Last week, Jeremy Irons was interviewed by The Guardian to promote his new movie, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, in which he plays Bruce Wayne’s butler, Alfred. In the interview, he made some statements about abortion. While he said that he believes women should be allowed to choose abortion, he also pointed out that abortion harms women. Irons said that it can both physically and mentally attack a woman, which is very much true, if the myriad of women who suffer from post-abortion regret are any indication. But of course, Irons’ comments sent pro-abortion advocates into an apoplectic rage, furious that anyone who supports legalized abortion would publicly show anything less than fawning adoration for their sacred cow.
At Marie Claire, they want Irons to stop talking, because men aren’t allowed to talk about abortion, or something:
Jeremy Irons, man who has never had an abortion, has a strong and surprisingly off-base opinion on the subject.
… Erm. Not sure Irons is in a position to speak on abortion being a “mental attack” seeing as though he hasn’t had one, but for the record, many women find abortion to be a huge relief, and that’s just fine. And when it comes to physical ramifications, we’ll reiterate once again—abortions are a safe procedure with a relatively low-key recovery.
Of course, Jeremy Irons would know this if he visited any number of fact-based websites, including Planned Parenthood’s.
Because in order to talk about anything, you must experience it firsthand, right?
Jezebel reacted with their typical crudeness, and a complete lack of anything substantive, calling him a “stupid fartbag” in the headline (edited for language):
Jeremy, my guy! Do us all a favor and shut your f***ing cake hole, okay?
Progressive Borgias-heads (all two of you) needn’t worry: Jeremy is pro choice—it’s just that he thinks you baby-vacuuming wh*res are all self-harming. It’s out of concern, you see!
… Actually, do a little research and you’ll find that far more harm occurs when safe access to abortion is limited. But, hey, accuracy-schmaccuracy.
Funny that they talk about accuracy and research, yet can do nothing to actually rebut Irons beyond calling him names like “stupid fartbag.”
Fishwrapper, an off-shoot of gossip site TMZ, called it nonsense, but then responds with some nonsense of their own:
As for his actual quote, that’s nonsense too, of course: morality can obviously exist without Christianity, and we’re pretty sure Jeremy has never had an abortion himself, so we’ll just ignore his comments on the mental effects of the procedure. He says outright that he’s pro-choice, then calls it a sin, so let’s just say that his two statements cancel each other out and pretend he never actually said anything, OK?
Interesting that they don’t deny the mental effects of abortion — they just say that we should ignore them because the person who brought them up is male. Because that makes perfect sense. Everyone knows that facts are only factual if the person talking about them is the correct gender.
Interestingly, The Metro ran an article with a headline talking about how fans were “venting their fury” at Jeremy Irons for his remarks… but a poll at the bottom of the site shows that an overwhelming percent of respondents, 68%, agreed with his statements. 17% voted “who cares?”, and a measly 15% voted that the remarks were ludicrous. Apparently, fans weren’t that furious.
The reality, of course, is that abortion does harm women, whether abortion advocates want to acknowledge it or not. (They likely know very well that abortion is harmful, as not one of these sites bothered to rebut his claims with any substance or facts.) Just because you don’t like to hear something, that doesn’t make it any less true. And abortion has legitimate harmful side-effects. There is the higher risk of multiple cancers: breast cancer, liver cancer, ovarian cancer, cervical cancer. About half of all women who get abortions have had at least one before… and repeat abortions are known to increase the risk of pre-term birth. Women who get abortions are also at an increased risk for endometriosis and Pelvic Inflammatory Disease. And this isn’t even including the numerous physical complications that can be life-threatening immediately after the abortion: excessive bleeding, cervical lacerations, a perforated uterus… just to name a few.
Then there are the mental risks. Women who get abortions are more likely to have mental health disorders, and suffer from alcohol and drug abuse, suicidal tendencies, anxiety, and depression. Suicidal behavior has specifically been found to increase by 155% after an abortion.
On top of all this, women are more likely to become victims of domestic violence after having abortions.
But, you know… Jeremy Irons is just a man, and therefore, none of this counts. Just squeeze your eyes shut and pretend it isn’t there. That’s how it works, right?
