To those who participated in Silent Solidarity 10/21/08

Let me preface this note by saying that I respect your right to participate in such an event and respect that you are getting involved in a cause you believe in.

Now let's get down to business.

I do not know the motivation behind your decision to participate. For some of you, it is certainly a religious stand and I do not begrudge your freedom to express your religious beliefs. I respect those of you who have truly thought about the issue of abortion and have made a conscientious decision to hold the views that you do. Remarks in this note are not primarily directed toward you. I believe that the best way to resolve the issue is constructive discussion between those of differing opinions.

The aforementioned group I hold in esteem. Some other members of the conservative community do not show such tolerance, however. Believe it or not, those with pro-choice beliefs suffer considerable discrimination from those on the other side, however much organizations want to promote the idea of "anti-Christian hate". I have lost track of the number of times we have been denigrated as murderers and baby-killers. We are stereotyped as having no morals, as if conservative Christians were granted authority to self-righteously judge the values of all other people. The very terms "pro-life" and "pro-abortion" themselves have highly insulting implications. Am I "pro-death" if I support a woman's right to choose an abortion as an option of last resort? Am I anti-life? Because a majority of this country supports legal abortion (with varying degrees of restrictions) and by your standards, this country as a whole is "pro-death" or "anti-life".

Barack Obama said on 5 October 2004 at Benedictine University that "No one is pro-abortion". Think about that for a moment. That's right. Contrary to what some on the right may believe, we do not want more abortions. We do not want abortion to become a form of birth control. How many abortions would you like to be carried out in America? Zero? That's what I thought, because that's what I would like as well. That's what Bill Clinton said some years ago as he reprimanded a crowd of pro-choice supporters who cheered a legal victory. Let me repeat. NO ONE IS PRO-ABORTION.

We all share a goal of reducing the need for a woman to have an abortion. We all would love to live in a country where no vulnerable woman is pressured into having unprotected sex. There are just differing approaches on how to best reduce the number of abortions: through education and aid, or through a legal ban. You must understand this if there is to be a viable effort to reduce the number of abortions, we must understand each other. There are those on my side of the fence who do not care for the opinions of others, just as some people on your side. I disown those individuals. As much as I may disagree with you, I will show you respect and try to win you over through civil discussion. But if you call pro-choicers baby-killers and try to claim moral superiority, I can not reason with you. If you think we want abortions to be as widespread as the pill, I can not reason with you. While I respect the right of Silent Solidarity students to hold events, I cannot give credence to the actions of many of the participants. I am sorry for those of you who are not guilty of the accusations I have made, there are just too many among you who are. I cannot help but view the protest as a slight against the pro-choice community, despite the noble intentions of some of you.

Thank you for taking the time to read my note. Hopefully, this will clarify some misconceptions and move us further in the quest to reduce the number of abortions to zero.