Thursday, August 18, 2005
Pro-Life? Pro-Choice? Pro-Conversation!
Thanks to Philocrites, I read this article on how Democrats could broaden their support among all manner of Christians.
I liked the article a lot, because it really reflected a lot of my own views about abortion. I think abortion is complicated. I think we need to talk about abortion...a lot. I think we need to listen about abortion...a lot. To scientists, to doctors, to those who have or have not had abortions for various reasons, to ethicists, to religious leaders and theologians on both sides of the issue, to everyday people who consider abortion the most important issue in US politics today.
I don't think there is a quick answer to such a complex issue. But I would love to hear conversation rather than rhetoric. I would love active listening rather than vitriol spewing from both sides. Mostly I would love tolerance, from both sides, for those of us who really aren't sure what the ethical position is here, but are willing to try to work it out.
I mean, what if abortion was outlawed. Who would that actually prevent from getting an abortion? Couldn't rich people still get one? Who would then be trying to do it with a coat hanger in their bathroom? The young, the poor, the vulnerable?
If abortion is morally equivalent to taking a human life after a certain point of fetal development, is outlawing abortion after that point the best way to stop people from having abortions? Murder is illegal, but we still have a lot of those.
And how do we decide at what point abortion becomes murder? And how do we consider extenuating circumstances such as the health of the mother? If abortion is murder is it ever self defense? Is abortion ever justifiable for mental health reasons?
Also if we convince people without the means to care for their children to carry them to term anyway, what happens to the babies after they are born?
I really need to have these conversations with people who will listen, and talk, and think, and work with me through these issues before I can come to any sort of conclusion. Unfortunately, some on both sides are more threatened by conversation that might soften the lines between black and white than by the continuation of the current toxic rhetoric that divides our country. If the Democrats can figure out a way to make such a conversation happen, I will spend the rest of my free time until November campaigning for every Democratic candidate in the United States. Heck, I'm tempted to start a dialogue group myself for that very purpose. Maybe a Democrat bigwig will read the article too and become just as inspired to work towards conversation as I have been. I can dream, can't I?
Originally posted on June 14, 2004
I liked the article a lot, because it really reflected a lot of my own views about abortion. I think abortion is complicated. I think we need to talk about abortion...a lot. I think we need to listen about abortion...a lot. To scientists, to doctors, to those who have or have not had abortions for various reasons, to ethicists, to religious leaders and theologians on both sides of the issue, to everyday people who consider abortion the most important issue in US politics today.
I don't think there is a quick answer to such a complex issue. But I would love to hear conversation rather than rhetoric. I would love active listening rather than vitriol spewing from both sides. Mostly I would love tolerance, from both sides, for those of us who really aren't sure what the ethical position is here, but are willing to try to work it out.
I mean, what if abortion was outlawed. Who would that actually prevent from getting an abortion? Couldn't rich people still get one? Who would then be trying to do it with a coat hanger in their bathroom? The young, the poor, the vulnerable?
If abortion is morally equivalent to taking a human life after a certain point of fetal development, is outlawing abortion after that point the best way to stop people from having abortions? Murder is illegal, but we still have a lot of those.
And how do we decide at what point abortion becomes murder? And how do we consider extenuating circumstances such as the health of the mother? If abortion is murder is it ever self defense? Is abortion ever justifiable for mental health reasons?
Also if we convince people without the means to care for their children to carry them to term anyway, what happens to the babies after they are born?
I really need to have these conversations with people who will listen, and talk, and think, and work with me through these issues before I can come to any sort of conclusion. Unfortunately, some on both sides are more threatened by conversation that might soften the lines between black and white than by the continuation of the current toxic rhetoric that divides our country. If the Democrats can figure out a way to make such a conversation happen, I will spend the rest of my free time until November campaigning for every Democratic candidate in the United States. Heck, I'm tempted to start a dialogue group myself for that very purpose. Maybe a Democrat bigwig will read the article too and become just as inspired to work towards conversation as I have been. I can dream, can't I?
Originally posted on June 14, 2004
