Written May 17, 2019, posted on Facebook.
So, lots of talk related to the issue of abortion. Which I tend to not comment on because I can't just simply agree. I definitely am on the pro-choice side of the legal issue, but I don't agree with everything pro-choice people say. Some things I strongly disagree with.
The "pro-life" side, the argument (at it's best at least) seems to be unborn children have a right to life, therefore abortion is morally wrong, and therefore it should be illegal. Unborn children have a right to life, I have no problem with that idea (though one can be more nuanced about it). Therefore it's morally wrong... as a general viewpoint that's more or less how I feel, but, for me, that does not at all extend to judging particular people in particular situations. I hear woman who tell stories of why they got an abortion, and I can't judge. I can't say they are wrong. And the idea of doing so is alien to me. And, so, as you can imagine, I also don't agree with jumping from "it's morally wrong" to "it should be illegal". I don't believe in basing laws on morality.
I think laws should be based on rights. Protecting rights. And not just as a statement that something is wrong because it's infringes on someone's rights, but practically protecting rights. I'm not going to go into all the detail of my thinking on this issue, but there's a few thoughts I want to share.
I do think abortion is not a good thing, and we should do everything we can to minimize abortions. But I don't at all like the idea of doing that by legally preventing a woman who wants an abortion from getting one. I'd rather we, as a society, do what we can so she's not in that situation. Which can mostly be summed up as: support women. Make birth control available and affordable. Men, don't have sex with women without their full and clear consent. And do your part to create a culture where that's the norm. And let's support pregnant women and mothers. No matter how the mother got pregnant.
I dislike the "exception for rape or incest" idea. It seems to me supporting such a provision in an abortion law comes from either wanting the law to be based on mortality, or else a compromise because it's better than the same law without that provision. But I don't like the idea of a woman having to prove she was raped. I don't like the idea of the woman's decision being everyone else's business. Seems to me better to leave it to her, her chosen medical professionals, and those she goes to for support. Trying to implement an "exception" law, for those reasons or medical reasons, seems both really messy to implement and unfair to women.
And I dislike that abortion being illegal, rather than this stopping abortions, it would mean going back to the days when women can't trust the safety of an abortion. The law does a good job of making sure abortions are safe. How about we let it do that and work to reduce/eliminate abortions in a way that supports and empowers women.
And then there's the fact that it seems like those that push for anti-abortion laws aren't coming from a place of respecting life. And if you don't respect women (or blacks, or foreigners, etc), then you can't really be said to respect life.
