My Views on the Recent Abortion Debate

     I remember when abortion was first becoming a popular debate. At that time it seemed like environmental extremists were forwarding it as a solution to “over-population” and “world hunger” (I remember seeing a popular film in school featuring scientists working on the “world hunger” problem. I haven't seen it since then, but that's a whole other discussion about global politics). Later the cause was taken up by extreme feminists as an alternative to being 'tied down' to raising children. I totally get that an unprepared young woman would have a deep fear of giving birth and raising a child. I understand how so many are unable to deal with the challenges associated with all of it. But I think our world has largely taken the wrong course in dealing with the trauma these women face. Instead of dealing with it in a way that would actually heal, we have manipulated it and turned it into a matter for political manuevering. As I've watched the abortion issue unfold since I first became aware of it, said extremists have manipulated the courts and the governing powers. They have managed to make abortion the natural “go-to” method of dealing with unwanted pregnancies. It's funded by taxpayers whether they agree to it or not. It doesn't matter now whether the baby is alive or not, or how close it is to being fully human. Adoption is hardly mentioned. If you fear it; if you don't want to deal with it, just kill it.

     But the contrast between what I consider life's purpose and 'man's [faulty] wisdom' is manifest in this issue as well as many others. I believe we are on Earth to learn from our challenges and earn character by seeing tough things through (and it seems like we get PLENTY of opportunities). Everything really worthwhile that we do brings on risk, fear, sacrifice and challenge, including marriage, having babies, raising teenagers, seeing a spouse or a parent suffer through illness, and on and on. Man's “wisdom” has attempted to create 'easy' alternatives to all of these things. But they are often grounded in fear rather than in faith; in selfishness rather than sacrifice. If you fear it, just kill it. If you don't want to raise a child, kill it. If you don't want to try to work things out through a tough marriage, kill it. If you don't want to be inconvenienced by a down-syndrome child, kill it. If you don't want to hear someone exercise their First-Amendment rights when they don't agree with you, kill it. The list goes on.

     I agree that education is a huge key. Along with a detailed run-down of the adoption process it could include other things. That education should include talking to women who were taught that abortion is just the natural, easy “go-to” and later suffered depression and struggled through years of doubt and/or emotional problems from it. It should include a look at how many men and women, historical and otherwise, would have been aborted according to today's 'easy go-to' standards and have gone on to create and do amazing things for society or for their families. It should include the science of when a heart begins to beat and when pre-birth bonding begins to occur. It might even include testimonies of former abortionists who have suffered emotional trauma as a result of their careers. Again, the list goes on. Of course, it should include therapy.

     But along with that we need a general shift in our governmental approach. The powers that be should resign and get out of the role of being family managers. But we are too far gone for that. Their course, then, should be to stop playing favorites. Instead of funding for abortions being so easy to obtain, to the point that it has become a viable business opportunity (just kill it on us!), adoption should be the easier choice to make. If I have to pay taxes to help young women who are not sure they can or want to raise a child, I'd much rather those funds go to education that supports life and to adoption agencies. Make that the viable business opportunity. And then, instead of adoption being so encumbered by bureaucracy and red tape, put that burden onto the abortion industry. As part of that, candidates for having a tax-funded abortion (remember, the actual candidate FOR an abortion is not getting the choice) should be required to fill out forms, get therapy, and go through red tape. One of the forms should be a questionnaire, and one of the questions should ask the candidate to name the father, if at all possible. The father, then, should bear part or all of the cost or face any applicable charges along with or instead of the potential mother, depending on how it all came to be. In cases of sexual abuse of some sort this might provide another way for him to be held responsible if the courts don't support a rape case. If the pregnancy was not a case of rape or its equivalent, another question on the form should require the candidate to reason through the steps that brought on the pregnancy and how conception might have been avoided if it is unwanted. It might also require her to take steps to prevent further pregnancies that might burden tax-payers, either through abortion or adoption, with penalties attached. In any case involving a choice between abortion or adoption, particularly if funded by tax-payers, therapy, education and decisions should all occur as early as possible to avoid any late-term abortions. In rare cases of purposeful stalling and/or cruelty to a late-term child appropriate penalties should be enforced against all responsible parties, each being judged on a case-by-case basis.