There may have been some women there who have had one, and I'm sure it would hurt to be called that; in fact, I think they would stop listening. Also, there might be men whose wives, or daughters, or girl friends (or even mothers) had had an abortion, and they would be offended by the label murderer applied to women they loved or cared about. People stop listening when they get offended.
A also thought that he had not prepared the speech for us. I thought it was a speech he had given many times before, and he probably didn't change it or adapt it to our church congregation. In our congregation, the issue is a divisive one. It would maybe have been better if he had found that out and then adapted the speech for an audience not already completely persuaded. He talked in a sort of confidential manner sometimes that implied he thought we all agreed with everything he was saying. But not everyone does in our church. Take me, for instance. I'm not saying I'm "for" abortion. I'm not -- but I don't think a woman who has been forcibly raped by a stranger or by someone she doesn't even like should have to bear that person's child. I don't think young girls who get molested by their...
He didn't even talk about that. And he didn't show any sympathy at all for women who are in the predicament of an unwanted pregnancy. Not all women who have unwanted pregnancies are immoral. He also slurred feminists, which I found offensive. Where would women be without the
feminist movement and women who were willing to fight for
equal rights? Most of his arguments were emotional and not logical -- the poor babies being killed, for example.
A guess because church is an appropriate
place to discuss moral issues, that the topic of
abortion was appropriate. But none of his arguments were new, and frankly, as soon as I knew what he was going to talk about, I wished I had stayed at home. I would have preferred something more uplifting. I would say that overall the speech was effective only for those people who already agreed on the issue. It maintained their opposition to abortion. But for those who have doubts and "gray areas" where the issue does not seem so clear, the speech went nowhere. The delivery was excellent. He has obviously practiced. But he sure didn't adapt it to his audience.
