Abortion and Being Known for What You Are Against

It’s common to chide those who emphasize negative issues with an idiom: “You want to be known for what you are for, not for what you are against.” That sentiment is not without merit—if the only thing you do is point out problems but never offer solutions or better alternatives you will not be as effective in producing change. Additionally, there is a certain attractiveness to offering a positive viewpoint. Yet there may be times when it is sufficient to be known for what you are against.

There is an effort underway among abortion advocates to rebrand the pro-life movement as “anti-abortion.” Sometimes that effort seeks to argue that the movement is not truly pro-life (though typically those arguments are flawed). Often the effort is simply an attempt to change the optics: rather than people being for something (pro-life) they are only against something (anti-abortion).

But at times it is more important to be known for being against something than being for something. There is no organization named MIFOCS (Mothers In Favor Of Children Surviving) but there is one named MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving). Why? Because these mothers care about their children surviving, and they recognize that drunk driving is both one of the biggest dangers for children on the road and one of the ones that should be most easily remedied. We should be able to take steps to drastically reduce drunk driving, which in turn should drastically reduce deaths of children in traffic accidents.

People in the pro-life movement want to stop children dying before birth, and they recognize that elective abortion is both one of the biggest causes of death before birth and one that should be most easily remedied. We should be able to take steps to drastically reduce abortions, which in turn should drastically reduce the deaths of children before they are born.

So is it a problem to be anti-abortion? No, no more a problem than to be anti-rape, anti-theft, anti-abuse, or being opposed to any other significant evil. No one needs to be ashamed of being known for being against abortion.