Like most visitors of the Holocaust Museum, the Duggar family (from the TV show 19 Kids and Counting) was extremely humbled by the experience. After walking out, Jessa Duggar posted a picture on Instagram accompanied by a lengthy caption that received some controversial feedback.
“…The sanctity of human life varies not in sickness or health, poverty or wealth, elderly or pre-born, little or lots of melanin [making you darker or lighter skinned], or any other factor” read Jessa’s caption. “ … May we never sit idly by and allow such an atrocity to happen again. Not this generation. We must be a voice for those who cannot speak up for themselves. Because EVERY LIFE IS PRECIOUS. #ProLife.”
Naturally, this post raised dissension in pro-choice circles. Writer and speaker Jill Filipovic tweeted, “How deranged do you have to be to walk out of a Holocaust museum and immediately think, “ABORTION!”?”
Filipovic, Cosmopolitan’s new Senior Political writer, made sure to share her frustration in an article for Cosmo attacking Duggar. She hasn’t been the only one speaking out against Jessa’s statement. Some respected her pro-life opinions, but deemed it inappropriate to connect an issue like abortion to the Holocaust.
“While your pro-life viewpoints are totally valid and respectable, the fact that you would even think to make this comparison is absolutely dehumanizing to those involved in the Holocaust, and beyond disrespectful to all women, not to mention the ones who have actually had to choose to go through the difficult process of abortion,” one commenter wrote.
The truth is that Jessa Duggar hit a nerve. Drawing parallels between the Holocaust and any event will never be well received. But according to the Guttmacher Institute, there were 1.21 million abortions performed in the United States in 2008, the most recent year for which data is available. This amounts to 3,322 abortions per day. While comparing abortion to the Holocaust might be a stretch, a life is a life. Over 11 million lives were cruelly taken during the Holocaust of World War II, but abortion dates back to 1760 BC. Since the case of Roe vs. Wade in 1973, it is approximated that some 56,405,766 abortions have been carried out, according to lifenews.com.
So what does all of this mean for Jessa’s statement? Although it’s not necessarily a valid comparison, Duggar has the right to share her opinion. And in her post, she never even mentions abortion directly, even though many jumped to that conclusion.
Being pro-life is not exclusively about defending the unborn. It’s about protecting all life, about recognizing and respecting the basic human dignity and value inherent to each human being.