Guest Opinion: Who Cares about Abortion?

I experienced a miraculous conversion thirteen years ago. I am no longer a militant, pro-abortion, anti-Catholic feminist.

DENVER (Catholic Online) - I attended the annual March for Life in Washington, DC this year for the first time. I marched with the Silent No More Awareness campaign and gave my testimony with hundreds of other women in front of the Supreme Court building.

The Silent No More women led the march and were the first to arrive at the Supreme Court. When we got there, standing up against the black fence surrounding the building, I saw five women holding pro-abortion signs. I looked at these women. I wanted to see their faces. You see, I used to be one of them.

I was a militant, pro-abortion, anti-catholic feminist who had experienced two abortions of my own. I was a member of NOW, NARAL and I volunteered at Planned Parenthood. I participated in marches and protests wearing my "pro-choice" button. I screamed at pro-lifers who I believed were religious fanatics. I assumed these "religious fanatics" just wanted to keep women barefoot and pregnant. I also believed the Catholic Church (who in my opinion was the worst of the religious fanatics) was full of evil, misogynistic men who oppressed women. I would argue vehemently with anyone who disagreed with me.

A rush of memories greeted me as I watched those five women standing against that fence. While I gave my testimony and told the crowd a little bit about my former self. It struck me. Feminists groups do not care about women. They care about abortion.

Then I remembered the Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus' time. These men didn't want to see the truth of who Jesus was because then they would have to give up their power, position and status and their view of things. That was more than they could handle.

It is really no different today. Feminists groups do not want to see the truth of how abortion hurts women. They don't want to see or hear from all the women who have suffered from their "choice". They go to great lengths to discount our stories of pain and suffering. Even more, they are willing to totally disregard evidence from studies that reveal the physical and emotional impact of abortion. What allows them to turn a blind eye?

To acknowledge the women who've suffered from abortion, feminists would have to admit that abortion isn't good for women. Where would that leave them? Planned Parenthood would have to shut down. Groups like NOW and NARAL would no longer have a purpose and would cease to exist. Laws would have to be changed. Politicians would have to be reeducated. The feminists groups would lose all their control and political power and that scares them. It is that fear that keeps them entrenched in their mistaken beliefs. It is that fear that drives them to crush anyone who tries to persuade them differently.

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The feminist's very identity is wrapped up in abortion, not women's rights or welfare. For example, do you ever hear from a feminist group when women are being forced to have abortions against their will in China? Do you ever hear from NOW or NARAL when only baby girls are aborted in China or India? Do you ever hear from them when women here in this country are coerced or pressured by their employers, husbands, parents or boyfriends to have an abortion? Did you hear from one feminist group when Laura Smith of MA was killed by an abortionist?

The building evidence of feminists' myopic view is their complete denial of a link between abortion and breast cancer. According to Karen Malec the president of the Coalition on Abortion/Breast Cancer (www.AbortionBreastCancer.com) abortion is responsible for up to 10,000 cases of breast cancer yearly! Yet, we do not hear a peep from any feminist group on how this deadly disease is destroying women's lives. In fact, they go out of their way to discredit any research that shows such a link. This truth is an inconvenience for them.

The ultimate feminists' hypocrisy became clear during the last presidential election. Why weren't the feminists thrilled with the selection of Sarah Palin for Vice-President on a major party ticket? Sarah Palin is a working woman with children whose husband shares in many of the domestic responsibilities. She exemplifies the feminists' dream woman; a smart, powerful, educated woman who has reached the upper echelons of politics.

Yet the feminists hated her. Why? Because she believes in the sanctity of life and chose not to abort her Down's syndrome baby. So the feminists excoriated her. They made fun of her; she wasn't a "real" woman.

If feminists truly cared about women they would have supported Sarah Palin in her "choice" to keep her baby and held her up as a role model for young women. They would have used her achievements as an example of how women can attain power, position, and equality.

Many people ask me how can we talk to these militant feminists? They want to know how can we change their minds?

My answer is hard to hear. I always tell people talking to militant feminists is not productive. They won't listen to you and in fact, they become more angry and defensive. I know this because that is how I reacted whenever anyone tried to talk to me during my militant feminist years. Many of these women are very wounded from things in their past as I was. They take this anger and they put it into the feminist movement. It gives them a voice in which they feel empowered and fueled by their anger.

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So what can we do? I tell people who ask me how to get through to militant feminists is this: pray for them.

I experienced a miraculous conversion thirteen years ago. I am no longer a militant, pro-abortion, anti-Catholic feminist. I have repented of my sins and found healing and forgiveness in the Catholic Church. My conversion was a direct result of prayer. Somebody was praying for me.

It is time to pray for the conversion of all pro-abortion, militant feminists. Pick one day a week to fast and pray for their conversion or you can do an hour of adoration where you pray for a particular militant feminist. Offer up a rosary or a chaplet of Divine Mercy for these women. Our Lord and Our Lady have always said how important and necessary prayer is to obtain in accordance with God's will the things that we ask.

Many saints have expressed the need for continual and concerted prayer. "If our prayer is resolutely united with that of Jesus, in trust and boldness as children, we obtain all that we ask in his name, even more than any particular thing: the Holy Spirit himself, who contains all gifts"(CCC 2741). Your prayers are very important and they work and these women desperately need your prayers. Look at me; I'm the perfect example of the power of prayer. So please let's all pray, pray, pray.

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Jane Brennan, MS is the author of the book Motherhood Interrupted and is the Silent No More Awareness Campaign regional coordinator in Colorado. Jane can be contacted through her web-site at www.motherhoodinterrupted.com She resides in Colorado with her husband and four daughters.

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