YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO DEHUMANIZE THE VICTIMS:

"Electrical activity in a group of organizing cells is not a heartbeat"

In the days since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, I've seen a fair number of hysterical posts and tweets, ranging from silly to wildly ignorant. But none of them hold a candle to the post I first quoted, alleging that there is in fact no baby at all, just a group of cells with "electrical activity." 

Far be it from me to point out that that definition applies to every human being, as we are all composed of clumps of cells that function due to electrical activity. Of course, this is not a medical term. Indeed, it was created by a few spin doctors to counter the messaging of the heartbeat bills passing at the state level. Clearly the point here, as in every attempt to dehumanize a category of humanity in order to justify their termination, is to render the unborn child "less than." It's quite hard to admit that you're fine stopping a baby's heart. Make that baby just a group of cells with electrical activity and suddenly you're just doing a little mechanical work, not murdering a little one. 

Of course, none of us would ever actually use these terms in real life. Earlier this year, when my husband and I were told that our little one had passed away in utero, my doctor did not say, "Oh well, the electrical activity in that group of cells has ceased." She said she was sorry, but my baby had died. Granted, my doctor is pro-life, but in good faith I'll assume that even the most rabidly pro-abortion OB-GYN would refrain from "electrical activity" jargon when talking to a grieving mother who just lost her baby. Further, I assume that even my pro-abortion friends and family, who have posted many things similar to what I quoted above in the past days and weeks, would express sympathy if told of my loss, and their sympathy would be sincere. 

But here we come to the crux of what it means to be pro-choice. In the eyes of those clamoring for a "woman's right to choose," my baby was only worth mourning because I wanted her. Had I wanted to end her life, they would have cheered that it was my right, that she meant nothing, just a clump of cells with electrical activity. I know few pro-abortion individuals who would state that as plainly as I just wrote it. Instead, they would hide behind the variety of one-liners that have dominated the online world since the Dobbs opinion was leaked in May. 

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