Pro-choice? Anti-abortion?

There is a discussion on Gary Sigler's board, Heart 2 Heart about Obama...and in part, about his stand on abortion.  Recent events have added fuel to the fire of this controversy.  Following is a post I wrote on the board in response.  Since time is sometimes an issue with posting on this blog....and since I am often out of step with current events, this post will kill two birds with one stone.  It is timely...and it is already written and has gone through the rigors of having the wording tweaked.... and of spell check :)

First of all, I want to say that if my daughters got pregnant...through any means including rape, I would encourage them not to opt for an abortion.  I think life begins the moment sperm hits egg.

But I don't think that the answer to abortion lies in picketing abortion clinics (and taken to the extreme in actually committing acts of violence...even murder...to support pro-life) or in stiffer laws...or a total crackdown on abortion.  The argument that says "women will get abortions anyway" proved true in the life of my grandmother.  She had several back street abortions.  One in a garage where the abortionist had to blow the dust off the instruments.  Once she had her teenage son....my dad... accompany her to a backstreet abortion...a botched one.  He later saved her life when she began to hemorrhage at home hours later and he called an ambulance. 

On Emerging Universalist, an e-group my best cyber bud, annie, and I started, there was a discussion on abortion that went on for a long time.  There is virtually no fighting or mean-spirited debate on our group...but there were totally different opinions and beliefs.  (and there was a long...long...long series of discussions on the presidential elections...with whole hearted support for both candidates)  During the abortion discussion someone posted an article they came across called, Alex Was Aborted.  Following are a few quotes from the article....

Why could Alex not smile?

He was aborted.

"Huh?", you ask.

Yes, Alex was aborted.

You see, Alex's abortion was the drawn-out type, those that last years instead of
moments.

Alex's mother did not want him, but did come to visit him once or twice a year. For that
matter, the grandmother that raised him did not really want him either, but at least she
did have enough compassion to keep him and feed him, and occasionally show him a bit
of affection. His father? I never met him, and to be honest, I could not even say if the
mother knew who he was, let alone Alex. I don't know that for a fact, that is just the
way things are too many times with "living abortions".

No, Alex did not survive a botched abortion. He was simply born to a mother and father
that did not love him. So instead of his left arm, head, right leg, and then his abdomen
being sucked out of his mother's womb by a vacuum, his soul was, and still is as far as I
know, being vacuumed out by a self-centered mother and father who do not care about
him.

Alex was an angry little boy. No, he did not really throw anger-fits as such. His
grandmother would not permit that. She would occasionally chasten him with a stick
about 4 feet long if he misbehaved. About the only thing left in his vacuumed-out soul
was a deep-rooted anger.

And thus Alex could run fast, but he could not smile.

He is a victim of "drawn-out abortion".

So perhaps many of the most dedicated pro-life proponents who fight tirelessly to repeal Roe vs Wade...and outlaw abortions...are really advocates of the "drawn out abortion" spoken of in the article above? Are they are willing to delve in and do all they can for the babies that might be saved when women are convinced to change their minds as they arrive at the doors of the abortion clinic....including financial support....up to a willingness to adopt a child (as has been suggested in some articles I have read) Are they willing to work just as tirelessly for a solution to the plight of children like Alex...and to all the babies born to the crackheads and meth addicts...and to the poor....and the mentally ill....and just in homes where they are not at all wanted. 

Long ago when I was in my early twenties...my sister got pregnant.  She was about 19ish...and not in a long term relationship with the baby's father.  She was torn on what to do.  Her "boyfriend" pushed for an abortion.  It is to my shame that I did not try to talk her out of it and in fact, because of many circumstances in her life at that time, I more or less encouraged it.  I was godless then...an atheist...and had not thought it through.  She became pregnant again shortly afterwards...several months....and had the baby....Joshua.  He was born 10 days early and died on his due date...of SIDS.  My sister looked upon that as a judgment from God. 

I have seen many aspects of the abortion issue. And while I would not consider myself pro choice...and while I do not campaign for a woman's right to choose....I tend to lean that way.  So, perhaps I am an example of someone who is anti-abortion but leans toward pro-choice.  I also think there is merit to the the argument that a government that can tell a woman "no...you cannot have an abortion" is just the opposite end of the same spectrum as a government (like China) that can tell a woman, "yes, you must have an abortion"

The real answer to abortion lies in restoration not laws, in quickening the seed of God which dwells in everyone. When the commandments...which are promises in disguise and not prohibitions.... are so much a part of our nature that killing (as in thou shalt not) is impossible, there will be no more abortions.  (Thanks to my husband, Keith, for pointing out the promises aspect of the commandments to me years ago) 

Long ago...in another life...in a previous marriage that was not Christian but still with a respect for a sanctity of life, we knew a young girl that my ex-husband worked with and was very good friends with.  She got pregnant...purely by circumstance and not carelessness when her doctor didn't warn her that certain antibiotics lowered the effectiveness of the birth control pill.  We offered to adopt the baby.  Sincerely.  She knew us well enough to know that the baby would have had a good home. My ex-husband "campaigned" to adopt the baby.  Sadly, in the end she opted for an abortion. 

And so, I think it is with a heart change and not a "law" change that abortions in this country will end.  All the social programs and aid and well meaning, sincere anti-abortion proponents who are willing to do any and every thing to help raise these babies of aborted abortions will not eliminate abortion until hearts are changed.

From what I have read at supposedly unbiased websites, I think Obama is anti -abortion...but pro-choice.  To many that is a misnomer...but I understand it perfectly. 

And one more thing before I close this rambling post.  As I said, I see pro-life as an issue that includes a much broader scope than an anti-abortion stance...including how one views the war on terrorism, capital punishment and the "drawn out abortions" of children like Alex.  Just how I see it now imho.
Cindi......