Actress Jane Fonda recently raised some eyebrows with her comments on ABC’s The View. When asked what abortion advocates should do in response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade besides marching and protesting, Fonda responded, “Well, I thought of murder.” Amid the awkward laughter amongst the other ladies, a few of them tried to cover it up, saying, “She’s just kidding.” Yet, Fonda turned to the other ladies with a look that spoke the message—“You think I’m kidding. But I’m not.” The crowd erupted in laughter.
In response to the backlash that she received for her comments, Fonda clarified that her comment was a joke, saying, “While women’s reproductive rights are a very serious issue and extremely important to me, my comment on The View was obviously made in jest.”
But wait a minute! Why should Fonda have to clarify her comment? Why couldn’t she be serious? Why were all the other women uncomfortable with Fonda’s statement such that they had to cover it up by saying she’s kidding?
If the mantra of the abortion movement is “a woman’s right to choose,” shouldn’t Fonda’s “right” to choose to murder pro-lifers be respected? Given the abortion creed, it should!
How dare the women on The View not tolerate a woman’s choice to kill innocent pro-lifers? At the heart of their abortion creed is a woman’s right to kill innocent human beings in the womb. There’s a bit of cognitive dissonance here.
Moreover, doesn’t the contemporary view of tolerance accept all lifestyle choices as equal and valid? Interestingly, Fonda’s suggested lifestyle choice of killing innocent pro-lifers is not a lifestyle choice that’s accepted as equal and valid.
Someone might respond, “But that’s a lifestyle choice that unjustly harms an innocent human being.” Well, this brings us back to the real question at hand: what is a fetus? Given that a fetus is an innocent human being (see the above links), abortion by definition is an infliction of unjust harm.
The bottom line is this: Fonda’s suggestion of “murder” shouldn’t be that big of deal for abortion advocates. If one group of innocent human beings can be killed, then there’s nothing in principle to stop the killing of another group of innocent human beings.
For a moment, the mask of the abortion logic was pulled off. But lest its absurdity sink in for people, the cloak of “jest” had to be thrown over it. Let’s hope that for some the mask was pulled off long enough.
***This was originally published by Catholic Answers Indulgences on March 15, 2023.