Responding to More Questions About My “Fetus Tunnel Vision” Piece

Last week I posted an article that pro-lifers either loved or hated. I wrote about something I’m calling “Fetus Tunnel Vision,” the inability to see and/or acknowledge human rights injustices without equating or comparing them to abortion.

I responded to a few concerns people had about it a few days ago, but there were a few more really good questions emailed to me and I wanted to share them and my answers with you.

“The problem is that sensitivity can be defined differently by every single person one is trying to reach.  There are always going to be recipients who will have a negative reaction to your message no matter how ‘sensitive’ it is.  You can satisfy some people sometimes but not all the people every time.”

Good point. I’m not saying that we should never say anything that somebody could call insensitive. Clearly some pro-life statements are more sensitive than others though. Maybe sometimes it’s hard to tell. I’m arguing that comparing abortion to 9/11 on the anniversary of 9/11 is clearly insensitive.

“I completely agree that making 9/11 comparisons on 9/11 is insensitive. Would you consider making such comparisons on any other day?”

Fantastic question. There are certainly scenarios where it seems less inappropriate.

Responding to Concerns Regarding My “Fetus Tunnel Vision” Piece

Since posting my article, 4 Reasons Pro-Lifers Need to Stop Doing This I’ve watched the response and engaged some commenters with interest. It’s generally been a great experience, as many pro-life people said they changed their mind about the way they’re going to make comparisons to abortion after reading the article, and it sparked what I expect to be a friendship with an important pro-choice speaker whom I hope to meet this summer.

There were also a lot of people who were honestly confused about a few things. Some of them were nicer than others but in most cases they seemed to be helped after I offered a few clarifications. Below are several of these clarifications, with the objective of making a clearer case against “Fetus Tunnel Vision.”

“Pro-life people are intrinsically weird, because we have something we’re passionate about.”

I am not arguing that pro-life people should avoid every single thing that could be interpreted as “weird.” You’re right. We live in an age where apathy is cool, at least to some people. So if someone thinks I’m weird, the question is, why do they think that?

Fetus Tunnel Vision: 4 Reasons Pro-Lifers Need to Stop Doing This

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes.

4 Reasons Pro-Lifers Need To Stop Doing ThisTrigger warning for those who have experienced sexual trauma. There is also a disturbing image of a man falling from one of the World Trade Center towers.

We have a motto at Justice For All trainings: “DBW. Don’t Be Weird.” We certainly don’t believe that all pro-lifers act weirdly, but most of us have seen well-meaning pro-life people do things that appear odd (at best) to the world around us. If we want to make an impact on how people think, we should avoid being off-putting, or weird, when possible.

One of my colleagues at Students for Life of America recently asked me for an example of pro-lifers doing things that appear weird to our society. The first thing that came to mind was something that my brother Timothy and I call FTV: “Fetus Tunnel Vision.”

fetus tunnel vision
noun
   1. the inability to see and/or acknowledge human rights injustices without equating or comparing them to abortion.

I’ll give you a common example, and then make four arguments that pro-lifers should avoid FTV.

VIDEO: A Good Sound Bite for the Pro-Life Position

“Chaplain John,” a fun-loving prison chaplain who saw me speak at a banquet a few months ago interviewed me for his YouTube series, “Chaplain Chat.” I’ve been posting them this week.

In this last segment, I offer a brief sound bite that helps me explain my basic pro-life views while getting on the right foot with a pro-choice person in front of me.

You can read and memorize that sound bite here.