Rebecca Porter is the director of Florida’s “Operation Outcry Silent No More.” She is, one might say, not so much “pro-choice” these days as she is “pro-voice.” She, and countless “victims of choice,” who have been hurt by abortion and carry with them deep personal scars, do not want to remain silent, lest their absence of a voice lead people to think that abortion is harmless.

Recently, Porter decided to inform Senator Kerry and his followers about a truth about abortion that she learned the hard way, from her own experience. She attended a Kerry campaign event in Tampa with a sign that read: “My abortion hurt me.” Senator Kerry stared at the sign while he was working a handshake line. He did not address her, but one of his aids took action by grabbing the “offensive” sign and tearing it to pieces.

There was no doubt that Kerry saw the sign, Porter averred. He was “shocked and surprised,” she said. But, she added, “I hope he saw my pain.”

The Kerry campaign has refused to comment on the matter. Presumably, in the politically censored view of Kerry and his staffers, the incident never took place, just as abortion never harms women. Such censorship and denial is not new for the Democratic Party. At its 1992 convention, pro-life Pennsylvania governor Bob Casey was not allowed to speak. If there is one thing that the Democratic party apparently does not tolerate, it is behaviour that is … well, democratic.

In an interview with LifeNews, Porter said of Kerry that, “As a presidential candidate for all the people – including me – I think he should speak to his staff and apologize . . . and guarantee that it won’t happen again to other women.” Her comment is a model of temperance and understatement.

Abortion advocates take great pride in presenting themselves in the positive light of being “pro-choice.” The shredding of the sign, however, paints a different picture, one in which the prefix “anti-” should be placed before -freedom of speech, -truth, -women’s experience, -democratic process, and even -private property. Now there’s a political platform that would elicit no votes whatsoever. Hence, the need to destroy the sign. Truth is a deadly enemy to empty rhetoric where every word, as George Orwell once said, comes “straight from the larynx.”

This is politics at its very worst, because it has little to do with reality. It is conducted at some distance from the real affairs of women and men, maintaining that distance by fabricating a non-existent world that positive-sounding words can conjure up when they are accompanied by bells, whistles, handshakes and a frenzied crowd.

“Abortion takes the life of our children,” Porter testified, “and leaves many very wounded individuals.” That is the ugly and censorable truth.

It is very strange to design a political strategy whose purpose is to take people deeper into a world of lies and delusions. We would all love to live in a perfect world where no choice ever produces a painful consequence, where we could all be pro-choice with impunity. That would surely simplify things.

But the plain and disquieting truth is that the world we inhabit does not always politely accommodate itself to whatever choices we make. This is, as they say, not rocket science, but a mere declaration of the obvious that we would expect a five-year-old to grasp. “Don’t play with matches, you could get burned!” Actions can have repercussions.

The world of abortion, with its train of death, suffering, pain, and regret, is horrible enough to send people on a flight from reality. But the only “other world” than the one in which we live and discern our moral responsibilities is a mental fiction. Illusion can never be a corrective for a mistake. Reality is our sole ally.

What I want to say to Rebecca Porter is this: I read your message and share your hurt. I hope that my words and those of others who are also aggrieved about what you encountered at the Kerry rally, will somehow restore your sign so that its words are clearer, its life is longer, its audience is broader, and its impact is deeper and more durable.

Dr. Donald DeMarco is an adjunct professor at Holy Apostles College & Seminary.