Abbreviation SPL President Kelsey Hazzard Founded 2009 | Formation 2009 Website www.secularprolife.org Parent organization VeriFone Holdings, Inc. | |
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Motto You don’t have to be religious to understand that abortion kills a human being" | ||
Secular pro life on welcoming atheists into the pro life movement
Secular Pro-Life (abbreviated to SPL) is a United States all-volunteer pro-life organization which works both to end elective abortion and to incorporate atheists, agnostics and secular humanists into the United States anti-abortion movement. Founded in 2009 by Virginia law student Kelsey Hazzard, SPL uses non-religious arguments in advocacy against abortion on university campuses and on the Internet.
Contents
Within the United States, 72% of the religiously unaffiliated say that "abortion should be legal in most or all cases" compared to 53% of the general public. Among atheists and agnostics, 84% say abortion should be legal in most or all cases. SPL operates in the context of a highly polarized debate over abortion, where the anti-abortion movement America mainly consists of members of the Christian right. While 75% of white evangelical Protestants say that having an abortion is morally wrong, 25% of religiously unaffiliated people say so. The Oxford Handbook of Religion and American Politics notes that 22% of nonreligious unaffiliated Americans describe themselves as "pro-life on abortion" while just 12% of atheists and agnostics do.
Stances
Secular Pro-Life is opposed to elective abortion, except in situations where the mother's life is at risk and early delivery is not a viable option. Their fetal personhood argument states that a fetus is a human being recognized as a person that possesses human rights, and that the concept of bodily autonomy of mothers does not permit abortions in the majority of circumstances. Despite widespread attention to rape and pregnancy controversies in the 2012 United States election, SPL does not have a position on abortion in the case of rape. SPL is in favor of barrier-based contraception, along with any other form of contraception that prevents fertilization but does not prevent the implantation of the blastocyst, and the organization also supports sex education.
While geared towards the non-religious, Secular Pro-Life states that they are open to religious believers, as they accept anyone who makes non-religious argument against abortion based on science or philosophy.
History
Secular Pro-Life ran a stall at the 2012 American Atheists conference. Their presence there caused some controversy within the atheist community.
In February 2014, President of Secular Pro-Life Kelsey Hazzard gave a talk at the University of Georgia entitled "Pro-Life Without God". In the run up to the event, SPL posters were repeatedly torn down in an attempt to thwart Hazzard's presentation. The president of the University's Students for Life group stated that the identity of the vandals was unknown.
In September 2016, Secular Pro-Life celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Hyde Amendment with its #HelloHyde campaign.
Secular Pro-Life has been highly critical of President Donald Trump, citing his inconsistent views on abortion, use of insults, and attitude towards women, Mexican immigrants, and Muslims. In November 2016, SPL President Kelsey Hazzard participated in a debate in which she made the pro-life case against voting for Trump or his opponent, Hillary Clinton.