Three parallels: How arguments fueling abortion mirror those once fueling slavery

For many, the likelihood of a post-Roe world seemed impossible. From 1973-2022, for nearly 50 years, the Roe v. Wade abortion law dominated the United States. The resulting consequences of that 1973 Supreme Court decision were an estimated 63 million human beings killed by abortion in the U.S.  

The pro-abortion arguments fueling this crisis are strikingly similar to the pro-slavery movements that were common throughout legalized slavery in America. Three of those pro-abortion arguments that parallel with the pro-slavery agenda, along with what we can learn from abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison’s dismantling of American slavery, are important to examine:

#1: Both abortion and slavery have been promoted as necessary institutions to aid vulnerable communities. 

Pro-Choice Argument: “Legalized abortion is necessary health care for vulnerable pregnant women to avoid dangerous back alley abortions.”

Pro-Slavery Argument: "Slavery is necessary to rescue vulnerable Africans from uncivilized environmental factors and poverty.”

William Lloyd Garrison (December 10, 1805- May 24, 1879), known for his activist journalism, disputed the pro-slavery narrative that slavery was aiding uncivilized, impoverished Africans through his newspaper publication, "The Liberator," from the newspaper's inception in 1831 until the abolition of slavery in America in 1865.

Garrison fought this propaganda by exposing the traumatic experiences behind human enslavement. He exposed the mistreatment of humanity, sharing the stories of ex-slaves, moving hearts and minds closer to the truth in the face of legalized oppression. 

Just as pro-abortion propaganda is now used to convince masses that abortion is necessary health care, the pro-slavery propaganda of Garrison's day marketed slavery as necessary and helpful to the African American population. 

This was true to the extent that northern pastors would visit southern plantations, the Planned Parenthoods of Garrison’s day, and be presented with a polished version of slavery.  Slave masters would present the misconception that the enslaved Africans on their plantations needed them to survive, were treated well, and received help from them.  

Garrison’s publications empowered the voices of abolitionists such as Lydia Maria Child and Frederick Douglass, allowing them and others to share the truth about their experiences on slave plantations, revealing horrific treatment. 

Much like the discoveries found in the underground investigations of America’s Planned Parenthood ‘“plantations” — the discovery of planned racist targeting of black babies, the killing of women in clinics, and unsanitary facilities — Garrison’s "Liberator" revealed the sexual, physical, and psychological abuse of enslaved persons. 

This resulted in Americans' eyes being opened to the true nature of slavery, contributing not only to the Thirteenth Amendment, but to the Civil War and the eventual abolition of slavery.

#2: Both abortion and slavery have been advertised as necessary, promoting unacceptable compromise on human rights.

Compromised Pro-life View:  Arguments like "abortion is sometimes medically necessary," "abortion should be a decision made between a woman and her doctor," and "exceptions should be made for extreme cases" are arguments designed to compromise the truly uncompromising pro-life position: that the direct and intentional killing of a preborn human being should never be legal.

Compromised Abolitionist View: Some people against slavery argued what, in essence, is a pro-slavery argument for gradualism — the concept of ending slavery gradually rather than with immediacy. Abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison argued that gradualism would lead to the perpetuity of American slavery.

William Lloyd Garrison was adamant that gradualism was a compromise never worth considering, because "Gradualism in theory is perpetuity in practice." In other words, the concept that slavery could gradually be overturned was an excuse that would lead to the continuation of slavery.  Therefore, there was a need for uncompromising, immediate, direct action.

But Garrison didn't always hold the view that slavery should be immediately abolished; he was originally for the idea of gradual emancipation and the sending of enslaved persons back to Africa through the American Colonization Society. 

However, Garrison’s views changed as he beheld the jarring accounts of formerly enslaved persons and witnessed slavery first hand in Baltimore. Garrison became a key voice for immediate, uncompromising and complete abolition of enslaved persons as the only moral path forward.  

It was this uncompromising precedent that exposed the true horrors of slavery, finalizing the changing of hearts and minds on the dehumanization that was the slavery industry of America. It can be argued that Garrison’s journalistic efforts and his speeches (like his “No Compromise with the Evil of Slavery” speech in 1854) were catalytic to the 13th Amendment being passed, federally banning American slavery.

As abolitionists like Garrison defended the immediate and complete abolition of slavery, pro-lifers should defend the immediate and complete end of induced abortion (which is intentional and direct killing of the preborn), regardless of the circumstance. There can be no justification for the intentional killing of innocent preborn babies.

Therefore, abortion should be overturned in every state.  

Pro-abortion arguments such as...

• “I am personally pro-life but I would never want to take away the rights of another woman”

• “I am pro-life but exceptions should be made in the case of rape or extreme circumstances where abortion is 'medically necessary'”

• “I am personally pro-life but I don’t believe abortion should be a political decision; it should be decided between a woman and her doctor”

... are designed to lead to perpetually legalized killing of children in the womb.

In spite of pro-choice attempts to mislead pro-lifers into believing that abortion is a sometimes necessary and palatable procedure, the pro-life movement must continue to take a non-compromising stance. 

#3: Both abortion and slavery have been legalized through a series of laws at different levels of government, and need to be dismantled. 

Pro-Choice Laws: Pro-choicers legalized abortion through Roe v. Wade (1973), but after Roe was overturned, they solidified it through state laws, like that of Massachusetts (2021), Colorado (2022), and Nevada’s (2024) Constitutional Amendments to Protect Abortion Rights (2022). The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act of 1994 has also been used to criminalize and target pro-life advocates. 

Pro-Slavery Laws: Pro-Slavery advocates legalized slavery through colonial slave codes such as the Virginia Slave Code (1705) and federal laws such as the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 and 1850, and the Dred Scott Decision of 1837. Slavery was abolished by the 13th Amendment of the Constitution in 1865.

As slave codes — the Fugitive Slave Act and Dred Scott decision — were used to legalize chattel slavery in America, laws such as the FACE Act, Roe v. Wade, and state constitutional amendments have been used to legalize the targeting of pro-life activists and to continue the killing of innocent preborn babies in America. 

Through "The Liberator," Garrison publicly decried the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which allowed for the expansion of slavery into each territory, giving for the citizens of each territory decision-making power on the admission of slavery. This act had to be fought against by anti-slavery abolitionists — and today, state-to-state decisions on abortion allow individual states to kill a certain class of human beings in one, while disallowing the killing in others.   

Garrison also condemned the Dred Scott ruling that people of African descent could not be considered citizens of the United States of America. Today pro-life activists have the opportunity to fight for the human rights, personhood and citizenship of preborn persons, from state to state. 

But the ultimate call is for the immediate and complete ending of abortion in America. Measures like "Baby Olivia" bills can now be used to introduce prenatal development education into classrooms. Bills such as the Defund Planned Parenthood Act of 2025 and the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act can help defund abortion businesses while protecting personhood in our nation. 

The Bottom Line

The pro-life movement must continue to make every effort to winsomely reveal the truth behind the horrors of abortion and what it does to mothers and babies. 

History reveals that uncompromising exposure will lead to changed hearts and minds.

Bio: Jade A. Lee, the 4th great grand niece of Harriet Tubman, is the author of “The Ferguson Dilemma: Healing America’s Racial Wounds,” founder of the international missionary organization, Convergence Movement, and is an advocate for the black community and racial healing. Jade is currently obtaining her PhD in Intercultural Studies with a focus on Africana women and empowerment through Ethiopic history.