If you could choose again… Making Abortion Rare
By E M Barner | Thursday, January 22nd, 2009 | Policy
I have a question for you: What if you could choose again?
If you had an abortion, what factors (changes in circumstance, additional support, etc) would have helped you choose to continue your pregnancy?
If you chose to continue your pregnancy, what factors helped you make that choice?
One commenter on my earlier post suggested that true compassion for women facing an unplanned pregnancy might include increased public assistance dollars. Another proposed comprehensive sex education plus expanded access to birth control (taxpayer funded?) as a solution.
It would seem that the most likely points of agreement between pro-life and pro-choice partisans are that
1 – reducing unplanned pregnancy is a good thing
2 – our society is not giving women the support they need to choose life over abortion
I believe every person conceived has an inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I believe those rights are endowed by our Creator and that they should be secured in law, such that they cannot be abridged without due process of law.
A lot of you will disagree with me about that. But what about this: abortion should be safe, legal and NEVER?
“There is no reason why government cannot do more to educate and inform and provide assistance so that the choice guaranteed under our constitution either does not ever have to be exercised or only in very rare circumstances.”
Guess who said that? None other than Sen. Hillary Clinton.
My guess is that preborn humans won’t be adequately protected by law in the near future. So, what about Sen. Clinton’s approach?
Here is the common ground question: what would make abortion more rare?
Since we can debate approaches to sex education until the cows come home and since we all agree that reducing unplanned pregnancy is a good goal, let’s just discuss what can be done to help ensure that no woman feels forced to choose between her child and her future. What should individuals do? what should the non-profit sector do? what is the role of business? what can / should government do?
To get us thinking, we might consider how Dr. Alveda King talks about her abortion experience (one chosen; one not), quoting her uncle:
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dr. King’s honest confession was echoed by dozens of women who told their own abortion stories in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building today, as part of the annual March for Life.
What’s your experience? Has abortion touched your life? Have you lost a child? a sibling? a niece or nephew? How did your abortion (or your girlfriend / wife’s abortion) affect you?
Commenters, please be kind, gentle and respectful as you interact on this sensitive topic.
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About the author
E M Barner, the blogger formerly known as DCH / De Civitate Hominis (“concerning the city of man”), writes from a Northern Virginia perspective. Barner has been active in Republican politics and policy since 1994 – as a grassroots volunteer, party leader, and professional.
Comments
2 Responses to "If you could choose again… Making Abortion Rare"
I think that as we fight to end abortion in the judicial and legislative realm, we can also give practical help to mothers who are weighing whether or not to have an abortion. There are several pregnancy help centers across the state, we need even more.
One of the biggest lies propogated by the pro-abortion lobby is that cultural conservatives do not care about the mother. Nothing can be further from the truth.
We care about the mother and the baby. That is why we oppose abortion.
I’m about as pro-life as anyone I know. Too many abortions are done because, despite incredibly easy access to birth control, someone chooses not to use any. Too many abortions happen because a flimsy relationship becomes flimsier and instead of a pregnancy keeping a guy close, he runs. Too many abortions happen because of the inconveniences and lifestyle changes that a child inevitably brings to a couple.
But, the abortion issue is much broader.
Marriages are throwaway. After vowing to be with someone until death, we can wake up one morning and file a document to end that vow with no problem.
We can get $400,000 mortgages for homes we have absolutely no sane reason or ability to afford, run up credit cards for 52-inch tvs, hot tubs and cars 3 times more expensive than we need, then default on the mortgage, file bankruptcy screw our creditors out of the money we didn’t pay for our lifestyles, and other than a bad credit report, walk away scot free.
No one is responsible for anything anymore.
If your company (or your arts organization – yes, I’m going there) spends insane amounts of money, and you have a deficit because your spending ego didn’t result in a lot of revenue, there’s a bailout waiting for you.
In government, nobody’s budget can get cut. Day after day the General Assembly hears testimony of the horrible results if some agency doesn’t get their money.
THEIR MONEY!!??!!??
Isn’t anyone responsible for themselves anymore?
Will Obama stand up and say “The reason we’re in this recession is that too many people borrowed money they didn’t have on things they didn’t need and never paid it back.”
Will Obama say to American businesses “when the things people buy in America aren’t made in America, it makes it very difficult to reverse a recession.”
Consumer spending is down, and I think one thing that tells us is how much our economy depends on buying things that aren’t necessary.
We have 100s of restaurants everywhere because people would rather spend 20 bucks per entree rather then spend a fraction on that cooking at home.
We now all own more movies in our home than we ever even went to see as a child. Since when did we need to own 500 movies on a shelf at home that we never really watch more than once anyway?
That’s the problem that has fueled the abortion movement to a point where I wonder if we can ever go back to the point of valuing life.
Marriages are disposable. Personal failures are excusable. Individual debt responsibility is a thing of the past.
And people will fight to keep the right to end an inconvenient pregnancy.
Somehow, we need to reverse this trek that began in earnest in the 60s where self-focus took a giant leap over responsibility.
If you can’t afford a home, don’t buy it. If you don’t produce products people need, you’ll go out of business without a bailout to erase your mistake. If you don’t want a baby, don’t get pregnant. If you don’t want to be married for the rest of your life, don’t make a vow promising to do it.
I wonder if Obama has the guts to ever say that to America.
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