This is precisely what I think we are seeing with at least some anti-choice activists. They are in extreme denial when it comes to who gets abortions, why they get abortions, and what abortions mean.
One of the anti-choices caused me more grief than the others. She was a female presenting, 30 something, who told clients that having an abortion would 'irreparably damage' them. She adamantly professed the nature of women to birth babies and used the love of her own two children to prove her argument. When I asked her if she had ever spoken with someone who was happy with their decision to have an abortion she told me that person did not exist and that she could not believe them any way, because she could not imagine not wanting her kids.
Within the anti-choice community privilege shines through as an indicator of worth. As a culture we do not trust teenagers with comprehensive sex-ed, we do not trust poor people with decisions regarding health care, we do not trust queer people to make decisions about their bodies, even to decide their own pronouns. For a white, college educated (she told me she has at least a Bachelors degree) cisgendered person to believe she has a monopoly on truth, is disingenuous at best. And at it's worst perpetuates false ideas of normalcy and valid life experiences.
A great example of this occurred two weekends ago, I captured an interaction between a client walking into EMW and one of our protesters. Here is the transcript of the 30 second interaction.
Support person to the protesters: ...we just got out of the hospital, you all need to mind your own.
Protester: You could go across the street and get a picture of your baby.
Client: Actually I miscarried last night, before I bleed to death, I need to have all of this taken care of.
Protester: The ER is where you need to go, not here.
Client: I've already been to the ER.
Protester: Why did they send you here if the baby is gone? I don't think you are telling the truth; please don't take the life of your baby.
Source: Every Saturday Morning
This incident occurred in Kentucky where hospitals won't perform abortions unless the woman's life is in danger and even then, medical "professionals" can refuse to help on the basis of conscience -- i.e., their desire to place their own religious dogmas ahead of the medical needs of patients. What's more, insurance won't pay for abortions unless the woman is dying -- a miscarriage, like what the woman here experienced, wouldn't count. All of these problems occur because of how abortion has been inappropriately stigmatized by protesters just like the one quoted here.
Anti-choice activists are in denial about what abortions are, why people have abortions, and what abortions mean. This means that they not only fail to help improve our world, but have in fact been actively making it worse for everyone.
Don’t forget though, god loves abortions: http://larianlequella.com/2009/10/god-loves-abortions.shtml By some measures, he aborts up to 70% of all fetuses conceived!
The more significant reality that these control freaks are unable to connect with is that even if you outlaw abortion, women are going to get them ANYWAY, and they will be dangerous, so-called “back-alley” abortions, often performed by inadequately trained people who are motivated more by money than by protecting their “patients”. This practice will endanger BOTH the mother AND the baby.
Jeffrey- Even if they did realize that I doubt it would make much of a difference to them. They want there to be dire consequences for people who go against their childish and petty system of “morality”. If you were to ask them about all of this they would likely assure you that they do care about the suffering that would happen if they really got their way, but like with many other things, what they mean by “caring” is probably far different than what you would mean.
They really *are* in denial: most abortions in the U.S. are performed on christians:
http://www.abortionno.org/Resources/fastfacts.html
[Excerpt]
Who’s having abortions (religion)?
Women identifying themselves as Protestants obtain 37.4% of all abortions in the U.S.; Catholic women account for 31.3%, Jewish women account for 1.3%, and women with no religious affiliation obtain 23.7% of all abortions. 18% of all abortions are performed on women who identify themselves as “Born-again/Evangelical”.