voice was heard,” I said. “Yes, abortion was legalized. But we had our say. And we made good friends as we demonstrated.”

“And the girls,” Rick added with a smile.

I smiled, too.

Then Rick said, “So what brings you to DC?”

“I’m going to be at the Supreme Court again,” I said. “With the Dobbs decision on the books, the spotlight has turned even brighter on the question of abortion. A new case has come before the Supreme Court questioning just what should be considered an emergency so that an abortion could be performed in a state where abortion has been made illegal. A woman who had been raped was denied an abortion in that state. The case is now before the Supreme Court since the State Supreme court upheld the denial.”

“I know all about it,” Rick said. “That’s why I’m here.”

“Look, Bill,” Rick said. “We can’t keep my driver waiting. Where are you staying?”

“Embassy Suites,” I said.

“Really?” Rick said. “I’m staying at the Conrad. It’s right across the street. Why don’t you ride with me. We can get checked in and meet for dinner.”

It took less than a second for me to think about having a rental car in downtown DC. “Thanks, Rick. I’d like that.”

As we settled at a table for dinner, I thanked Rick again for the ride. “We need to catch up on each other’s life first,” I said. “We can talk about the march later. So, how are you?”

“I can’t tell you how happy I am right now,” Rick said. “Life is good. My two daughters are through college and have good jobs. Both are married, but there are no kids yet. June is anxious to have grand kids, of course. I am too. But what’s great is that June and I can really start to enjoy life again. We sacrificed a lot to reach where we are now, and with the girls gone, well, I’m happy to say I’m in love again. My life the last couple of years has been like a honeymoon.” He winked at me.

“That’s wonderful, Rick,” I said. “I’m really happy for you. I wish I had the same story to tell. My son, Jim, married several years before your girls. They have one daughter, Joan. She’s now a Senior in High School, and has a full ride swimming scholarship at State University. All those hours in the pool really paid off for her. Her specialty is the hundred meter freestyle. Unfortunately, a couple of weeks ago, we found out that she’s pregnant.”

“Oh my God!” Rick exclaimed. It was heartfelt.

As a ‘Right to Life’ advocate, I’m in a rather difficult position,” I said. “Mary and I have made it clear that we will spare no expense when it comes to helping Joan raise the child. But her parents want her to have an abortion. Joan wants one, too. Even Mary thinks abortion is the best choice. Joan dreams of being an Olympic champion. Having the child makes that dream virtually impossible.”

“I’m starting to question my beliefs,” I admitted. “Until this happened, my position was solid. A fetus is one stage of the normal human life cycle. An intervention by another human to remove the fetus before birth ends that life. The person who intervenes is guilty and the mother is an accomplice. The dead fetus is all the evidence that’s needed.”

“That’s still the right position,” Rick said. “Who knows what the future holds for your great grandchild. It should be up to him/her to decide.”

“It used to be so clear and obvious,” I said. “Clear, that is, until actual cases are examined in detail. Consider the case where tests show that a fetus is anencephalic. Without a brain, the fetus has no chance of survival. Why isn’t an abortion acceptable under those circumstances?”

“Even then there should be no abortion,” Rick insisted. “Let nature take its course. If and when that fetus dies, it will not be by man’s hand.”

“Really?” I said. “You would put the mother and the family through all the additional pain of carrying a known non-viable fetus to term?”

“It may seem cruel,” Rick said. “But to believe that there may be cases when abortion is acceptable starts you down the slippery slope of having to decide where to draw the line. How about a Down’s Syndrome fetus? Or a fetus with no arms? Or a fetus with a heart defect. Before you know it, you’re allowing a pregnant woman to abort a fetus just because it’s the wrong sex.”

“We’re already on that slippery slope,” I said. “The case before the Supreme Court is about where to draw the line.”

“That’s why I’m here,” Rick said. “To argue that that woman should not be allowed to have the abortion. If she is allowed to have an abortion, it will lead to further court tests of what is allowable.”

“Look, Rick,” I said. “No matter where you draw the line, once a woman becomes pregnant, only two things can happen. Barring a miscarriage, she either has the baby or an abortion. If the mother wants the child, abortion is never an issue. However, if the mother doesn’t want the child, carrying to term means accepting the unwanted responsibility to care for the child until it can take care of itself. Abortion removes that responsibility.”

“Convenience should never be an issue when dealing with a human life. If the woman doesn’t want the child, there’s always the option of adoption,” Rick insisted.

“She still has to carry the fetus to term,” I said. “Carrying a fetus to term causes dramatic changes to the body. If my grand daughter went full term she most likely would never regain championship form. Her scholarship would go away. As far as I can tell, there have been no female Olympic champions who have had a child before or while they were competing. Besides, she doesn’t want the child.”

We didn’t speak for several seconds. Finally, Rick said, “I’m having trouble believing my ears. It sounds to me like you’re switching sides, that you’re becoming an advocate of Choice. There are no two ways about it. Abortion is murder.”

“Then there are no situations where an abortion would be acceptable?” I asked.

“That’s right,” Rick insisted. “None.”

“Look, Bill,” Rick continued. “I’m sorry about your grand daughter. But if she has an abortion, she’ll be guilty of being an accessory to murder.”

More silence.

“Let’s go back to first principles,” I finally said. “Just what is the goal of the Right to Life movement?”

“To end abortion,” Rick said. “It’s that simple.”

“So you would support a Federal law outlawing abortion?” I asked.

“Absolutely,” Rick responded. “It would end abortion.”

“Would it?” I asked. “Suppose the US had such a law on the books. What would that be like?”

“That’s easy,” Rick said. “No abortions.”

“You’ve got your head in the sand,” I said. “Pregnant women who could afford it would simply go to another country. For women in Detroit, it’s a simple drive across the bridge. Medical facilities in Canada would have set up abortion travel packages to attract these women. For them, abortion could actually become easier.”

“With such a law in place,” I added, “It would be against the law to sell abortion pills. A black market would exist for abortion pills. It would be as easy to get an abortion pill as it was to get a drink during prohibition. Being unregulated, these pills could come from anywhere and actually contain anything, including fentanyl.”

“A third consequence of such a law would be a black market for abortion itself. Unscrupulous doctors and even people without the proper medical training would be conducting abortions under back alley conditions. Many pregnant women would die, just like before Roe v Wade.”

“Is that the world you want?” I asked. “Such a law might actually increase the number of abortions. With home pregnancy tests, there would be no need to even see a doctor if a woman found herself pregnant. Every woman would know where to get an abortion pill, or they would have a few on hand just in case. They’d just take one.”

Rick was quiet for several moments before he spoke again. “No,” he said softly. “That’s not the world I want.”

“Then what do you want?”

Rick was quiet for several more moments. “I guess I don’t know,” Rick finally admitted. “I thought it was the abolition of abortion. But I never thought it through like you have. I never thought that a law abolishing abortion might actually result in more abortions.”

“Thanks for listening to me,” I said. “It took real courage to make that concession.”

“As is obvious now,” I continued, “I have thought long and hard about this question, that is, ‘What should we as Right to Life’ people want. I think what we really want is fewer abortions and more births. Laws making abortions illegal have unacceptable consequences and are unattainable. But we should be able to get fewer abortions.”

“It’s hard to disagree with that,” Rick said. “I know some won’t give up on the concept of zero abortions. But that’s obviously unattainable. Right now it’s legal in some states that will never outlaw it.”

“Most women want an abortion option,” Rick added. “And where there is a want, there will be availability of something to satisfy that want. Since you have thought about it so hard, what kind of a solution did you come up with?”

“Something like an expanded Planned Parenthood,” I answered.

Shocked, Rick replied, “Are you kidding? Those people promote abortion and sell fetal tissue as part of their business plan. Don’t you remember that conversation between two Doctors at Planned Parenthood discussing selling fetal tissue?”

“Of course I remember that video,” I replied. “And again I did the due diligence to see if it could be debunked. There’s an article in Scientific American, a peer reviewed magazine with the same integrity of factual reporting as the Reader’s Digest. The video is in fact real, and does report an actual conversation between two Doctors at Planned Parenthood. But it is grossly misleading. There are over 700 Planned Parenthood facilities in the US. Only a couple harvest and sell fetal tissue for research. And there has to be an outstanding request for a specific type of tissue before it’s harvested. They don’t just harvest the tissue and put a For Sale sign on it. Also, the harvested tissue only goes to researchers who can’t get the tissue samples they need any other way. The research has the goal of improving human health. Finally, less than 2% of Planned Parenthood revenues come from harvested tissue. Those dollars barely cover the cost of harvesting the tissue.”

“Besides, I don’t want Planned Parenthood as it is now. For me, it’s still too easy to get an abortion. More effort should be made to help the pregnant woman make an informed decision about their pregnancy. First, I think Planned Parenthood should be a Federal Government agency, maybe part of the FDA. Second, counseling by the agency should be required and free to all women who become pregnant. Finally, there can be no advocacy for one option or the other, only information about the pros and cons of each option.”

“Of all the factors involved in making the choice of abort or not, I believe the most important factor is whether or not the woman wants the child. For that reason, my belief on how to handle a pregnancy is to let the mother-to-be make the decision. She should make that choice with advice from her Doctor on the health implications for her and her fetus as the pregnancy proceeds. Grandparents, other family members, and especially government agencies and advocacy groups should not be involved, except to support the mother-to-be. They are minor stakeholders.”

“You left out a key stakeholder,” Rick interrupted. “You left out the child-to-be. Who will speak for the unborn child?”

“I’m glad you brought that up,” I said. “The mother-to-be will speak for the unborn child. She’s the child’s best advocate. Ninety nine percent of the burden of child bearing rests on the female. A successful birth requires nine months of dedication to her condition. Instinctively she knows what kind of mother she will be and whether birth or abortion is the better option, all things considered.”

“You really believe that, don’t you,” Rick said.

“Yes, I do,” I said. “I’ve watched my grand daughter wrestle with her situation. You may argue that her preference for abortion is a selfish preference. I wondered that myself. But when I asked her how she felt about having the child, she said if she had the child, it would grow up knowing it wasn’t loved. She couldn’t imagine how such a child could survive, let alone thrive. ‘It would be hell for both of us’ she said.”

“That’s an adult speaking, Rick,” I said. “We can’t walk in her shoes. I’ve seen how she struggles. To insinuate that she doesn’t care is nonsense. We males simply don’t have a clue.”

Rick didn’t say anything. There wasn’t much he could say.

“There’s an old expression,” I continued, “‘if you want less of something, tax it. If you want more of something, incentivize it’. I suppose fewer pregnancies would lead to fewer abortions, but I don’t think that’s the right way to fewer abortions. We need at least enough children to replenish the population. To get fewer abortions we should incentivize birth. I think that’s what we as ‘Right to Lifers’ should advocate.”

“So you want legislation to incentivize birth?” Frank asked. “Don’t you remember the welfare moms of the last half of the last century? They were having babies just for the extra welfare money. The babies weren’t wanted; they were pawns in a welfare scam.”

“Yes, I remember that situation,” Bill said. “But that has largely gone away due to changes in welfare law. I don’t know the details of that, but we certainly don’t hear much about it these days.”

“The point I am trying to make is that right now there are few if any incentives to carry a fetus to birth. The expense of child rearing is borne mainly by the mother and her family. Sure, there’s an income tax deduction, but it’s small. There are also government programs to help low income and disadvantaged women. But what help is there for my grand daughter? It’s far cheaper to have an abortion.”

“So I want the ‘Right to Life’ movement to champion making birth a more attractive option,” I said. “That’s what I think we should stand for. Not only do I think policy and legislation along these lines is achievable, it would be far less adversarial. With such a stance, which includes a legal right to abortion, we might even get support from the Choice people.

“Well, it’s certainly more achievable than an outright ban of abortion,” Rick said. “But it’s really going to be hard to convince our people to accept that abortion should be legal. It can be so ugly. They will point to partial birth abortions and say we can’t allow that.”

“And we shouldn’t,” I said. “I didn’t say I wanted to legalize all abortions. Right now in most states which permit abortion there is a time window when it’s legal. I am for all such limitations that legislatures can agree on. It’s the position of no abortions which I object to. I want to abandon that position and work for incentives to increase births.”

“People know you, Bill,” Rick said. “And they’re going to know that your grand daughter is pregnant. What are you going to say when they ask you about your grand daughter?”

“The same thing I want you to say to your daughters if and when they become pregnant.” I said. “I’m going to say to her that the decision to abort or not is a decision that you and you alone should make, acting on medical advice from your Doctor. I will tell her that you alone know what is best for you and your unborn child. But most importantly, I’ll tell her that I will love you no matter what choice you make.”