Leftists are not in the habit of expressing gratitude. Few things pierce their armor of disgruntlement with their fellow Americans.
For what can you possibly be grateful if you believe your homeland was founded on terrorism and genocide, your fellow citizens are racist and genocidal, and Orange Men still roam the land? Men still exist, capitalists are ruining the planet, and carnivores still enjoy their food.
America is a hellscape. For what could one possibly be thankful? Thanksgiving? Why?
Answer: abortion. The right to kill not one, but multiple children in the womb. For that alone, the world is made right.
This is the Thanksgiving message from the Left-wing magazine The Nation. Published Thanksgiving morning, the message is one of both hatred for America and gratitude for the ability to have sex without consequences. The author, Nikiya Natale is unabashed about embracing abortion as a form of birth control–she celebrates not one but multiple abortions.
This time of year is… complicated. For many people, this season calls for reflection and gratitude. This year I find myself reflecting not only on all the people I love and cherish but also on the outcomes and impact of the midterm elections, and on why our nation celebrates the complicated holiday of Thanksgiving at all.
This holiday is founded on the unforgivable genocide of Native Americans, and my commitment to justice for all people makes it difficult for me to celebrate things I am thankful for. And the harsh reality is that the utter disregard for all Indigenous people in the 1800s fuels the same systems of white supremacy that dehumanize all of us today. Black lives are taken by the police and the prison-industrial complex, any sense of LGBTQ+ peace and tranquility has been obliterated by gun violence and hate, and, ultimately, the small promise of abortion access guaranteed by Roe v. Wade was stripped away by an illegitimate Supreme Court.
When I look at the state of this nation, the anger piles up, and my gratitude is depleted.
We get it. America sucks. Of course we could point out that if you focus exclusively on the horrors that have been committed over the millennia, every nation sucks. As is every human being, if they are defined by the worst actions of their ancestors. We are all descended from predators who likely committed horrific acts.
Leftist can hang every crime of your ancestors around your neck, as long as they choose to. They may forgive you your original sin as long as you embrace their every whim, but woe to you if you don’t.
One of the characteristics of the Left is that in rejecting Christianity it also has rejected mercy, at least for the people they choose to hate. Which is almost everybody.
Nikiya, though, has found at least one thing for which to be grateful.
And yet, gratitude is what I am searching for in this moment. I am grateful to spend the long weekend with my young son, who is here because I was able to plan a pregnancy when I was ready to parent. I am grateful to have accessed my abortions in Texas while it was still legal in the state, and that my multiple abortion experiences now guide my work.
When I express this gratitude for my abortions, sometimes, I and other abortion storytellers at We Testify, which is an organization dedicated to the leadership and representation of people who have abortions, are met with questions and chiding from family members or loved ones who believe that we shouldn’t “celebrate” or be “thankful” for our abortions. “I’m pro-choice, but it’s nothing to celebrate,” they say.
But I am thankful for both of my abortions. I am thankful that I didn’t want to be a parent then, so I didn’t have to be a parent then….
And it’s not just me. Many people who have abortions celebrate their experience. And since we at We Testify know this time of year can be especially difficult for people who’ve had abortions—who want to feel love and acceptance from their families, but who may not receive that validation—my colleagues and I are sharing appreciation for our abortions. No matter if it’s their first abortion or fourth, people should be supported in whatever they decide, every time.
One doesn’t get two abortions due to mere accidents. And one does not celebrate something if it was the result of a morally wrenching should searching. This is the result of a prioritizing of oneself over others.
Most Americans are at least somewhat pro-choice. Generally based upon a balancing of moral choices, and a gut sense that a fetus at an early state of development is not recognizably human in any meaningful sense. They may or may not be right, and most pro-choice people and they ultimately agree with the sentiment “I’m pro-choice, but it’s nothing to celebrate.” They are uncomfortable because they have consciences.
Not the “We Testify” crowd. They revel in their abortions. They embrace them as expressions of their self-worth. They believe that asking people–or at least asking them–to consider their choices in light of consequences to others is oppression. They are narcissists. And it is that narcissism that The Nation, the premier magazine of the Left, celebrates as well.
Think I am too unkind? Here is why Savannah Williams describes her own gratitude for having a human fetus removed from her body:
When I think about how far I’ve come and the things I’ve been able to do—such as finishing college and starting my small business—I am grateful that I was able to do them without having to worry about making ends meet and struggling to care for two small children whom I wasn’t ready for. I am thankful for the freedom of self. Some people may call this selfish, but I don’t think it is. I am able to care for myself and live free from anxiety and parts of my life that I have needed to leave behind. I have deep gratitude that I was able to make a decision that was good for me. I felt compelled to have my abortions, not because of what I thought other people might think of me, but because it was what I needed to do. I am grateful for the bravery I showed myself.
I. I. I. Myself. In one sentence she refers to herself 7 times. “Freedom of self.” “Care for myself.” “Good for me.” “I am grateful for the bravery I showed myself.” She is the center of the universe, and that universe must bend to her will.
She aborted two children. It was brave to do so, rather than choose to use birth control. Because…herself.
The level of narcissism involved in thinking of morally fraught choices as brave investments in oneself to be celebrated is almost incomprehensible to me. To have the pride to preach to others about this self love is obviously reflective of an impulse to elevate one’s own happiness over everything else. It is a moral sickness.
Something the pro-choice movement doesn’t always talk lovingly about is people who have more than one abortion, despite the fact that half of people who have abortions have more than one. It’s very common, yet deeply stigmatized. How did you unlearn the shame and stigma towards people who have more than one abortion?
CARINA REYES (LOS ANGELES, CALIF.): My abortions meant the freedom to choose the direction of my life. I’ve had three pregnancies and two abortions. The first was in the context of a toxic relationship, and the second was after I had my first child. Parenthood made me realize the full-time responsibilities and economic implications of raising a child.
There is a reason the pro-choice movement doesn’t speak lovingly of people who have multiple abortions: it makes clear a fact that most people find repulsive: almost every abortion is not the result of dealing with rape, incest, or life of the mother. Abortion is being used as a method of birth control, as is exemplified by these stories.
People understand and even embrace the compassion of helping people in desperate situations, victimized by others or circumstances. We are faced with dueling compassionate impulses, and unsurprisingly we ultimately side with the person right in front of us. We see the pain, feel it, and want to relieve it. That makes sense to me, just as the other side of the argument. Most Americans find themselves caught between the two victims.
But abortion for birth control? That is a bridge too far for most people. Which is why pro-choice activists typically avoid the topic. They focus on the exceptions, not the rule.
KENYA MARTIN: The best way to share stories is over a delicious meal. As soon as they scoop out that first spoonful of mac and cheese, go ahead and say “Whoo! That abortion saved my life, and this mac and cheese is about to give me life!”
One of the reasons it is difficult to discuss abortion on demand with many people is that it is difficult to comprehend how morally bankrupt many pro-choice activists actually are. It is impossible for most people to look at apparently normal people and believe they are, in fact, psychopathic. It is, as with many things, extremely difficult to “red pill” people because asking them to confront the reality is forcing them to embrace the fact that there is evil right before them.
Many of the goals of the Left are so evil that it is easier to deny the facts than accept them. When we point to evil people think we are conspiracy theorists or extremists, because we pointing at incomprehensible evil.
Yet evil exists, and far too many people embrace it. Western society has decided to be done with God, and in His place many have prioritized self. And in prioritizing themselves the Left often is quite willing to sacrifice those of us who don’t fit their view of an ideal world.
It’s not just at the beginning of life that the Left sacrifices the inconvenient. It is at any stage of life. That is why Canada has wholeheartedly embraced Medical Assistance in Dying, even for minors. Depression, blindness, hearing loss…anything is now an excuse to dispose of a person. Because they are inconvenient.
This is the world without God. It’s not that atheists and agnostics cannot be moral; it’s just that without God or something larger than ourselves to worship morality so easily slips away. The self becomes God.
