To the “born again” woman featured in the Indiana Daily Student front page story “Born Again,” by Erica Gibson Oct. 28, who prays outside of Planned Parenthood: please reconsider.
Though you have undertaken a spiritual journey towards salvation, many do not require or desire a similar calling of their own, and forge their own paths that do not include the divine or theology.
Among them are the women that you encounter when you’re praying outside Planned Parenthood, channeling some higher power in order to justify the moral judgment you maintain when you imply that women who seek abortions are sinners.
First and foremost, I would like you to consider that many women who seek out Planned Parenthood for health care are not looking to undergo an abortion, as they have proved time and again that many of their patients simply require screening for cervical cancer, testing for sexually transmitted diseases, medication for urinary tract infections or access to contraception.
It’s not unreasonable to request from you and other pro-life protestors or interventionists leave them in peace to seek out the care that they need.
I will also have you note that Planned Parenthood primarily aids working-class individuals who cannot afford health care procedures or consultations from any other health center in their area.
You can deduce from this information that going to Planned Parenthood isn’t a choice, it’s a last resort — the only option for hundreds of patients who virtually have nowhere else to go.
You might be praying for patients who maintain pro-life values or beliefs as well, or are ambivalent about the issue of abortion one way or another.
You are making no progress there by bothering patients whose lives will remain unchanged by your presence beyond a sensation of mild annoyance at having to encounter yet another zealot with signs.
Furthermore, if you truly desire above all else to influence women for the better in considering their reproductive options, you can engage in a rational dialogue with them without belittling them or attempting to undermine their choices.
If you were to take my advice and initiate open discourse with them, it would be most productive to remain receptive and as compassionate as possible, as you cannot deduce one’s financial, personal, psychological, social or emotional turmoil by their mere presence at a women’s clinic.
If prayer is truly your method of choice in making a difference in this issue, I would recommend praying at home where you would be in no way potentially endangering, unsettling or devastating the mental state of the women you claim to be protecting.
Arielle Soussan
IU Student
