On a number of Blogs I read, the Abortion debate is front and center. (I was going to say "raging" but, for the most part, it is civil, reasoned and intellectual in nature, so "raging" didn't quite fit...) The latest post over at the Xpatriated Texan is a good example of this. I am personally pro-choice, but I believe that abortion is, at best, a very bad alternative to choose. I have chosen it once in the past, and that choice, although it was over 25 years ago, sometimes still keeps me awake at night. And this is how it should be. Taking this path should be one of the most profound and wrenching decisions a person makes in her/his lifetime. And this is where the pro-life community is falling down. Rather than impose, via legislation, their viewpoint on the rest of the citizenry, they should be working to make the personal decision to have an abortion one of the hardest decisions a person is ever going to face.
Now, by "hard" I mean one which requires a very deep level of self examination and ethical/moral/emotional consideration. Frankly, the whole question of when "life" begins is, in my opinion, specious. The question is about potential. Once sperm and egg unite, a unique potential has been created. That microscopic union has produced a potential that stretches some indeterminate distance into the future. The decision to abort that potential must, at the least, give that potential profound weight. And, having made the decision to abort, that decision should stay with the maker(s) of the decision for the rest of their lives as one of the worst, most distressing things they have ever done.
If has with my wife and myself.(Note: while this was an intensely personal decision we made, and while it is nobody's business why we made the decision we did, for the record, there were critical medical issues involved. Because of my wife's medical condition at the time, there was both considerable risk to her life in continuing the pregnancy as well as a virtually certainty that there was genetic damage to the potential human she was gestating. For primarily those reasons, we reluctantly made our decision. 'Nuff said.)
4 comments:
I don't think you understand the purpose of the pro-life movement. The reason why pro-lifers want abortion criminalized is because we are seeking to get legal protection for an unborn child, who is considered an equal. When others talks about protecting other fellow human beings, no one is squeamish about "imposing one's views on others". It's the same idea with pro-lifers: we want unborn children protected, same as anyone else. Laws impose morals all the time.
I do understand the purpose of the pro-life movement. I just don't agree with its absolutist stance or its methods. Again, I want women to have the option of safe, legal abortions because it is not my purview to put their lives in jeopardy. And, quite frankly, in the first trimester of a pregnancy, you are not talking about a child...you are talking about a potential child. If and when it is possible to grow babies in vitro through birth, then you can talk about making abortions a thing of the past. Until then, I have to be pro-choice but anti-abortion.
It is impossible to reconcile the very different opinions of the pro life and pro choice groups. The emotions in the pro life are just so much stronger than that in the pro choice movement (has anyone ever heard of a person being threatened by the pro choice side). I am someone who is very weakly pro choice. I was raised Catholic and I just have never been comfortable with the idea. I know a number of women who have had abortions and for them it was the right decision. So, I do support it.
In some ways I think the reversal of Roe vs Wade (and I do assume that this court will reverse it) might be the best thing for the pro choice movement. It would allow people to understand how deep the real support for choice is.
Thanks for the link, and I appreciate your input. I think more voices with actual experience in the moral dilemna need to be heard. Thank you for sharing yours. I hope I am able to treat the issue with enough sensitivity to be fair to everyone in the debate.
XT
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