Kellyanne Conway Opens Up About Understanding Abortion
Is she secretly pro-choice?
By Vera Papisova
Kellyanne Conway, President Trump's counselor, spoke at the March for Life, an annual anti-abortion rally in Washington D.C. today.
"Steps away from here in the White House a president and vice president sit at their desks and make decisions for a nation. As they sit there, they stand here with you," she said. "This is a time of incredible promise for pro-life, pro-adoption movement. Our action must reach those women who face unplanned pregnancies, they should know they are not alone. They're not judged. They're protected and cared for and celebrated. So to the March for Life 2017 allow me to make it very clear — we hear you, we see you, we respect you, and we look forward to working with you."
While Kellyanne says she is "pro-life," she also says she understands why women choose to have abortions. In an interview with the Washington Post, Kellyanne said she's speaking at the March for Life because she's afraid, as a culture, that we've become less sensitive to "how precious life really is." Still, despite her stance, Kellyanne says she does not judge women who choose to have abortions, and even understands why some women make that choice.
"The New York Times, of all places, had a front-page story above the fold about how with proper medical intervention, babies born at or before 24 weeks can survive outside the womb. Wow, this is amazing. And for us to just look the other way and pretend that abortion is not used by plenty of people as birth control?" Kellyanne told the Post. "But I'm also a very nonjudgmental person. I understand why women are pro-choice. I understand why women get abortions."
The truth is, abortion does have a relationship with birth control. Since Roe v. Wade legalized abortion in 1973, the abortion rate has steadily decreased, and has currently dropped to an all-time low. Access to better birth control like the IUD is largely to thank for that. While improvements to birth control have made a huge impact on a woman's ability to prevent the need for abortion, some women will still need the procedure. Kellyanne says she's known "many" women who have had abortions, and she's even helped them through the process. She says she doesn't believe these women shouldn't have been allowed to have abortions, reiterating that she doesn't judge the choice.
"Here's why I don't judge them," she said. "And I've helped several of them before, during and after. To a person, they all feel some level of regret. And I help them navigate that, too, because they shouldn't feel that way."
Not all people who get abortions feel some level of regret, but Kellyanne does bring up an important point. In order for someone to make a decision that is right for them, they need all of the information about all of the options. And then, their decision needs to be respected. If you don't want to have an abortion, it's not OK for anyone to pressure you into having one. If you don't want to carry a pregnancy to term, the same is true.
It's also interesting that Kellyanne says women shouldn't feel regret after an abortion, especially after Donald Trump has previously supported "some form of punishment" for women who have had abortions if the practice became illegal. Furthermore, it's a big deal that she says she doesn't judge women who get abortions. Often, people who identify as pro-life are stereotyped by proponents of choice as people who give false information to women, like employees of Crisis Pregnancy Centers, and borderline violent protestors who traumatize women seeking healthcare. At its heart, the "pro-choice" movement is about being non-judgmental and believing that women should have the choice to decide what they want to do with their body, and be able to do so legally and without shame. This means choosing to carry a pregnancy to term and raising a child, carrying a pregnancy to term and choosing adoption, or choosing to have an abortion.
It might seem like Kellyanne's comments are a little contradictory, but there's a difference between someone's own viewpoints and their reactions to others' choices. If abortion is not an option Kellyanne sees for herself — that's OK. If you have an unintended pregnancy, and you aren't comfortable with abortion as a choice for yourself, then it is your prerogative not to have one, and you should be able to exercise that right regardless of your race, socioeconomic background, gender identity, or sexuality. It's easy to lose sight of that with so much division in the world, but even with all of that, we can't lose our ability to empathize with each other.
The Trump administration has made its anti-abortion stance clear, from Trump's own anti-abortion executive order to the cabinet's history on reproductive rights. At the march on Friday, the administration firms up that stance as Mike Pence becomes the first Vice President to ever speak at the rally. Kellyanne joins him, but for the women out there who have had abortions, it's interesting to know that — despite her stance — the counselor to the President does seem to have some compassion. This means other people marching "for life" may likely feel the same way, which ultimately could mean that more of us agree than we realize.
Related: Trump's Anti-Abortion Order Could Devastate HIV Programs Across the World
KeywordsKellyanne Conwayabortionreproductive rights