By Carrie Gress
The abortion debate is heating up again with the Supreme Court’s acceptance of the Mississippi case challenging Roe v. Wade. Already, the fever-pitched rhetoric that has been slung against pro-lifers for fifty years is being carted out … again. “Women’s future will be over,” “Women will be saddled with children they don’t want,” “My body, my choice.” And on and on and on, while they brandish wire hangers. So tired and yet so successful. The fear mongering continues to work or they would find a new tactic.
But part of their success isn’t just the slogans — tired as they are — but the trappings. Celebrities, politicians, journalists make it clear that without abortion, we can only be headed to The Handmaid’s Tale. The tidy fear-mongering narrative, the perfectly coiffed hair, the manicured hands, the on-trend fashions, all speak a convincing language of authority and truth. But at some point, we need to pull back the curtain a bit more and expose the lies delivered by the silver-tongued and perfectly groomed.
The Real Face of “Choice”
My 10-year-old daughter and I have been reading an intense tween mystery series set in ancient Rome. A vicious slave trader who specializes in kidnapping and selling his booty to the far ends of the earth terrorizes the population. Even at the distant sight of his distinctive yellow and white striped sails makes hair stand on end.
The pirate, a true scourge of the sea, wears his moral decrepitude on his body with years of hard living and fighting — a missing ear, a broken nose, scars from sword fights. He is frightening to look at. The children in the story know to avoid him at any cost. If they don’t, they too will be wrenched from their families, shackled, and enslaved in a faraway land, at best. The alternative is a swift shove into the inky black water, hands tethered, with no headstone to mark their grave, no message to their mother that they are gone forever.
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