What’s it really mean to be a pro-lifer?

I am distressed and angry about what is going to happen in Arkansas this month. A bunch of “pro-life” politicians, from our pro-life governor down, are going to walk eight condemned Arkansans into the death chamber. They will in doing so reaffirm the dishonest and disreputable nature of our class society, where the death penalty is reserved for the poor and the mentally disabled. Those with personal wealth don’t get executed.

The “pro-life” crowds will not be out to block executions. Likely, they will be too busy blocking anything about Planned Parenthood. In the late presidential election, Hillary Clinton lost a block of votes because she openly supports Planned Parenthood, not just for abortion services, but because of gynecological health services not available in many places, especially for low-income women. Donald Trump won pro-life votes by declaring that he was against abortion, even though there is a very public record that in his past life he reveled in grabbing women — including married women — in their private places and bragging about getting away with it because of his wealth and power.

Growing up as a Southern Baptist in Arkansas, I find all of this pretty odd, including the regular holding of anti-abortion signs on Crossover Road in Fayetteville in front of a Planned Parenthood clinic. I think if I was really so concerned about abortion, I would get on with teaching basic sexual education to boys and girls in junior high and high school, along with the usual subjects.

I would require any school that received 5 cents worth of public tax support to teach our youth about where babies come from. Education is power. Kids educated about their sexual realities will require fewer abortions. Do the math.

A typical 8th-grader 13 years old probably is looking at 40 to 60 years of some kind of sex life, more or less, with potential sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, dating-marriage-divorce, etc. We require safety equipment in school sports, but not with life’s most basic expression? The most effective anti-abortion tool is knowledge about what causes pregnancy.

The term pro-life should be reserved for those who actually support life by teaching our girls and boys about how new lives are made, by opposing class-biased death penalties, unnecessary wars, air pollution that causes hundreds of thousands of deaths every year. A real pro-life position would support a health care system that serves everyone, regardless of incomes, rather than condemning the poor to early, preventable death, including at the hands of state of Arkansas.

So count me out for the next “pro-life” demo against Planned Parenthood in Fayetteville. Before I even think about it, I’m going to see if any of the pro-lifers try to stop the April execution extravaganza, put on by our ardent, pro-lifers in state government.

JOE NEAL Fayetteville