This essay has been marinating for a very long time. I have started it on numerous occasions, then
put it aside because it just wasn’t the right time. Now, in this election season, I find myself
on the cusp of a decision that causes a deep quandary for me. This is the time. Now is the time that people on both sides of
the issue need to stop screaming at each other and listen to each other
instead. In my typical fashion, I suspect I’m going to piss off people on BOTH
sides. That’s OK with me. I doubt I will change anyone’s mind; I just
hope to help start a dialogue, to increase understanding and cooperation for
the good of everyone.
I am pro-life—have been since before I even understood that
people could intentionally end the life of a child before he or she can be
born. I love people. I adore babies. I think human lives are sacred because we are
made in the image of God. Humans have
souls. Does that mean I don’t care about
other species? No. Does that mean I think women don’t have a
right to control their own bodies? No. It
simply means I can’t think of a single reason good enough to kill any child. It just means that while a baby is dependent upon the mother's body, the baby is a separate individual with inherent rights. It simply means that a person’s God-given
right to life starts in the womb. It means that there are moral consequences to abortion, consequences that are damaging to women victimized by the abortion industry and to the society that allows it. It simply means that a person is always a
person regardless of his or her address. Even if a person lives inside the
mother or on the wrong side of the tracks, he or she is still a miracle of God
and deserving of our protection. Obviously,
I hold these beliefs because of my faith.
I don’t expect everyone to embrace them.
I do expect that every mature human being can carry on a conversation
about them without being accusatory and judgmental.
To my fellow Pro-Lifers:
Please stop judging everybody and calling them murderers. Seriously.
Do you really think that helps?
It does not. A Pro-Life stance must
begin to mean you value all lives, respect all lives. We seem to have a little trouble with
this. Do you value the child but hate the
mother who wants the abortion? Or the Pro-Choicer
next door? Your rhetoric might imply just
that. If you’re going to claim that you find
life sacred, how about the lives of the impoverished kids that your politicians
poisoned in the city of Flint? How about
the life of the most recent “thug” that just got killed in the streets without
a trial by judge and jury? How about the
Muslim refugee child drowning in a boat?
Or the one we just bombed in Iraq?
What about the street kid on the other side of the wall some of us
want to build? What about the drug
addict living on the streets without access to desperately-needed health care? Do those lives matter less than the one
tucked inside a mother’s body? I don’t
think so, but our social policies are telling us loud and clear that IS EXACTLY
what we believe. Those policies would
not exist without the say-so of us Pro-Lifers right along with everyone else. I can already hear the objection that we can't be Socialists who just give everything to people. Well, I say that helping the impoverished and the refugee, providing necessities like health care and education, and feeding the hungry are not Socialist acts. They are loving my neighbor as much as I love myself.
If I haven't already highly offended you, here’s where I’m really going to blow your mind. I believe abortion is an important political
issue. BUT… it is not the only important
issue. Our respect for life compels us
to be just as diligent in protecting quality of life. What does that mean? It means if we are not voting for improved
access to education for all of our citizens, we are not really Pro-Life, we are
Pro-Baby. It means if we think people
are deserving of only the health care they can pay for, we are Pro-Baby, not
Pro-Life. If we don’t stand up and do
something when the black kid is killed in the park for having a toy gun—sorry,
not Pro-Life. If we find it acceptable
to spend half of our pie on the war machine but scream about the minute sliver
we spend on welfare—sorry, not Pro-Life. When we allow our congressman to earn
in excess of $400,000 a year for life, but won’t pay for elderly Medicare
patients’ medications while they are in the hospital—not Pro-Life. Yup, we are
allowing all of that. Look it up. The information is there if you choose to see
it. Look, if you want credibility as an
advocate for Life, you need to earn it, and it’s going to take more than that “All
Lives Matter” banner on your Facebook wall.
My Pro-Choice friends, I haven’t forgotten about you. First of all, quit calling Pro-Lifers “Anti-Choice.” It’s rude. You certainly don’t want
Pro-Lifers running around calling you “Pro-Death.” It’s also an inaccurate characterization. There are almost always other “choices”
besides abortion. Abstinence, for one. I know it’s an old-fashioned notion, but it
is an option. If a woman consents to have
sex, she’s already made a choice to be responsible for her actions. We live in a culture that wants rights without
responsibility. We want to do whatever
the hell we want, whenever we want to, and then take a pill to fix it when
there are problems. We want to live on Big Macs even though we know better, then sue the McDonald's when we end up fat. It's all the same cultural problem of refusing to take responsibility for our actions. If a woman didn’t choose to have sex… that’s a different
story. While I still don’t believe an abortion after rape or incest is really going to fix anything for the
mother, I’m certainly not going to condemn her.
I’m talking about the other 98% of abortion cases. The choice was made before the
conception. You know it; I know it.
And speaking of conception, can we be truthful about what is
being aborted? Using the clinical
term “fetus” doesn’t make it any less a child.
Before modern medicine, maybe we could have gotten away with debating
about when life begins. But now, we know
better. An unborn child has a functioning brain and heartbeat before most women
even realize they are pregnant. If you
are of the belief that it is OK to end the life of a human being with a
heartbeat, then say so. Do not hide
behind euphemisms like “tissue” and “fetus” in a disingenuous effort to make it seem less barbaric.
Now that I have pissed you off thoroughly, I am going to ask you tough questions, but first, I am going to make a couple of disclaimers. I already know that women of all races get
abortions. I already know that Planned
Parenthood provides other needed health care services to women. Secondly, I am going to present you with the
truth that present day abortion laws and the organization Planned
Parenthood find their roots in the US eugenics movement prior to WWII. Eugenics is the selective
breeding of human beings for the sole purpose of eliminating genetic “imperfections”
such as poverty, mental illness, and “undesirable” racial identity. Hitler was highly influenced by these
practices and viewed his Final Solution as a natural extension of them. You don’t have to take my word on any of
this. It is easy to find the information. Now, here are my questions. Is it at all possible that modern day
abortion practices are fulfilling the racist, classist mission of the eugenicists, just as they were intended to do? Is it possible that by defending a woman's right to choose, we are undermining our own intent to dismantle a corrupt system which targets the poor and the minority?
I find it entirely possible, even likely. Especially when I consider that we are
willing to restrict access to health care on the basis of who can pay for it,
yet we will find a Planned Parenthood providing reproductive services and
health care for women in most “urban” areas of the US. We can’t afford health care for
everyone. Yet we can afford to plop
abortion facilities in the middle of communities with the least number of white
citizens and give an affordable abortion to whoever wants one. I find it to be a really unbelievable coincidence. Instead, why can’t we just make it possible for every
woman to go to a doctor in an actual health care facility for screenings, contraception, and prenatal care? The answer is, we could... if we wanted to do so. If you’re reading my blog, you’re obviously a
smart person. Do the math, so to speak.
Why is now the right time to talk about this? Because we have an election coming up. Because
the decision of who to vote for is harder than ever. Because people seem to have left reason
completely behind. Because if we are all, Pro-Life or Pro-Choice alike, voting solely based on a candidate's supposed abortion stance, we are making some
scary decisions. Just think about it. That's all I ask.
