A large part of the problem is that the term "Pro-Life" has come to mean only one thing, and that's "Anti-Abortion." Maybe "Pro-Life" should really mean pre and post-natal health care, a quality education, quality jobs, and the safety of knowing that you won't have to retire in destitute poverty.
For all their talk about the sanctity of life, the "Christian" Right seems to have forgotten a very important message that when someone is in need, we can't turn our backs on them and call ourselves Christians or moral. It doesn't work that way.
Do we really want to turn into modern day Cains who would harm our fellow human beings and then flippantly ask, "Am I my brother's keeper," as if this excuses our actions and our irresponsibility?
I think that lost in all the discussions of the ideology of the Pro-Choicers and Pro-Lifers, are the real people involved in these issue. The women, and sometimes the men, who actually face these decisions deserve our mercy and compassion, not our hatred and contempt.
Instead of condemning someone for having an abortion, or condemning someone who is against abortions, should we not focus our time and our efforts on giving the women who are facing this very real, and very personal decision, our understanding? Perhaps we should take a step back, and ask if we are truly helping these women, or whether we are simply turning their very difficult decision into a political pawn.
Women should be able to obtain an abortion free from the fear that their picture and personal information will be posted on the internet, they should be able to obtain information about the procedure and its effects, without fear of being called a "baby-killer". On the hand, women should have information available about adoption and other possibilities as well.
The issue is really whether or not we trust women with the knowledge and choice over their own bodies. To quote George Orwell, "To tell the truth in times of universal deceit is revolutionary." As we all know from history, the most brutal tyrants and dictators always lost when the truth was revealed. It might not happen overnight, but eventually the side of freedom and love always wins.
By taking the time to ask not just those who hold opposing viewpoints about their beliefs, but more importantly by listening to those who have had to make this very hard decision, maybe we can shift the focus back to where it belongs, on helping those women and men who face this tough decision, and helping them, without our own motives, to make the best decision they can.
Finally to quote from the Gospel of James (3:18), "Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness."
We must all strive to be more compassionate and understanding, because that's the only way to truly help change the world.