TW: This post contains brief references to pregnancy loss
On my morning commute the other day, I took the exit behind a car whose bumper was plastered with ‘Pro-Life’ bumper stickers:
‘Thank your mom for choosing life,’ ‘Choose adoption,’ ‘Life begins at conception.’
You get the gist.
Anyway, we take the exit and turn onto a city street. My workplace it just a few blocks off the highway. To get there, I pass through a school zone.
My Pro-Life friend and I both pass the flashing yellow lights. We both pass the clearly marked ‘20 MPH - School Zone” sign. I assume we both see the children walking up the sidewalk to the elementary school, the yellow buses pulling up to deliver their charges for the day.
I slow to 20 MPH.
This ‘Pro-Lifer’ does not. They scoot right on through that school zone at 33 MPH. I know, because the digits pop up on the screen under the speed camera, positioned right by the flashing yellow lights.
Now, if you claim you’re ‘pro-life,’ but then speed through a school zone?
No, you’re not.
If you claim you’re pro-life, but don’t support paid maternal leave so the mother can bond with the baby and recover physically and mentally from childbirth - no, you’re not.
If you claim to be pro-life, but punish women for miscarrying, shame them for pregnancy complications, or disdain them for pregnancy outside of a stable partnership?
You’re not ‘pro-life.’
You just have a breeding kink.
If you claim to be pro-life, but don’t support easy-to-access, inexpensive healthcare for all children - no, you’re not.
If you claim to be pro-life, but don’t support access to nutritious food for all children, every single day of the year, no matter their race, religion, economic class, or how ‘deserving’ you think their parents are - no, you’re not.
If you claim to be pro-life, but don’t push lawmakers and companies to ban forever chemicals, invest in sustainable technology, and reverse climate change so our children inherit a thriving world of abundance - no, you’re not.
If you claim to be pro-life, but don’t work to ensure every child has access to shelter, warmth, education, health, and safety - no, you’re fucking not.
Because if you won’t even take a minute of your day to slow down past an elementary school? You don’t actually care about children.
You just want to control people and feel smug about it.