It’s not always just black and white.
First of all, I want to apologize to the commenters whose comments have been sitting in the “waiting for approval” box on our blog. It’s supposed to forward the reminder emails to me, but it didn’t. And as you can tell, I haven’t written in a while. So I’m really sorry! I love you! Come back sometime! ;-)
On to more serious matters.
I don’t really know how to write this entry. Mostly because it is such a deeply personal issue for so many people, but also because there are some people in my life that I’m afraid that I will offend. But I still feel like I need to say this, because it is important to me.
I’m not “pro-choice” per se. But I think that identity was developed using what the conservative right has defined being pro-choice as. Believing that it meant you were for abortion, without reservation. And I am not. I’ve identified myself as “pro-life” since I can remember, although I try to always make the distinction that I’m not “pro-life” like some people are, who are really anti-abortion but don’t appear to care about all the other ways life is abused in our nation and in our world. The wider pro-life view is a big part of why I will be voting for Obama this year. But that is my choice, and I know other people need to make their choices based on their personal research and priorities.
Where am I going with this?? I don’t really know, other than my point was to direct you all to a few entries that I think anyone who thinks the abortion issue is black and white should read. These are real stories by real women. And I have to agree with one of them in particular, who said in reference to McCain’s air quotes when talking about the health of the mother and late term abortions, ”I don’t see any way a thinking person can look at those air quotes and see anything but pandering, contempt, and a dangerous willful ignorance.” (For those who didn’t watch: he put air quotes around “health” and said that the pro-abortion ((sidenote – is ANYONE really pro-abortion???)) movement has stretched the term “health” so that women could get abortions basically whenever they wanted.)
Before you comment, please read the entries. And if you still think the issue is black and white, well then I guess we’ll just have to disagree. And that’s fine. I just wanted you to think about it.
Uppercase Woman - On National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Rememberance Day and her personal story
Uppercase Woman – On John McCain
Thank you for your time. And if you have nothing productive to say, save it and say a prayer for my soul instead.
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about 3 years ago
Thanks, Becky. I could go on and on and on about my agreement but I’ll just say thank you. Thanks for the post.
about 3 years ago
I am like you. I’m neither pro-choice nor pro-life. I would never try to force my ideals or values on someone else, especially about such a personal matter. The thought that our government is looking to overturn Roe V. Wade is so scary to me. We will go back to the days of women going to unlicensed and unqualified people to have abortions. I also was angry about the air quotes. Joel and I both looked at each other and our mouths were hanging open. Abortion is not black and white. There are so many variables. I agree with the one site that said we need to enact measures in which to help reduce abortions. The fact that teachers cannot teach sex ed is ridiculous! We do not live in a culture where abstinence is the preferred method of birth control. The majority of girls pregnant in high school (well, at my school) got pregnant because they didn’t know the facts. They had no knowledge about sex. Yes, it is the parents responsibility to teach their children. BUT, why not bring that into the schools so that it is reinforced. Many parents don’t talk to their children about sex. Then we end up with 14 year-olds who are pregnant. It breaks my heart to see these young girls and know that their life is going to be that much harder now and that if we could teach sex ed, then maybe they wouldn’t be pregnant. I know Obama has gotten a lot of flack for his comment about how he doesn’t want his daughters punished with a baby. As a teenager (especially one as young as 13-15), a baby almost is a punishment in a way. Babies are wonderful and precious. But they are a lot of work. I can totally understand where he is coming from. I am disappointed that he does not believe in teaching sex ed and rather wants to stick with the abstinence only program. I’m hoping that Washington will soon wake-up and realize that that is not working. Now that I have rambled on, I want to say thanks for the post. It took guts! I admire you :o)
about 3 years ago
Wow – Becky – your post, and the entries you linked, are eloquent and powerful. Thank you for sharing them.
On a related subject, Grandma sent me an e-mail yesterday (yes, your grandma) with the text from this webpage. She was much relieved to have found some positive and trustworthy information on the issue.
http://www.matthew25.org/paf/index.htm
Thought you’d appreciate seeing it too.
about 3 years ago
Its not an easy discussion to enter– emotions run high in this debate, and rightly so. I’ve been a long time enthusiastic Obama supporter, but as someone who is pro-life (in the broadest sense of the term that includes opposition to capital punishment and abortion-as-birth control), I have to say it is one area where I strongly disagree with my candidate.
I believe in the exception for the safety of the mother, but the fact is that late-term abortion is happening in this country because many doctors are using an exceptionally broad definition of “health” to include social factors so that abortionists can preform abortions on late-term fetuses who face no apparant health risks in the physical sense through the “health of the mother” loophole.
My religious convictions are that the most vulnerable members of society deserve as much as anyone else: whether its the minority, the immigrant, the elderly, the disabled, the criminal, or the unborn. More than religious convictions, our country has an incredibly permissive abortion mandate that has resulted in the targeted extermination of handicapped children. To me, this is not about “choice”. People who perpetrate theft, coercion, and violence against others aren’t allowed freedom of “choice” when it comes to harming another person. Civil law exists so that people can be free, and no person can be free if their life is terminated. The demands of most of us in the pro-life movement are simple: when there are so many adoptive parents out there desperate to take a child into their home, all we ask is that mothers would give their child a few months of shelter in the womb so that the child can be given a chance to enter a loving home and live the life God has given them.
Its true that the issue is not as “black and white” as some people say, at what point in gestation does a fetus have rights? The way our society judges the end of life is by brain activity– if you are in a car accident and doctors determine you are brain-dead, you’re dead. Science has determined that fetal brain activity begins at about 12 weeks. It seems to me this is a reasonable and rational place to put restrictions on abortion-as-birth control; the unique human life within the womb should be entitled the rights of any human being with functioning brain activity. While I’m personally opposed to any abortion-as-birth control, those are matters of religious conviction that I can’t project into a pluralistic society. But some measure of human rights must be determined by that pluralistic society, and I think brain activity is as good a measure as any.
So when Obama is elected, as one of his supporters I will lobby for him to seek out a sensible plan to put more restrictions on abortion-as-birthcontrol, without endangering the physical health of mothers. I think our society has deceived itself with a false vision of what freedom is. Freedom and responsibility go hand in hand, and “choice” cannot trump responsibility to the vulnerable members of our society.
about 3 years ago
Dear Becky, I tiik a few days to think about both our conversation on the phone the other night as well as your post. God sometimes humbles us through the most unexpected sources, this one being my daughter. I have always considered myself pretty intelligent & well read. After we spoke, I realized that I cannot continue to think I can speak authoritatively on any political issues. I kidded myself that I was pretty well versed on what the “party platforms” were, because I watched the news every day. What I know is that my view of these platforms is still based on the political platforms of the 1970′s, when I really did pay attention & research. The issues I feel passionate about really are no longer as black & white as they once were. And I don’t only speak about abortion or the pro-life issue. It is truly a difficult time we live in to try and figure out what is the right thing to do when the lines have become blurred and more difficult to sort out. And people like me, need to take the blinders off and start truly looking at a non-partisan assessment of where each candidate has stood on the things that are important to me. You’re right Becky, pro-life encompasses all life and the right to protection in all of its forms. Which includes looking at the health care crisis, caring for our unborn, poor, elderly, mentally or physically disabled, and the middle class families just trying to make ends meet, just to name a few. Thanks for opening my eyes to the danger of complacency in a time where it is more important than ever to have a voice.
about 3 years ago
Did you watch House this week? Was that like really well planned or just coincidence?