I’ve really gone back and forth about writing this post. My heart is not to offend anyone, but I feel so deeply about this topic that it seems I almost “must” say something.
Over the past few months, many of my Facebook friends have posted political opinions that I have not agreed with or found to be misinformed, but I am well aware of my own bias and bubble and that due to my own life experiences, I have been nurtured to lean to one side instead of the other.
So I have really tried to hear what my friends say, read the articles they link to and come to a place of understanding in my heart. I have wrestled with the positions that they have proposed and tried to come to honest conclusions based on what they were saying and my own convictions.
Why? Because these people are my friends, not just Facebook friends but REAL friends. Friends I went to school with or worked with or family I’m related to. People whom I’ve laughed with and some I’ve cried with. Good people who are more than just their political opinions, so even though at times, it differs from mine, I have really tried to work through why and how they have come to this conclusion. And even though I still don’t agree with some of what is said, I feel I have really come to a deeper place of respect for what they are saying. I have truly tried to see it from another side and hear the heart that it was coming from even if the words were prickly at times. And along the way, I found that some of my opinions changed, because of what they said.
So now, I have hope that even though there are some out there (whom I care about) that may not agree with me, they will give me the benefit of the doubt and consider the words that I write. This is an issue that is very dear to me, and has become even more personal since we now have two babies in Heaven.
Tomorrow, there are expected to be thousands of people in DC, marching to end abortion. They’ve been doing it every year, for decades. Since Roe vs Wade was passed in 1973 in the US, 54,000,000 babies have been aborted. This is why they march.
I am for women’s rights. I think women should be able to choose what they do with their bodies. I believe that this is a God-given right that everyone should be able to exercise. (And this, in no way, is judgement against those who have walked through abortion. I know dear, tender women who have chosen that path, and I love them.)
But the only time that we should not have the right to do as we want with our lives is if it harms another person. To me, true women’s rights would protect the rights of the smallest women as well: women that have yet to be born, have yet to live their lives, have yet to become the leaders that we need.
And I am not against inexpensive healthcare clinics. My family has recently benefitted from their services, actually. I don’t see any reason to end all of their services. Let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater.
And I completely agree that we need to (and can) do more to help take care of the children that would be the result of in the absence of abortion, by adopting and giving and supporting and educating. I COMPLETELY agree!
I also agree that the change needs to begin in the hearts of those that seek out abortion, and I believe that it is. In recent years, abortions have dropped for the first time since they were legalized, as more and more younger women would not consider abortion as an option.
But even after all of that consideration, I still can’t find justification for abortion.
The truth of what abortion is could possibly have been overlooked in the 70s, but today, with the ultrasound technology that we have and how clearly it shows what we used to wonder – just what is happening in the womb- I find it extremely difficult to understand how the little people inside could be seen as anything but…well…people. Even the word “fetus” in Latin means “the young while in the womb” or “offspring”.
I am also not thrilled by images of men making decisions about women’s bodies, but if they are protecting the rights of the smallest amongst us, then I will take that packaging. My hope is one day women will be involved as well.
We are responsible as a nation for the laws that we allow or disallow, especially because we live in a country where our voices are considered.
We are the only voice they have. So I just have to use mine and say -please, let’s be for them! Let’s give them a chance to cure cancer and bring reformation and discover a way to convert air into energy. Let them teach and build and better our world. Our future students and in-laws and citizens. Let’s let their lives count.
Sources: theatlantic.com/ politifact.com/ aljazeera.com/ etymonline.com
