Catholic Nun Explains Pro-Life In A Way That Will Stun Many (Especially Republican Lawmakers)
March 7, 2016 by For The People
Finally, a common sense approach to those who claim to be “pro-life.”
With the war on women on full display within the ranks of the Republican candidates for the 2016 election, we thought now might be a good time to remind people of this outstanding common sense approach to those who claim to be “pro-life.”
In one simple quote, Sister Joan Chittister, O.S.B. summed up the hypocrisy in the ‘pro-life’ movement during a 2004 interview with Bill Moyers:
I do not believe that just because you’re opposed to abortion, that that makes you pro-life. In fact, I think in many cases, your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born but not a child fed, not a child educated, not a child housed. And why would I think that you don’t? Because you don’t want any tax money to go there. That’s not pro-life. That’s pro-birth. We need a much broader conversation on what the morality of pro-life is.
This quote applies well to many Republican lawmakers and anti-choice extremists who continue to introduce/pass misogynist laws restricting a woman’s reproductive rights during the current campaign cycle and beyond. At the same time, the GOP works to shut down women’s health clinics, with a special vengeance towards Planned Parenthood (#StandWithPP).
You don’t hear of these Right Wing anti-choice extremists adopting children from unplanned pregnancies. But you do hear of them cutting government programs like school lunches for children, cutting government financial and heath care aid to families who are homeless and/or in need, and blocking free college education.
No, the goals of these hypocrites seem to be more about controlling women’s bodies and women’s futures. It’s good to hear a Catholic nun define GOP double talk so well.
An outspoken advocate for women, Sister Joan Chittister is an author of 50 books and a lecturer. Holding a Ph.D. from Penn State University, she is also a research associate in a division of Cambridge University. Other subjects of her writing includes women in the church and society, human rights, peace and justice, religious life, and spirituality.
She has appeared in the media on numerous shows including Meet the Press, 60 Minutes, Bill Moyers, BBC, NPR, and Oprah Winfrey and you can visit Joan Chittister’s website at Joan Chittister.org.
The photo of Sister Joan Chittister is from her new upcoming book: ‘Joan Chittister: Her Journey from Certainty to Faith by Tom Roberts, due out in September.’
Excerpts of this story were taken from an earlier Daily Kos diary: ‘Anti-Choice Extremists Shut Down Planned Parenthood Website.’
