Earlier this week a friend of mine brought up the issue of abortion and what each of the two major political candidates wants to do about it. Its had me thinking a lot all week. As far as I can gather from their websites; the republican candidate says we should repeal Roe vrs Wade and turn the decision back to the individual states. The democratic candidate says that we should not make abortion illegal but we should have programs to fully educate women who are thinking about doing this and give tax benefits to those who carry the child to term and give it up for adoption.If abortion were made completely illegal in the US, do you think we'd have a lot of people going to Mexico or Canada to have it done or worse, in the back of a dirty old van or something. Yikes!
I guess it all comes down to agency again. I believe a child is a person at the moment of conception. I also believe that in cases of incest, rape or jeopardizing the mother's life, abortion is something to be prayerfully considered. The point is that those are the things that I believe and I'm not going to force them on anyone else. I agree that we need to make education about this decision mandatory before anyone goes through with it. And I like the idea of giving people incentives to choose life. I know of so many people who'd be willing to adopt... who would make wonderful parents... who would PAY all the expenses.
At the same time I guess I'm sorta hypocritical because I don't think all the states would make the right choice on the abortion topic if the decision went to individual states... And I know that in spite of incentives and wonderful programs, there would still be people who chose to have abortions regardless.
The point is, I don't think the issue of abortion is going to sway my vote one way or the other because I don't think either candidate has the fix-it answer.
I guess I'll go to bed now. Tell me what you think about this topic.
4 comments:
Don't think too hard about the candidates and abortion. Obama says pro-choice to appeal to his base and McCain says leave it to the states so Washington doesn't have to address this political quagmire any longer. Instead, we should be thinking about what is ethically and morally right or wrong for our society. Where could these paths lead?
Everyone agrees, including the church, that in severe cases, abortion may be a choice after careful consideration. I take issue with abortion being a procedure of convenience no matter what the circumstance of conception may be. No matter how one looks at it, whether the mother's life is in jeopardy or individuals do not want a life-long reminder of rape or incest, a child is being killed in an ugly way and sometimes in an inhumane way. (I cite the closet incidents)
Too bad those children cannot be heard. I think they would be saying, let me live. I have dreams.
Amen to PJ. It's such a touchy subject that I'm leary of even voicing an opinion but in this case, I almost feel that I have to. I am against abortion in all but the most extreme cases, like you said in your post. But I must disagree with the idea of it being a case of agency as if it were someone's choice to drink or not to. I believe that it is murder and that the unborn child should be protected the same way you would argue to protect a newborn who is inconvienient to the parent. Oooo. You stirred up a hot bed of ideas with this one.
Andrea
Heated topic, for sure! Consider this: should murder continue to be illegal? Or should we make that a matter of personal agency? I know there are the cases of rape and incest to consider, but I still view abortion as murder. Things get pretty sticky when you start talking about legislating morality. I'm never quite sure exactly where I stand on that one. I guess God doesn't have a problem with moral laws and codes. After all, Thou shalt not kill is one of His commandments (which is the highest possible law). I think you're right that people will choose to abort whether it's legal or not. Just like people still commit murder. But when something is illegal, at least there are penalties when the person is caught. Aaaah... but I ramble... I'm sorry this wasn't a very well thought-out or articulated comment. It's late. I like having these kind of discussions, though... so thanks for provoking thought!
I wrote my comment before I read the other two comments, and I totally agree with both of them! Amen to life and a baby's right to have it.
One last thing really quickly: I've been a terrible commenter lately (or should I say as usual?)... but I've been trying to keep up on reading blogs. I'm sorry to hear you've been so overwhelmed! School can definitely do that to you, ESPECIALLY if you're working, as well. I never tried doing both at once until I was married, and it was miserable. Just hang in there-- and do what you think is best. I honestly don't know what advice I would offer. I hate debt... but I want you to graduate! More debt or bad grades or insanity? Which is the lesser of the evils? Let me know how things work out for you. You're SO CLOSE to graduation. You can do it!
Yes... I forgot to mention that I do also think abortion is murder no matter how you look at it.
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