This afternoon, state senator Wendy Davis (D-TX)—known for opposing a common ground limit to abortion past 20 weeks in Texas—spoke at the National Press Club luncheon. Davis centered her speech on a laudable theme: the power of one’s voice. She stressed the importance of “speaking for those who can’t speak for themselves, and of being true to what they would say.”
But, interestingly enough, Davis blatantly disregards her own motto. Late-term abortions involve two people: the mother and the baby. Davis ignores both.
She purports, “Women were turned away, and unable to give their voice on a decision that would have a very large impact on their lives.” Yet, at least five national polls—Quinnipiac, National Journal, Huffington Post, NBC/Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post/ABC News —all found that a plurality or majority of Americans support limiting abortion after 20 weeks gestation, and that women support the measure in higher numbers than men.
Whether or not Davis herself believes that killing a 20 week old baby capable of feeling pain should be legal, polls prove that most women do not believe it should be. Davis claims that women’s “voices are too often drowned out by people who are in power.” By fighting so forcefully against a law that more women support than oppose, Davis herself is acting as the agent drowning out the voices of women.
Davis also discounts the voices of the unborn victims of abortion. She continuously reiterates that denying a voice for a segment of our population is one of society’s greatest ills. Yet, Davis conveniently fails to mention over 50 million babies that have been aborted since Roe v. Wade. They have not just been denied a voice, but an entire life.
America has spoken, and their choice is clear. They want legislation that protects women from the Gosnell-style abortion clinics endemic to America; they want to protect the most vulnerable members of society from the barbaric late-term abortion industry; they want to be heard and listened to. Davis has done anything but that. She has used the Texas abortion bill as a political maneuver to obtain quick stardom. So I ask you, Mrs. Davis, please hear my voice and the voices of the plurality of women and children who have expressed similar sentiments: stop subjecting women and children to dangerous abortion practices, and respect our rights to speak for ourselves.
