The sudden and dramatic takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban has stunned the world. In the aftermath of the political upheaval, abortion activists have tried to falsely claim that Pro-Lifers are equivalent to the Taliban. As crass and inappropriate as the claims are, they are in line with similarly baseless attacks by abortion activists. While trying to distract from the preborn lives at stake, abortion activists reveal their true motives with their disingenuous attacks.
In mid-August tweet, MSNBC host Joy Reid wrote that the Taliban gaining control is a “cautionary tale for the U.S. She claimed in America we have “our own far religious right dreaming of a theocracy that would impose a particular brand of Christianity, drive women from the workforce and solely into childbirth, and control all politics.” As several people tweeted in reply, Reid was effectively accusing her fellow Americans of being like the Taliban because they disagree with her politically.
This is the real-life Handmaid's Tale. A true cautionary tale for the U.S., which has our own far religious right dreaming of a theocracy that would impose a particular brand of Christianity, drive women from the workforce and solely into childbirth, and control all politics. https://t.co/R1lSCSUVwv
— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid ? (@JoyAnnReid) August 14, 2021
Reid did not specify which group she was implying was like the Taliban, but others were more explicit. In an op-ed on the MSNBC website, Dan Obeidallah accused American Christians of being like the Taliban specifically for their Pro-Life views. He claimed that some Christians have “a narrow reading of their religious beliefs” and want to make their “religious beliefs into the law of the land.”
Obeidallah went on to cite opposition to abortion as proof that Christians want to impose their religious beliefs on the nation. His position is ludicrous. Being Pro-Life is not a strictly religious position but one supported by science. The fact that Life begins at conception is a scientific fact and not a religious belief.
Furthermore, Obeidallah’s attempt to equate being Pro-Life with being in the Taliban is absurd and offensive. While the Taliban seek totalitarian control and total subjugation of women in their society, Pro-Lifers seek to protect Life. The two ends could not be more different.
In Texas, abortion activists have also compared Pro-Lifers to the Taliban for passing the Pro-Life Heartbeat Act, which protects preborn babies from the violence of abortion from the time their heartbeat is detectable. The law, which goes into effect September 1, has outraged abortion activists. In a letter in the Houston Chronicle, one abortion activist wrote, “This law [the Pro-Life Heartbeat Act]is what we might expect from the lowest intellects in the Taliban.” The writer went on to say that in the Taliban-controlled state “the war on women is never-ending” and claimed that Pro-Life laws are just as oppressive.
Abortion activists have become so convinced of their own rhetoric that they seem to believe their own lies. Abortion is not health care, and abortion is not necessary for the free existence of women in society. Abortion is nothing other than the taking of human Life. Whether in the womb or outside the womb, a child has the Right to Life and that right should be recognized in the law and protected.
The most obvious proof of the stark differences between Pro-Lifers and the Taliban is seen in the actions taken. Writing for LifeNews, Bill Donohue notes, “The Taliban are known to kill pregnant women such as Masooma, who was dragged out of her house in 2019, taken to a Taliban court, shot dead, and had her corpse, and that of her baby, thrown into an open field. Her crime? She criticized the Taliban for committing atrocities.”
Responding to the MSNBC pundits, Lara Trump told Fox and Friends, “Let me just remind people that the Taliban is a barbaric terrorist organization who treats women as second-class citizens, subhuman even.” She continued, “We saw a woman murdered in broad daylight the other day because she didn’t have her head covered. Yet writers are trying to compare that to Pro-Life Republicans who are actually trying to save a life, trying to prevent the termination of a life? Wow, that is quite a stretch.”
Pro-Lifers, on the other hand, have provided resources and options to families in crisis, adopted children born into difficult circumstances, supported education for pregnant and parenting students, and passed laws that protect innocent human Life. To compare Pro-Lifers to the Taliban is insulting to people who value Life, and such comparisons make a mockery of the real suffering and injustice suffered at the hands of a radical ideology.