The Best Pro-Life Argument In History From...The Washington Post?

Mothering comes naturally to mothers. It’s almost like it’s in the name, or something.

Each day, through my Substack column, I try — sometimes successfully — to explain my thoughts regarding a range of different political and cultural issues. But sometimes — and thankfully rarely *wink*— others make an argument more succinct, powerful and clear than I could ever hope to achieve.

You should subscribe regardless, by the way.

And in this case, I was bested by a delightfully unintentional Washington Post.

Indeed, with “This Texas teen wanted an abortion. She now has twins,” The Washington Post’s Caroline Kitchener provided one of the best pro-life arguments I’ve ever seen.

The story of Brooke Alexander, a Texas teenager who decided not to get an abortion, provides readers with the fundamental truths that radical “pro-choice” — i.e. pro-abortion — activists dread: that pregnant women carry unborn humans who have the right to exist, and their existence can be a net positive if their parents take responsibility for them.

Shocking, right?

Here’s a brief rundown of just a few highlights from an article you really should read for yourself.

Brooke found out she was pregnant late on the night of Aug. 29, two days before the Texas Heartbeat Act banned abortions once an ultrasound can detect cardiac activity, around six weeks of pregnancy. It was the most restrictive abortion law to take effect in the United States in nearly 50 years.

The Washington Post acknowledges that pregnancy involves “cardiac activity” — otherwise known as heartbeats — and uses negative and subjective language “restrictive” alongside an article which includes images of two babies who would have been killed had it not been for these “restrictions.”

Bravo.

For many Texans who have needed abortions since September, the law has been a major inconvenience, forcing them to drive hundreds of miles — and pay hundreds of dollars — for a legal procedure they once could have had at home. But not everyone has been able to leave the state. Some people couldn’t take time away from work or afford gas, while others, faced with a long journey, decided to stay pregnant.

The Washington Post admits the impact of inflation on at-risk women, while also saying that some “decided to stay pregnant,” like it’s a bad thing.

Nearly 10 months into the Texas law, they have started having the babies they never planned to carry to term.

Oh…no?

Texas offers a glimpse of what much of the country would face if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade this summer, as has been widely expected since a leaked draft opinion circulated last month. If the landmark precedent falls, roughly half the states in the country are expected to dramatically restrict abortion or ban it altogether, creating vast abortion deserts that will push many into parenthood.

Again, sharing two babies who would otherwise have been killed, The Washington Post uses literal life as a “glimpse” into the horrors of a world in which babies aren’t killed.

The Pregnancy Center of the Coastal Bend — which advertises itself as the region’s “#1 Source of Abortion Information” — is one of thousands of crisis pregnancy centers across the United States, antiabortion organizations that are often religiously affiliated.

When Brooke showed up with her mom for her appointment, she had no idea she’d walked into a facility designed to dissuade people from getting abortions. She also didn’t know how much significance her form held for the staff: By signaling that she wanted an abortion, she became their first “AM” of the Texas Heartbeat Act.

Brooke heard about the pregnancy center from her mom’s friend, who knew she needed an ultrasound. This place offered them for free. Brooke felt a sense of calm, sitting in the waiting room, lulled by its decorative throw pillows and soft watercolors of ocean scenes.

These crisis pregnancy centers — which provide accessible, comfortable and free treatment — are bad because they are *gasp* “religiously affiliated.”

Sitting across from Brooke and her mom, Arnholt opened “A Woman’s Right to Know,” an antiabortion booklet distributed by the state of Texas, flipping to a page titled “Abortion risks.”

The first risk listed was “death.”

As Brooke listened to Arnholt’s warnings — of depression, nausea, cramping, breast cancer, infertility — she tried to stay calm, reminding herself that women get abortions all the time. Still, Brooke couldn’t help fixating on some of the words Arnholt used: Vacuum suction. Heavy bleeding. Punctured uterus. (Serious complications from abortion are rare. Abortion does not increase the risk of mental illness, breast cancer or infertility, according to leading medical organizations.)

The Washington Post shares the shocking reality of abortion procedures and their side effects.

As the ultrasound technician pressed the probe into her stomach, slathered with gel, Brooke willed the screen to show a fetus without a heartbeat.

The technician gasped.

It was twins. And they were 12 weeks along.

“Are you sure?” Brooke said.

“Oh, my God, oh, my God,” Thomas recalled saying as she jumped up and down. “This is a miracle from the Lord. We are having these babies.”

After confirming with an ultrasound that the babies were alive, the obvious became brutally obvious, and the miracle of life was accepted without question.

Within a few weeks, Brooke and Billy had a plan. He would join the Air Force as soon as he graduated from high school; Brooke would wait for him to finish basic training, then follow him wherever he got assigned.

Motivated by a common purpose and looming responsibility, the parents decide on a plan.

Brooke started her real estate classes in early November — and she loved everything about going to school. When she showed up the first day in her favorite crop top and jeans, the cinder-block building “felt like an opportunity,” she said. Most days, she’d buy a Frappuccino from the vending machine and sit down in the chair she’d claimed as her own, opening her textbook to a page she’d already covered in yellow highlighter.

Brooke got an 83 on the final exam, the highest grade in the class.

Even though Brooke is pregnant, she’s able to achieve educational goals. Woah.

Somehow, mothering came naturally to Brooke. Whenever one of the babies started crying, Brooke would tick through her mental checklist: Was her daughter hungry? Tired? Did she need to be changed? If it was none of those things, Brooke would pick up her daughter and hold her close, swaying from side to side, kissing the silky brown strands on the top of her head.

Almost always, her baby would stop crying.

Mothering comes naturally to mothers. It’s almost like it’s in the name, or something.

Looking at her daughters, Brooke struggled to articulate her feelings on abortion. On one hand, she said, she absolutely believed that women should have the right to choose what’s best for their own lives. On the other, she knew that, without the Texas law, her babies might not be here.

“Who’s to say what I would have done if the law wasn’t in effect?” she said. “I don’t want to think about it.”

Post-birth, the gruesome reality of abortion is clear.

Standing with Billy in front of the justice of the peace, Brooke told herself that, one day, they would have their “love story moment.” She would walk down the aisle in a wedding gown. Their friends and family would cry and cheer as she and Billy publicly declared how much they meant to each other.

“I, Brooke Alexander, take thee, Billy High, to be my wedded husband,” she repeated.

Oh, and they got married

If it wasn’t for the Texas law, Brooke knew she might not be standing here. She’d probably be studying for her next exam, while Billy mastered some new trick on the quarter-pipe. She liked to think they’d still be together — spending their money on movie tickets and Whataburger, instead of diapers and baby wipes.

She told herself that alternate life didn’t matter anymore. She had two babies she loved more than anything else in the world.

Because of their babies, Brooke and Billy are a married couple with a life plan, rather than spending their time on presumably “important” things like…skateboarding and eating burgers.

If there is a better pro-life article than this unintentional masterpiece from The Washington Post, I’m yet to find it.

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