Reproductive Choice Australia's latest campaign is one which brings a sickening feeling of dismay to the many people who have contacted us about it. Reproductive Choice propose to carry out a flashmob in Melbourne's CBD, wearing t-shirts with the slogan: Abortion, a Fact of Life .
For those who don't know what a flash mob is, it is a group of people who carry out a pre organised form of entertainment in a public space, most often to the surprise and delight of unassuming passers-by. Flash mobs usually consist of some dancing and/or singing or some kind of drama. They can be lots of fun.
Leslie Cannold, a prominent pro-abortion advocate leads the dancing lesson in a YouTube video, where they are working to recruit participants for the flash mob. Leslie Cannold stated in her book, The Abortion Myth, that she had very real concerns that the experiences of women who sought and had abortions were not being heard. Yet it seems that when it comes to the evidence that abortion leaves up to 30% of women suffering serious and prolonged mental health problems, and that many women are having abortions in the absence of genuine and supported alternatives, neither Leslie, nor her organisation are interested in hearing the voices of real women.
Dancing in the streets to celebrate abortion is their answer to these women. Celebrating what for so many women is a tragedy and an unwanted solution to a difficult issue. Shouting down the testimonies of women harmed by abortion at events where they desperately try to have a voice is the answer they give to the women whose rights they espouse to value.
This event serves to minimise, if not dismiss the very real trauma so many women experience when faced with an abortion decision. It makes a mockery of the circumstances so many women find themselves struggling with if they are unexpectedly pregnant and are desperate for support. It shows how little pro abortion advocates really understand what it is they are fighting for, surgical and medical solutions to social problems that make it challenging for women to fully participate in activities of their choosing, whether that be in the home, the workforce or in education.
Instead of lobbying for greater access to childcare, more flexible work practices, less violence toward women, more concern about the potential harm of abortion, they choose to dance in the streets to celebrate the pain their advocacy helps to inflict on women, men and children..
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