By Judie Brown
Planned Parenthood never ceases to amaze, or perhaps we should say scare, us. The most recent example of its disastrous rhetoric is its use of the phrase “just in case.”
“Just in case” abortion pills is a new pilot project that Planned Parenthood launched in the states of Hawaii and Washington. The point is quite literally to have abortion pills on hand just in case a girl or woman has sex without “proper preparation” and becomes pregnant. At this point, she has no reason to see a doctor, to learn more about her developing baby, or to find if possibly she’s experiencing an ectopic pregnancy; she can simply take these pills to facilitate the elimination of her baby!
According to the Guardian, “Abortion medication in advance has ‘gotten a lot of visibility,’ said Amy Merrill, cofounder of Plan C, an organization that offers information about medication abortion, including on pills in advance. ‘It makes it more known, it makes it more normal, it destigmatizes it.’”
In words designed to convince us, Plan C’s Merrill is suggesting that hype normalizes a chemical designed to end the life of a preborn child without the stigma attached to the words abortion pill. The idea is that once ingesting a chemical is normalized, the women who use it will not be concerned about possible side effects, specifically the chemical action of the pill that ends the life of their baby.
This marketing strategy reminds me of the famous lines from George Orwell’s 1984: “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.”
We could apply Orwell’s words to Plan C. The abortion pill seeks to bring peace to the baby’s mother, though we know this isn’t true peace, as freedom from pregnancy is enslavement to abortion. And ignorance about this truth only strengthens the deceivers.
In a world where few discuss the results of ending a pregnancy in terms of killing a person simply because she has not yet been born, Orwell is spot on!
And of course, because Plan C is available by mail, this puts the killer pills right where many expectant mothers want them, just in case. But there are consequences. The Lozier Institute, for one, is speaking out loudly and clearly, most recently stating: “The provision of abortion drugs outside of the formal U.S. healthcare system could be characterized as the wild west, as almost zero safeguards exist for women ordering abortion drugs from international online organizations, e-commerce websites, or community networks. However, even telehealth providers operating within the U.S. healthcare system do not provide the type of oversight typically associated with telemedicine or even telehealth services.”
Whoa!
In case it has not occurred to folks, the ingesting of this drug without physician involvement is a sure recipe for illness, suffering, and of course death for the baby. These unregulated pills have consequences. Mothers may well suffer serious consequences not only of a physical nature but of a psychological nature as well. This is so because in our haste to condone promiscuity and abortion, the culture has lost sight of one single truth: Nature never errs, but man is constantly blundering.
“Just in case you die, baby” should not be the cultural stigma of our day. Rather, it should be a cause of concern and hopefully inspiration to turn away from the deadly mantra that shrouds Planned Parenthood’s thoughts about pregnancy. Instead, turning toward chastity enables us to teach our children the wonderful news contained in Saint John Paul II’s Theology of the Body.
The pontiff
teaches that God’s love is manifested through the creation of our bodies, that our bodies are good, and that what we do with them matters. According to John Paul II, when we live as God intends according to the nuptial meaning of our bodies, man becomes “capable of expressing the love with which the man-person becomes a gift, thus fulfilling the deep meaning of his being and his existence.”
This is God’s gift to us as a foreshadowing of something greater. This foreshadowing shows the love He has for us and the communion we will experience when we reach heaven.
Most importantly, John Paul II is saying that this self-giving love is the meaning of our existence!
The use and distribution of abortion pills is antithetical to this self-giving love. But though our culture seems to be in dire straits, parents can successfully guide their children with the use of wisdom from programs such as the Culture of Life Studies Program, which teaches the sanctity of life to kids from preschool through high school.
We conclude with this thought. Just in case you wish to live your life fully and with the graces God makes available to you, choose the road less traveled. It may not be popular, but it is most assuredly worth every second.