Estimated read time: 8 minutes.
You’ve likely heard about the documentary that premiered on FX, AKA Jane Roe, claiming to offer the true story of Norma McCorvey, the “Jane Roe” in Roe v. Wade. Pro-life and pro-choice people are interested in this story, regardless of how relevant it actually is (or should be) to our beliefs about abortion. Even if it feels off-topic, we need to be prepared to talk about this, and shifting to another topic too quickly will likely hurt your conversations about abortion.
I’m explaining our main thoughts below but feel free to use these links if you’d prefer to watch or listen to our discussion on the documentary that covers all of the points below, albeit in more detail.
Why does this matter, especially if our views on abortion shouldn’t be influenced by whether Roe was pro-choice or pro-life? The question this documentary poses isn’t what people should believe about abortion, but rather whether the pro-life movement is corrupt. We then need to answer whether it contains an accurate depiction of the modern pro-life movement.
Download Audio MP3 | 01:03:10
After the entire ERI staff watched the “AKA Jane Roe” documentary, we processed our thoughts together and in this nearly unedited discussion, Josh and Rachel offer their analysis of the film, including:
- Why this story is relevant to pro-choice people and shouldn’t be brushed away by pro-life advocates.
- A video editor’s take on whether the documentary was deceptively edited or merely biased.
- Why getting paid speaking fees or through “benevolence gifts” doesn’t prove that your statements are entirely insincere.
- How the labels “pro-life” and “pro-choice” are adding confusion to this particular discussion.
- What we believe is the most plausible explanation for Norma McCorvey’s statements in the documentary.
- Considering several alternative explanations and why they seem less plausible to us.
- Responding to some of the other pro-life and pro-choice reactions to the documentary.
- A few lessons that pro-life advocates should take from this situation.
“AKA Jane Roe” can now be seen on Hulu.
Download Audio MP3 | 01:25:02
Josh Brahm interviews Isaac Saul, political journalist and founder of Tangle, an independent, ad-free, non-partisan politics newsletter that offers both sides of the biggest news stories every day.
They start by discussing Isaac’s background and the experiences that led him to attempt to create a truly non-partisan, fair, political newsletter. They then talk about common problems in the media, how to avoid confirmation bias, and how easy it is to fall into the game of snarky tweets, including Isaac admitting that he had published a snarky tweet from his personal account that morning, which they then analyze. Finally Josh asks Isaac for a list of his favorite sources from both sides of the political aisle for people who want to subscribe to at least one source from the opposite side.
Conversation, on the other hand, is a far more useful skill in persuading people, and that skill is built on kindness, trust, grace, understanding, and, of course, genuinely caring about the other person.
For more of the context of this quotation, visit our blog to read the full article, “Debate vs. Dialogue: How Do They Differ?”:
