Friday, 27 March 2009
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Another Stance on Abortion
Shalom
Yes, one out of 1,000,000 posts about abortion found on Xanga. It gets old, doesn't it? Stupid Hot-Button issues! The truth is, this is an important topic for just about everyone. Human rights activists, Religious advocates, Women's rights activists, Republicans, Democrats; we all have something to say on the issue.
First, let me talk about the two biggest sides to this issue:
Pro-Life & Pro-Choice
Pro-Life- The supporters of the pro-life side to abortion typically believe that life starts at conception. Most believe that the embryo/fetus has a soul and a whole life ahead of itself, and to take this life would be considered murder. The pro-life supporters also believe that abortion should be illegal and some believe that any woman who gets an abortion (and any doctor giving the abortion) should get the same sentence as any ordinary murderer.
Pro-Choice- People who believe in the right for a woman to choose what she wants to do with her body are known as being "Pro-Choice" (as if I need to tell you). The supporters of this side of abortion feel that a woman's right to do what she wants to her own body is not only a women's right issue, it is unconstitutional to deny it. For these people, it is all about basic American rights.
I will say though, in many ways, both sides are often misunderstood. If you are pro-choice, it is important to look at the pro-life side. Call your attention on the fact that these people DO believe that abortion IS murder. They have every right to believe this. There has never been anything to prove that they are wrong, and in all actuality, one can't deny that abortion is taking away a life of some sort. Whether or not that life has a soul is debatable. Anyway, the pro-choice side needs to realize why the pro-life side would want to make illegal, seeing as they believe that this is murder.
Now, if you are pro-life, you need to understand that people who believe in pro-choice don't LOVE the idea of abortion. They are not Satanists who gather together, sacrificing babies and drinking blood. They just believe that it is an American right for a person to be able to do whatever he or she wants to do with his or her body (there are things that people can't do with his or her own body. Drugs for instance, but that is a topic for another day). I guess what I'm saying is, to the pro-choice side, it is less about killing babies, and more about basic American rights.
Both sides have good arguments. Both sides are right in areas. Both sides are wrong in areas. Believe it or not, we all CAN get along, if you are willing to let it happen.
So then there is me... Where do I fit in?
I am lost somewhere in the middle of these two sides. I am both pro-life and pro-choice. I believe that life starts at conception, therefore, I believe that abortion is technically murder.
What I DON'T believe in, is churches putting too much time and money into something that is a lost cause.
Why is it a lost cause? Because, whether you want to believe it or not, abortion is a human right and fully constitutional. Yes, I said that I do not agree with the idea of aborting babies. However, I live in the USA, where sometimes our own rights cross the laws of God.
I will tell you exactly what I believe. I am a Christian. I try to put my all into following Christ, and I do the best I can. I also consider myself a Christian Anarchist (if you think the terms contradict, ignore it and call me a Jesuian). What this means is, I obey the government, as commanded by Christ, but I do not get involved in its practice. So if America says that Abortion is ok... well then fine. I'm not an American. I am a Christian that happens to live in America. See that? I separated myself... I am living in the world, but not being of it. So, since America (the majority) believes that Abortion is not morally wrong, I have no real right as a Christian to challenge that. If I wasn't a Christian and I was pro-life, it may be a different situation... But I try to make all that I do, reflect a biblical way of living. And I believe that the Bible teaches us not to push what we believe on others (we are called to tell people about Christ, not force people to believe). That is a problem with the western church.
I know of a church here in my town that preached a series of sermons on the "terror" of abortion. Within the same month, they cut their funding for the town Harbor House. The Harbor House is a place for pregnant teenagers who's parent's kick them out of the house. They are then left to take care of themselves on their own.... The Harbor House is there so these girls would have a place to stay if this happens. But the church that probably gave it the most support cut the funding... the same month it gave a series of sermons on how evil abortion is... talk about hypocritical.
Anyway, I consider myself pro-choice because I believe that God is pro-choice. Big words, huh? Almost sacrilegious, you say? Ok... look at it like this: God gave man a choice; don't eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil or suffer the consequences. See? Pro-choice. We screwed up. We suffer for it.
This is just another issue that we have to step in the shoes of those who believe the opposite of us and walk a mile, because there are so many different directions you can look at this. Personally, I believe that if we are willing to outlaw abortion, we must be willing to fund government programs to help the mothers who can't afford to have kids, as well as foster homes and adoption agencies.
So I am saying all this to say, there are those of us who are in the middle of pro-life and pro-choice. Would I suggest someone to get an abortion? No. I would tell her that I think there are other options, but ultimately, the choice is up to her. I certainly would pray for her though... something we often forget about with all the noise on whether abortion is right or wrong.
What is your stance on abortion?
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Comments (56)
I appreciate your post, but I guess I'm not too into taking stances. I find the Holy Spirit is good at His job. I like your other blogs too! Keep it up.
//Why is it a lost cause? Because, whether you want to believe it or not,
abortion is a human right and fully constitutional. Yes, I said that I
do not agree with the idea of aborting babies. However, I live in the
USA, where sometimes our own rights cross the laws of God.//
Meh... I'd point out that slavery was addressed like this at some point in the past, too. But good post anyhow.
The way I look at it is that we consider a life to end when our heart stops (Whether or not we have brain activity) so why don't we consider life to begin when the heart starts?
I got here via rec, and I am so glad I read this. Great post, very thought provoking. I especially loved the part where you said that you are a Christian who happens to live in America. :) So true. I wish more people saw it that way!
@bassangel - That might be just fine. The matter is that the heart starts beating at around 4 weeks. Over 70 percent of abortions in the US happen after 4 weeks. So if we can define "life" at 4 weeks and ban abortion after that, I would consider an immediate 70% decrease in abortions to be great!
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002398.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5713a1.htm
@scramBledmegZntoasT - I agree! Someone on another blog said that a baby in the womb is a mindless fetus... which only showed how little they knew about fetal development. A baby's brain is completely developed by ten weeks, which is what would be needed for the heart to beat, the baby to suck it's thumb, have facial expressions and move. I think people who support abortion like to distance themselves from those facts because it makes it harder for them to accept it.
I think abortion is good and we should feed the dead fetuses to the homeless so that they will have the protein they need for energy and muscles. Then they can get a job and not have to shake their change cups in my face at the subway station. But remember, give a man a fetus and he will eat for today. Teach him to get his daughter pregnant and he will eat for a lifetime.
@bassangel - //I agree! Someone on another blog said that a baby in the womb is a mindless fetus... //
"Mindless" not "brainless," you metaphorically-challenged cunt.
// A baby's brain is completely developed by ten weeks //
In its gross structure, but not in its maturation, or even function. A brain capable of higher thinking involves a lot more than neural tissue wrapped in the shape of a walnut.
Great post! I was going to write a post about this... well about all issues really where this applies... You know, how we shouldn't push our will on others (the unbelieving anways). But, you stole my idea, but i still love you.
@huginn - No need to be dropping c-bombs there mister! I think what's important is that before ten weeks you have an embryo and embryos make great omelets.
@SKANLYN - read Johnathan Swift much?
@bassangel - //The way I look at it is that we consider a life to end when our heart stops (Whether or not we have brain activity) so why don't we consider life to begin when the heart starts?//
There is a critical difference between being alive, biologically, and being alive morally.
In many states, it is legal for relatives to pull the plug on braindead accident victims with no power of higher thinking. This is regardless of a perfectly working heart, liver, or whatever arbitrary organ you're pinning 'life' on. Our ability to act, and our entire sense of self, rests in higher cognative functions. Brain function and development, then, seems a far better measuring stick of livlihood than your suggestion of heartbeat.
@QuantumStorm - No, Rachael Ray . "Dead Baby Dinners in 30 Minutes". Yummo!
@SKANLYN - Ah. Even better!
This was very well laid-out, fair, and reasonable. Nice job.
@huginn - Why do you bother trying to make logical arguments if you're just going to call people names? Most people write off the people who behave as you do. To quote a friend, "Once you prove you're ... rude, your opinion automatically becomes irrelevant." The advise that followed that statement was for me to ignore the person being rude to me. More than one friend of mine holds this view, which has me thinking it's a fairly common position to have that as soon as the blithe insults begin, tolerance for what the person has to say goes out the window. And the reason this bothers me so much with you is because you're actually intelligent and people should listen to what you have to say instead of ignoring you for the simple fact that your comments are thoughtless (in this context brilliant, but with absolutely no regard to one's emotions). So for goodness sake knock it off, man. People could learn from you if you knew where to draw the line.
You've outlined a view I actually find more unconscionable than being aggressively pro-choice. I didn't know that was possible.
@xthread - A fair and sound critqiue.
You're correct in your criticism here, but there's a bit more of a backstory here than my arbitrary lashing. Bassangel's reference of another blogger was me. I thought her reference here and her identical argument in another thread of discussion was cheap, shallow, and out-of-context. I've already given up on fruitful dialouge with her.
As a general critcism: Yeah, I'm kinda like this. Sometimes, I write as I feel; and somtimes, I'm purposefully mean hoping to draw a response.
@Pickwick12 - Why do you think this?
I like it. Myself, I only see abortion as needed on 4 issues: life of the mother, life of the child, rape, or incest. Any other time is inexcusable. The choice was made when you decided to have sex. If you do not want to suffer the consequence, don't have sex. Humans are the only beings around that can suppress their instincts, and sometimes even change them.
@xthread - There is a saying: "The wicked taketh the truth to be hard". On subjects like this, the only people who would get offended are the ones who are guilty. As a result, they try to save face and either shut out the one who is calling them out, or attack.
@J_Goldens_Shadow - In your moral calculus, why would "rape" be a legitiamate motivation for abortion?
If a fetus does indded deserve the full moral consideration of a full-grown person, it seems odd to justify the snuffing of its life on the inconvineces of the mother.
@huginn - I'll admit, there are many issues to take into account. Obviously, the mother did not choose to take part in the act that conceived that baby. In the latter two cases I mentioned, it's up to the preference to the mother. If she chooses to have the baby, then she could give it up for adoption or raise it as her own. As much as I do not like the idea of abortion, if she wants to get rid of the product of the act in order to heal, then I won't stand in her way. However, these things and more must be taken into consideration. If I was in that situation, I would probably have the baby and give it up for adoption. But that's me and I'm not even a girl.
@J_Goldens_Shadow - //As much as I do not like the idea of abortion, if she wants to get rid of the product of the act in order to heal, then I won't stand in her way.//
So an abortion is generally justified if the degree of social, financial, and psychological anguish of the mother is comparable to that of a rape victim?
@huginn - If it's physically evident, yes.