heath sent me
an article this afternoon that has to do with the whole controversy surrounding vp candidate sarah palin's pregnant teenage daughter. the author makes some interesting points in the article, but the one that resonates most with me is the following (emphasis added):
This is not a Republican issue or Democratic problem. We need to put aside the partisan B.S. and confront unplanned pregnancies. Let's do all we can to keep our kids from either having pre-marital sex or unprotected sex.
Then we won't have to deal with them choosing to have an abortion or not, or, as the Palins noted in their statement, seeing our children "grow up faster than we had ever planned" and having to confront "the difficulties of raising a child."
this is consistent with opinions I've had regarding abortion for a long long time. i have to say i'm pro-choice, but the reasoning behind it is not based on some women's rights-hippie-liberal yay kill babies position. it's based on my careful reflections on the issue.
i don't think abortion should be made illegal. that being said, i think abortions are an awful awful thing and want nobody to ever have to even consider one. i firmly believe that if they are made illegal, desperate women (and girls) will turn to the "black market" abortion options that will undoubtedly emerge. there, they will be exposed to even greater risks than those already associated with the procedure, such as lack of sterile facilities, untrained practitioners, etc. the problem of abortion is not due to abortion being legal - it is due to unwanted pregnancies. if we can address that problem, the abortion issue will resolve itself.
abortions are not the problem, they are the symptom, and simply eliminating the symptom does not cure the disease. i'm pleased that somebody else (with a louder voice than me) has stated this perspective as well.
i know my pro-choice perspective puts off some more conservative folks, but please remember that pro-choice does not mean pro-baby killing. it simply means that i do not believe that legislating against this unfortunate procedure would be an effective way of eliminating the problem. in fact, i think it would make things worse.
