My Encounter with Planned Parenthood Supporters

Planned Parenthood of AZ held a "Stop the War Against Women" rally (*groan*) at the State Capitol today, so Arizona Right to Life asked for people to come and stage a counter-protest. I went, as did Kara, and here are my reflections on the event.

There were a lot more abortion supporters than pro-lifers there, but I think that's because PP had a lot more planning time (and they're also better funded -- I'm willing to be that a lot of the people there were employees). The vast majority of PP supporters seemed to be elderly women. There were some younger women, a few men, and a group of teens, but I'd estimate that 70-80% were retirees. Check out this article about the event, for example:

"Women's rights have been part of my life forever," said Donna Ellis, 69....

Malinda Briggs, 63, of Tucson, said...

Here are some pictures of the PP crowd:




(the signs read "No Laws on Our Bodies" and "Hands off My Womb"



In contrast, here's a group picture of some of the Arizona Right to Life crowed (this was at the very end of the rally so many people had already left):

Gabe and I are in the front row, next to Kara and her girls!

Pro-abortion supporters in person seem to be just as ignorant as pro-abortion supporters online. They kept chanting "Our bodies, our choice." When I would challenge this assumption with "It's a CHILD, not a choice," one response was, "No, it's an EMBRYO."

Last time I checked, an embryo was just the scientific term for a child in a certain stage of development, just like zygote, blastocyst, fetus, neonate, adolescent, etc.

I kept asking one lady why she thought that anyone had the right to kill an innocent human being, and all she would (could?) say in reply was, "It's a CHOICE. It's a CHOICE." She had the gall to say that we need "choice" in this country so we don't become like China and have forced abortions. When I told her that 60% of all abortions in this country were forced or coerced, she didn't believe me and demanded to know where my data was from. I told her to visit http://theunchoice.com, but I doubt she'll stop drinking the PP Kool-Aid long enough to do so.

When I asked why one human being has the right to kill another, or why human rights were bestowed based on location or stage of development, she refused to answer me. She just kept repeating, "It's a choice."

Of course, I also got the typical, "Abortion is a religious issue. There's separation of church and state" comment from one bitter old lady. (That was my impression of her - she was old, and her facial expression was very bitter.) This comment came despite the fact that I had not once brought up any argument pertaining to religion. I told her that abortion was a human rights issue, not a religious issue. I also told her about SecularProLife.org, the Atheist and Agnostic Pro-Life League, and Pro-Life Pagans. Her response? "Abortion is a religious issue. There's separation of church and state."

*sigh*

Another PP supporter had the gall to lecture me about bringing my infant son with me; she said all the shouting (by their side!) and the sun were bad for him. Seriously, lady? You're standing there advocating for the murder of unborn children and you're telling me how to parent? If I'd chosen to have an abortionist dismember him in the womb you wouldn't bat an eye, but now you think it's bad that I have him out in the sun, and around loud people?!

I guess they only care about children after they're born. (Hmmm, where have I heard that before...?)

I also had several of the PP supporters say things like, "I hope you support education reform and funding for women in crisis." Um, yeah, of course I do. Like I wrote yesterday, the myth that pro-lifers only care about unborn children can be easily refuted.

One guy kept repeating The Lord's Prayer over and over. I was tempted to ask him if he'd ever read the part of the Bible that said, "Thou shalt not murder."

Another PP supporter asked me if I was against death penalty. I said, "I am, but surely you can see the difference between a convicted felon and an innocent unborn child." Her response was, "They're not innocent."

Yes. That's what she said. They're not innocent. Apparently unborn children maliciously hijack a woman's uterus and there's nothing she can do about it. *facepalm* What, does she think they wear little T-shirts that say "Occupy Womb Street" while they're in there?

It was rather depressing to see so many misguided, deluded people, but it was encouraging to see that most of them were elderly women, as mentioned above. I'm sure AZRTL could have put together a larger protest if they'd had more time, but it was organized via Facebook with only a day or two of notice. I should've invited the PPers out to the Phoenix March for Life in two weeks!