I tend to think of myself as relatively moderate in my political beliefs with a lean to the conservative, but it's pro-life crazies like this lady that make me want to run as far away from the right as I can just so I won't be grouped in with these wackos. Speaking on the recent FDA approval of Lybrel, a new birth control pill that suppresses a woman's menstrual cycle while taking it, the president of the National Abstinence Clearinghouse, Leslee Unruh, pretty much has absolutely nothing intelligent to say at all other than her closing rant, "I want babies! More babies! We love babies!" Perhaps we should send all the crack babies and abandoned children from all over the world who resulted from unwanted pregnancies to her doorstep to take care of.
Unfortunately, it's the radicals that really muddy the waters of what otherwise could have been an intelligent debate of pro-life versus pro-choice.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
So I guess she's saying I've been sleeping with a man all these years...
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6 comments:
I'm just as torn with abortion as is the country as a whole. I think that it is terrible that a person is killed. Not a lump of tissue, a person.
I mean, we're all lumps of tissue.
That being said, I also firmly believe that women often get stuck with the kid, and the father takes off. And I've also seen what happens to people when they grow up unwanted. And finally, in my experience, the people who blow up clinics and murder doctors are the usually the same ones who don't want to pay for head start programs, welfare, school lunch programs, and so on. They'll commit murder to make sure you are born, just don't ask for help once you're here.
So, whenever it comes down to my vote, I vote for a woman's right to abortion, as much as it pains me.
Since I'm not the one who has to carry, nurse, and generally be most responsible for the child, I don't feel right telling women they MUST bear the responsibility for the action of two people.
I also find it funny that the majority of the people who fight for the right to life also fight for capital punishment. When exactly does life become unsacred?
My personal thoughts ... I am pro-life, but I agree with Firecracker in that if you claim the pro-life stance then you better be ready to help out.
I do believe that adoption is an avenue and I also believe in helping with the financial side of it.
One reason I am pro-life is that abortion could easily be considered genocide. "The deliberate and systematic extermination of an unwanted group of people based on their nationality, race, politcal, or cultural group." Slowly I am becoming more compassionate for this sort of thing which makes me pleased about the sanctions imposed on the Sudan by Bush today.
I also have to say too though that I would not condemn a woman who has had an abortion. Actually I feel a great amount of passion for these women becuase I know there is some great hurt involved. This also makes me think that while the woman talked about in this post has been hypocritical, I must also extend grace and forgiveness to her as well.
Yeah, I think any woman that could have an abortion and not feel a great sense of hurt or loss is a little loopy.
And I would love to see all children adopted. However, I don't feel we should make women always carry to term. I guess I feel their right to own their bodies wins out, but it is definitely a phyric victory. It's just the side of the fence I sit on. And I fully agree with Mother Teresa's statement, "It is a poverty that someone must die so you can live as you wish." Of course, not all abortions are about simple birth control.
Honestly, I've felt for years that my idea of perfect is we all get birth control in the water supply. Only when we pass a test of parenthood do we get the antidote. As for becoming a single parent purposefully, I guess some single parents do better than some pairs, but I still think the ideal is two parents, and from both genders, too.
I've always considered myself pro-life, but I'm gradually moving towards the pro-choice movement.
The problem with the whole debate is that radicals seem to take control. Perhaps it's because their extreme statements are the ones that make for "good" news bites, and drown out the less heated and intelligent discussions. Pro-choicers are labeled as "baby killers" and pro-lifers are vilified as "anti-feminists" trying to keep women in their place. As pointed out by the earlier comments, though, the argument is much more complex. Most women do not look to abortion as an easy way out of pregnancy, and there truly is a substantial emotional anguish in terminating a pregnancy, whether they believe a fetus is a life or not. On the pro-life side, proponents of banning abortion with cooler heads are just trying to protect a human life.
In the end, I think the argument really just boils down to whether a fetus is a human life or not one, and I don't think it's an issue that will ever get a real consensus. I side on considering the fetus a living human being, but at the same time, I don't think it's my place or anyone else's to condemn a woman for thinking otherwise. Biology dictates that women ultimately have to deal with a pregnancy, and I especially feel uncomfortable as a man telling women what they can or cannot do. In the end, we all have to face our God, and will ultimately learn whether our actions were right or wrong from our creator. Sometimes I think it's rather odd that the radical pro-life camp, many of whom call themselves Christians, seem to forget that and step into the role of a judgemental God themselves.
That being said, I can sort of understand a bit of what irks the far right on this matter. Often times the situations leading to a woman even needing an abortion in the first place stem from bad moral choices. Granted, I never had women just offering their bodies to me, so I can't really relate to the level of sexual temptation that some have gone through in their lives. Still, outside of rape or molestation, we all make our own choice as to whether we're ready for sex or not, and we should all be ready to deal with the consequences of our actions. The availability of birth control certainly lessens those worries, and one could argue, has contributed to a more promiscuous society. Now I'm not saying I'm against birth control, but I think its effects on our morals and the merits of abstinence shouldn't be completely dismissed.
As far as Wander's comment, I guess the only thing I can come up with is that pro-life proponents are trying to protect the life of a defenseless baby. People (or most people, I should say) getting the death penalty got there because of their own decisions.
Anywho, this discussion sure could use a female perspective, although when I ask my wife, she just uses the time to rub-in the fact that I'm moving left so she can say, "See? I was right all along. Now go vote for Hillary."
Well, maybe birth control has contributed to greater promiscuity, but sex outside of marriage has existed since the invention of marriage.
That, and I obviously don't think that sex should be reserved solely for marriage. I think it's ideal, but not required. I mean, if I had waited until I got married, I probably would have married whomever came along just to get laid, and then wound up in a bad marriage.
Hmmm, wait a minute. :D
Actually, when I think about it, those of who weren't active until marriage are all still married. Out of those of us active before, only one is not divorced.
That just shoots my theory all to hell. It does however reinforce (I believe) that living together is bs. I was against it before I got married, but I didn't know why. Now I do. It's a shit or get off the pot kind of thing. People say, "well, I want to see if I can live with him/her first." I think that's crap. If any issue about sharing a living space would seriously jeopardize whether or not you would marry someone, you don't need to be getting married.
Which is why I won't be doing it again.
Anywho, yeah it is always the loudest and goofiest who get the most attention. I support a woman's right to abortion, but not with any real conviction. At the same time, my support for the death penalty is wanning, as it doesn't undo the crime. It also costs more than life imprisonment, doesn't show itself to be an effective deterrent, and I'm really souring on the idea of the government having the right to kill people.
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