Interview with Monica Snyder
Monica Snyder from Secular Pro-Life is back! In Part 2 of her conversation with Know Why Podcast, Monica tackles tough questions, including… Do pro-lifers care about bodily autonomy? Do embryos really have heartbeats? Are women being denied life-saving treatment post-Roe?
Scroll to end for links to additional resources and information.
Bodily Autonomy
Supporters of abortion say women should not be forced to support a fetus via pregnancy, and remaining pregnant when one would rather not be may violate bodily rights. Do pro-lifers care about women’s bodily autonomy?
Monica Snyder, Secular Pro-Life
“We’re all humans and we should be trying to create a society where we’re taking care of each other.”
Monica told Know Why, “Most pro-choice people already think there should be limits on bodily rights.” For instance, the majority of Americans, including those who identify as pro-choice, support some limits on abortion.
She also noted that most pro-choice people wouldn’t support a mother intentionally starving her child by denying to breastfeed, even though breastfeeding requires a woman to use her body for the sake of another.
The difference is that some pro-choice people may not consider a baby a person with human rights until they’re born. “Bodily rights … only work in the abortion debate if you assume first that the embryo or the fetus is not a person,” Monica said. For the full conversation on personhood, listen to Part 1 of Monica’s interview.
Monica and Liberty also discussed how all humans are dependent on each other at some point in their lives.
“Embryos and fetuses are our offspring,” Monica explained. “They are members of our species. We were them at one point. They will be us eventually, in the sense of life stages. I feel like the abortion debate makes it so ‘us versus them,’ and it’s not accurate.”
Women’s Wellbeing in the Post-Roe World
But pregnancy does take a toll on women’s bodies—even when a pregnancy isn’t considered especially dangerous. It doesn’t do pro-lifers any good to downplay the difficulty of pregnancy, Monica believes. “I think that sometimes our side is too glib about what pregnancy entails, even a healthy pregnancy that’s not dangerous,” she said.
And when a pregnancy is dangerous? This became a major concern of many Americans after Roe v. Wade was overturned at the Supreme Court in 2022. When abortion was outlawed or more severely restricted in several states, news stories told frightening tales of women not receiving care for conditions like ectopic pregnancy or miscarriage. Abortion advocates warned women they could be prosecuted for seeking emergency medical treatment for miscarriages or medical emergencies during pregnancy.
“I think that sometimes our side is too glib about what pregnancy entails.”
Monica Snyder, Secular Pro-Life
Were these stories an accurate depiction of the Post-Roe landscape? In the episode, Monica explains which stories were likely to be untrue based on the laws of the state where they allegedly took place, what many state laws actually say about receiving emergency medical care while pregnant, and in which cases states may need to add more clarity to ensure women do receive the care they need.
Pro-lifers need to say to pregnant women, “Listen, whatever procedures or medication, or whatever you need to make sure that you are safe, those should be accessible,” Monica told Know Why.
Does an Embryo Have a Heart?
Many pro-life laws were activated by the Dobbs v. Jackson decision that overturned Roe, but other pro-life laws, like “heartbeat bills,” were growing in popularity around the nation even before the Supreme Court’s landmark decision. Heartbeat laws prohibit abortion after a heartbeat is detected via ultrasound. In response to these laws, abortion supporters began claiming that embryos don’t have heartbeats or even hearts yet—something that “astounded” Monica.
“Yes, there is a heart.”
Monica Snyder, Secular Pro-Life
“Yes, there is a heart,” she said, citing scientific information about the embryonic heart and using her biology background to explain its early development. “The heart is one of the first things to develop to get coordinated blood pumping.”
To learn more about the development of the embryonic heart, state laws regarding women’s health post-Roe, or any other topic covered in Know Why’s conversation with Monica Snyder, visit Secular Pro-Life’s website at one of the links below:
More Resources
Read about the difference between elective abortion and treatment for ectopic pregnancies