A rebuilt, revamped pro-life movement

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fnr

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In an earlier post (forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=1014345), I presented a systematic critique of the pro-life movement’s “Vote for the Court” strategy. Here are my thoughts for redesigning the pro-life movement from the ground up.
  1. Create an independent research organization to fund, publish, and disseminate independent research on Catholic and pro-life health and reproductive topics. Establish a network of pro-life researchers who apply rigorous professional standards for the conduct and publication of research. Current researchers who provide good examples: Richard Fehring (Marquette University), Jonathan Klick (University of Pennsylvania Law School and RAND Corporation), Elard Koch (University of Chile), Petra Frank-Herrmann (University of Heidelberg, Germany), Michael Manhart (Couple-to-Couple League), Marguerite Duane (Georgetown University), April Lind (Park Nicollette Health Partners), Rene Leiva (Ontario Medical Consultants, Ottawa, ON).
  2. Develop evidence-based standards of care and communication materials for emergency pregnancy centers. Subject all educational materials distributed by these centers to independent scientific peer review. Establish standardized surveillance programs and state and national statistical reports.
  3. Hold “get to know you” workshops to discuss interests shared between the pro-life movement and other interest groups, such as mentoring groups, human rights organizations, environmentalists, local food movement, unions, civil rights organizations, anti-human trafficking, etc. Examples of topics of common interest: how to reach prisoners and youth in locations with high rates of violent crime and abortion (with civil rights organizations), how contraceptive hormones may be responsible for declining male sperm counts and early puberty (with environmentalists), how long-acting contraceptive methods are used to facilitate sexual slavery (with anti-human trafficking organizations), economic policies that supports families staying intact (with unions), etc.
  4. Establish policy primers for pro-life advocates to identify which policies have research to demonstrate effectiveness in reducing abortion rates and summarize statistics on abortion rates by state. For example, the fact that emergency contraceptive pills have not been shown to reduce rates of pregnancy or abortion in areas that adopt them (including summaries by pro-contraception researchers like James Trussell). I’d also suggest emphasizing that some NFP methods, such as the symptothermal method, have been demonstrated in long-term studies be as effective (or more so) as artifical contraception at avoiding unintended consequences.
  5. Identify policy-makers at state and local levels responsible for decisions about reproduction and health (for example, county departments of public health, state medical officers, etc.) Canvass state and local health agencies to identify the sources of information on which they rely for policy decisions. Disseminate evidence-based policy statements to state and local health agencies.
  6. Develop evidence-based pro-life materials to supplement existing medical, epidemiological, and nursing educational materials, to address the lack of such materials in current undergraduate and gradate education.
  7. Create late-night “guaranteed ride home” teams in areas with lots of bars and nightlife. Find ways to be in other places where people make bad decisions.
 
I like your thinking. We need to do a lot more than just vote.
 
I like it. Especially number 3. Right now the narrative is that pro-lifers only care about what happens before birth, and while that’s not true for most of the individuals involved in pro-life work, it would be nice for some official pro-life organizations to show they are also concerned about these other issues and consider them important.

Another thing we need to do closely related to this is speak out and condemn any politician that supports offenses against life such as torture, bombing of civilians, or banning refugees based on religion or ethnicity, just like we do when they support abortion. This will give us more credibility and will cause more people to listen to us who otherwise wouldn’t.
 
DaddyGirl said:
What do you mean by “bad decisions”?
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Well, when people get drunk late at night, they often make bad decisions, such as driving while drunk and having drunk sex.

Bars around 2:00 AM on a Saturday night are an obvious target. On college campuses, you might say frat and house parties.

Taking the “bad decisions” universe more broadly, what about half-way houses where people being released from prison stay?
 
It will be a hard row to hoe when it comes to discouraging long acting contraception and sexual slavery has nothing, whatsoever, to do with the it. In first world countries, don’t bring anti contraception rhetoric into the argument, it’s a sure loser with women who are not Catholic ( and also with most Catholics).🤷
 
fnr said:
In an earlier post (forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=1014345), I presented a systematic critique of the pro-life movement’s “Vote for the Court” strategy. Here are my thoughts for redesigning the pro-life movement from the ground up.
  1. Create an independent research organization to fund, publish, and disseminate independent research on Catholic and pro-life health and reproductive topics. Establish a network of pro-life researchers who apply rigorous professional standards for the conduct and publication of research. Current researchers who provide good examples: Richard Fehring (Marquette University), Jonathan Klick (University of Pennsylvania Law School and RAND Corporation), Elard Koch (University of Chile), Petra Frank-Herrmann (University of Heidelberg, Germany), Michael Manhart (Couple-to-Couple League), Marguerite Duane (Georgetown University), April Lind (Park Nicollette Health Partners), Rene Leiva (Ontario Medical Consultants, Ottawa, ON).
  2. Develop evidence-based standards of care and communication materials for emergency pregnancy centers. Subject all educational materials distributed by these centers to independent scientific peer review. Establish standardized surveillance programs and state and national statistical reports.
  3. Hold “get to know you” workshops to discuss interests shared between the pro-life movement and other interest groups, such as mentoring groups, human rights organizations, environmentalists, local food movement, unions, civil rights organizations, anti-human trafficking, etc. Examples of topics of common interest: how to reach prisoners and youth in locations with high rates of violent crime and abortion (with civil rights organizations), how contraceptive hormones may be responsible for declining male sperm counts and early puberty (with environmentalists), how long-acting contraceptive methods are used to facilitate sexual slavery (with anti-human trafficking organizations), economic policies that supports families staying intact (with unions), etc.
  4. Establish policy primers for pro-life advocates to identify which policies have research to demonstrate effectiveness in reducing abortion rates and summarize statistics on abortion rates by state. For example, the fact that emergency contraceptive pills have not been shown to reduce rates of pregnancy or abortion in areas that adopt them (including summaries by pro-contraception researchers like James Trussell). I’d also suggest emphasizing that some NFP methods, such as the symptothermal method, have been demonstrated in long-term studies be as effective (or more so) as artifical contraception at avoiding unintended consequences.
  5. Identify policy-makers at state and local levels responsible for decisions about reproduction and health (for example, county departments of public health, state medical officers, etc.) Canvass state and local health agencies to identify the sources of information on which they rely for policy decisions. Disseminate evidence-based policy statements to state and local health agencies.
  6. Develop evidence-based pro-life materials to supplement existing medical, epidemiological, and nursing educational materials, to address the lack of such materials in current undergraduate and gradate education.
  7. Create late-night “guaranteed ride home” teams in areas with lots of bars and nightlife. Find ways to be in other places where people make bad decisions.
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You have many good points and like Church Soldier comments, “Sounds like you have a mission!” I do think, though, kozlosap makes an important statement:
kozlosap said:
It will be a hard row to hoe when it comes to discouraging long acting contraception and sexual slavery has nothing, whatsoever, to do with the it. In first world countries, don’t bring anti contraception rhetoric into the argument, it’s a sure loser with women who are not Catholic ( and also with most Catholics).🤷
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The contraception stance of the Catholic Church leadership IMO has led to a stalemate in abortion issues. I think there is a feeling among many women that the lines of communication are one-way top-down. Many women ignore the “command” to not use contraceptives. Others have left the Church altogether–they felt driven away because of this gap.

I feel Pope Francis has brought an attitude that the shepherds should listen to the sheep. There can be communication. However, since *Humanae Vitae *has been issued, it is as though leadership does not recognize that women are educated and are also seeking discernment from God. Some women feel called to motherhood, some to career and some to both. It depends on circumstances and couples discerning what they are to do.

NFP is fine for those who want to use it. I agree that chemical contraception in the form of the pill should not be used because of its abortifacient nature. But barrier contraception in the form of a diaphragm with spermicide blocks sperm from fertilizing the egg and therefore is very efficient without being abortifacient. It is also easier on the nerves than NFP. And as laity has said for years, NFP has the same intent as barrier contraceptives–to limit the number of children due to circumstances. This is not just a selfish desire for more material goods. It is about fulfilling our gifts in service to God in various capacities.

I feel you would get more cooperation if the “getting to know you” part of your plan did indeed build mutual respect–a listening by leadership and laity. Can something like you have in mind bring that about?
 
kozlosap said:
It will be a hard row to hoe when it comes to discouraging long acting contraception and sexual slavery has nothing, whatsoever, to do with the it.
Click to expand...
Actually, contraception in general is used to facilitate sex trafficking. A article in the journal Annals of Health Law reported the results of a series of focus groups of sex trafficking survivors in 2012. In the study, the vast majority (>80%) of women who had been trafficked and who responded to birth control questions were using contraception of some type, in addition to abortion. While the percentage actually using IUDs alone for birth control was only 3.4%, IUDs do have a higher up-front cost, so traffickers might choose other means of contraception. However, contact between medical/clinic personnel and the women was frequent. Half of survivors mentioned that doctors had asked about their personal lives, and 19.5% reported that the doctor had a relationship with their pimp.

About 71% of trafficking survivors report having at least one pregnancy (which may be under-reported), with about a fifth reporting five or more pregnancies. More than half report having an abortion and about 30% said that they’d had more than one. Frequently, the women reported that they did not freely choose to have their abortions while being trafficked.

Reference: Lederer, Laura J. and Christopher A. Wetzel. (2014) The Health Consequences of Sex Trafficking and Their Implications for Identifying Victims in Healthcare Facilities. Annals of Health Law 23: 61-91.

ISIS uses contraception to keep maintain its supply of sexual slaves:
nytimes.com/2016/03/13/world/middleeast/to-maintain-supply-of-sex-slaves-isis-pushes-birth-control.html?_r=0
In first world countries, don’t bring anti contraception rhetoric into the argument, it’s a sure loser with women who are not Catholic ( and also with most Catholics).🤷
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I don’t really think we can remove contraception from the argument. One of the problems right now is that the pro-life and NFP movements have not published very much. The “literature” on contraception’s “benefits” is enormous.
 
Abortion and contraception can be two different issues or intersect when it comes to chemical abortifacients. If you want to re-vitalize the pro-life movement, IMHO you have to be able to address all sides. It may be true that sexual slaves are forced into contraception, but your problem there is not the woman using the contraceptives but the people who are holding them against their will, which is a whole different story than someone who takes it on their own power. Slavery is a matter of criminal acts against the women.

In the case of women who take them simply for sexual satisfaction and selfishness, you will have to try to change their worldview. I can’t see where contraception arguments about sexual slavery will change their minds.

In the meantime, there are women who feel called by God to use their education and energies to do God’s work. God’s work for an individual woman may be to have 10 children. However, I truly feel that God may call educated women to be lawyers or doctors or teachers or any type of professional. She may have a few children, but feel that two or three are all she can handle with the other responsibilities. I believe these are the type of women that need communication with the Church, and your re-vamped pro-life plans really need to include this type of woman because she might be able to relate to the selfish woman and help her change her mind about abortion.

I hope you understand my point. In addition, all of us, men and women, need to learn to discern God’s calling for ourselves and respect that. Pope Francis in his exhortation Amoris Laetitia, sec. 37, says the Church Leadership is called to form consciences, not replace them. Discernment is an area where we all need to work together.
 
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