Pro-Life for All of Life

For a long time, the term “pro-life” has been synonymous with “anti-abortion”. While some find that this adequately defines the movement, I’ve found myself dissatisfied with the definition. For a while, I have struggled to reconcile the many dimensions of my beliefs: moral, political, and religious. I used to be hesitant to call myself pro-life, as I felt that the movement did not always focus on protecting all life, but only a stage of it. Understanding the consistent life ethic and its goals has been key to understanding what being pro-life really means.

The consistent ethic of life is an ideology centered on the protection of life at all stages. It means the opposition of capital punishment, abortion, euthanasia, and human trafficking. It means fighting for those whose human rights are threatened. It means invoking care for refugees, as well as fighting for racial equality and promoting peace and justice. It means not turning a blind eye to the horrors that humanity faces. The consistent life ethic aims to protect everyone under the law, and seeks an emphasis on the dignity of all.  

The inclusion of all of these dimensions has been something Right to Life has been working on. We’ve put on events centered on prison reform and capital punishment, as well as service events for the elderly and blood drives for patients in need. As our club evolves and we continue to understand how our work can have an impact and how we can help those in need, we hope that our work fairly encompasses the varied issues under the pro-life umbrella.

It’s easy to focus on the issues regarding the start and the end of life, but we must not forget those who come in between. We must fight against the assumption that the protection of life is centered around just one issue. To say that we fight to protect life while only acknowledging one issue would be a great disservice to the pro-life movement. 

Pro-life values should not end in the womb; that’s just where they start.

Adriana Salem (C’23)