I just read about the premature baby Amillia. Stories like this always get to me – I know there are intellectual debates that are important about the needs of a mother vs. the needs of a child, but it’s cases like this that bring in the much-needed emotional aspect to issues and complications arising as a result of pregnancy. I know that pro-lifers often ignore real world situations and the potential quality of life after the womb, but pro-choicers often ignore the fact that they’re debating over a person, not a thing.
I know John McCain just came out against Roe v Wade, and although my own conclusions put me in the ‘pro-life’ camp I wouldn’t vote for McCain because I don’t think he’ll make a good president. More generally – I’m against the way this entire debate has been framed by the political and religious establishments.
As for Amillia – she amazes me and proves that we’re talking about the future of peoples’ lives. She survived and is going home today after being born at 22 weeks, weighing under 10 ounces.
The truth is that I’m often disgusted by both sides. Abortion has become another form of birth control and the pro-choicers rarely object, thus perpetuating and enabling a system where money and power means more than people. Pro-lifers get so zealous that they throw out names like ‘murderer’ and declare the judgment of God on nations; meanwhile, ignoring the much more prolonged and horrific deaths of millions a year through disease, famine, war, and capital punishment.
In my estimates, too many of the people fighting for the unborn won’t fight for the living… and too many of those fighting for the living won’t fight for the unborn. Somehow we’ve got to be willing to do both.
8 Responses to “Tuesday February 20, 2007”
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Twitter: EstherCrawford
- @jeffreine that bridge gives me chills
- @jeffreine yep! and watched tv ... I'm pretty sure every night should end like that
- @soccerhaus it was pretty hilarious... then another couple came in and started making out too.. it never ended
February 21st, 2007 at 9:47 pm
The reason pro-lifers (and I am one) get so fired up about it is because its an easy cause…it doesn’t require them to do anything. Doesn’t challenge them really.
Kinda sad, when, like you pointed out, there are many worse situations that are much more worthy causes in the world.
February 21st, 2007 at 8:39 pm
Good thoughts.
February 21st, 2007 at 5:51 pm
Haha, when you attempt to fight for the living elsewhere, your country gets accused of unilateralism.
February 21st, 2007 at 4:55 pm
I am dismayed with the whole issue. How can we respect women’s rights to control their own bodies, and protect all human persons? It’s so complicated.
But at the least I think late abortions ought to be illegal; maternal leave and ERA written into law; adoption made easier; and sex education made more rigorous. (All those things, and not just one of them.)
February 21st, 2007 at 4:26 pm
Esther, I agree with your statement that we somehow have to be “willing to do both”. Even when pro-lifers are guilty of not caring for lives already present (as are many pro-abortion people), it doesn’t make their position wrong – it just shows how incomplete their understanding of the purity of life and the imperfection in all of us to adequately defend all life. I don’t like to try to qualify which deaths are “more horrific” though. I’m also not ashamed to use the correct word to describe the act of invading the sacred and supposedly protected womb to inflict a cruel death upon an innocent one. Also, I would like to see more people rise up and speak up for the African American community – 35% of abortions in the U.S. are performed on them although they make up only 12% of the population and more African Americans have been killed by abortion in the past 27 years than the total number of deaths from ALL OTHER CAUSES COMBINED (info@dayton.righttolife.org). Thank you, dear Esther, for bringing meaningful dialogue to the forefront of people’s minds.
February 20th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
ditto RegularGoy!
February 20th, 2007 at 11:47 am
Those feet look just like Mistys did and she was born at 20weeks! After seeing her I changed my views on abortion! Even at 20weeks she already looked like her brother and sister! She was already a beautifully, fully formed 9oz human! How anyone could abort a baby is beyond me!
February 20th, 2007 at 10:07 am
Both sides work hard to obscure the human cost of their respective positions. You know that I’ve argued that any position on abortion has got to find a balance between the rights of women and the rights of the unborn. There is no easy way to do that, and I haven’t done it yet to my satisfaction.