Abortion Clarity

I wanted to expand on my thoughts on abortion for clarity.

First of all, NO ONE is "in favor" of abortion. Well, okay, maybe the famous Hannibal Lecter might be. But no actual human beings. The minute someone uses that turn of a phrase in a an argument, they have lost the argument.

Back in 1977, me and my ex-wife were faced with this very decision. We were both very young (she 18, me 20), and we had to figure out what we were going to when she found out she was pregnant.

We went to Planned Parenthood for a consultant.

They did NOT try to point us in either direction. Instead, they talked through our options in a realistic fashion so we would know where we stood. It was a long time ago, but I remember them being very fair, open, and kind about everything. I was very impressed.

Cindi and me went home and quickly made the decision to keep our baby, and months later, our dear Nicole was born. Sadly, we only had her for 24 years, as she passed away due to complications of sepsis in 2002. Neither of us has ever recovered from this, because it's simply not something from which you ever "recover." Here we are some 22 years later and I still wake up sometimes crying, and I would imagine she does, too. That's how it is. But I digress.

I am anti-abortion. But I am anti-abortion for ME, a personal policy that should not ever affect anyone else, even a person with whom I might conceive a child (which ain't gonna happen at this advanced age, especially given my 1983 vasectomy!).

This makes me "Pro-Choice," not "Pro-Abortion."

And let me say that I fully understand and appreciate those who are 100% pro-life in all circumstances. If you believe life is precious, and that a fetus is a child, I get where you're coming from. However, that belief must therefore extend to children conceived by rape and incest, too. And it also must extend to the death penalty. A life's a life, right? If you favor any exceptions, that makes you a hypocrite. Sorry.

However, it must be noted that your belief that a fetus is a child comes from religious dogma, not from science nor medicine. There is no way to make that point using either of those things. Yes, there are some physicians who believe that way, but their beliefs ALSO come from religious dogma rather than science or medicine.

Don't get me wrong: if a physician feels that way, they should never, ever be forced to perform an abortion procedure. They should have ever right in the world to step away and hand the case over to another physician.

The problems arise when Physician A starts to try and tell Physician B that THEY cannot perform the procedure. That's where we go off the rails, and that is the difference between a pro-choice person and an anti-abortion person. The latter thinks THEIR beliefs, again based upon religious dogma, extend to folks besides themselves. 

They don't. Ever. This is why the Republicans being hell-bent on "sending the decision back to the votes" is asinine and ingenuous. Face facts: they still want to ben abortion. They just want the states to it for them, not the Federal government. It's a classic Republican dodge.

No one but a woman and her doctor should be allowed to make that decision, period. If Cindi and me had disagreed on that very difficult decision, HER voice should have been the one that held sway, not mine.

These Republican muckity-mucks have already set us back 50 years in social progress and women's rights. Give them another term in office and they are likely to try and take us back another 50 years to a time when Jim Crow laws ruled the land and women and black people were viewed as second class citizens by many.

Don't let them do it.

This election is without a doubt the most important in my long lifetime. I am hoping that the women and young people of this nation will choose a new future in which a woman, a mother, leads us. Where the politics of hatred and derision are no more. Where hope and positivity reign, and ignorance and negativity are rejected.

I am hoping for Kamala Harris, President of the United States.