League Executive Director Ann Scheidler submitted the following letter to the Chicago Tribune‘s “Voice of the People” section in response to a column by Mary Schmich:
Mary Schmich (“Coming to grips with abortion’s new vocabulary,” Feb. 18) has joined the chorus of abortion supporters who think you can have it all—respect for the value of the unborn baby and protection of the absolute right of a woman to destroy that baby for any reason.
Now that it is clear that the majority of Americans are uncomfortable with abortion on demand, the “pro-choice” community is scrambling to find an acceptable position. It cannot be done because the “choice” involved is the death of a child. Advocating the death of children will never resonate well with the American people. We are fundamentally pro-child.
The search for “common ground” based on the promotion of birth control is equally futile. Birth control is simply one of the tools in the campaign to divorce sexual intimacy from the biological fact of reproduction. It results in more irresponsibility, not less. The moral position Schmich is trying to access demands respect for the child in the womb and respect for the proper role of sex.
The champions of women’s rights would do well to reject abortion, as their predecessors did, and become advocates of women and children. It is possible to love them both.
Respectfully,
Ann Scheidler
Executive Director
