Abortion Battle is Back
Well, it appears that, with the nomination of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the abortion battle is back in the forefront of American politics. Some are even saying that the whole election will be decided by this issue, now in its 4th decade of American debate. Fortunately, this is not an issue that I, nor anyone in my family, have ever had to (or chosen to) deal with.
Much has been made of Sarah Palin’s decision to have her fifth child despite the knowledge that he had Downs Syndrome. This was revealed in a test called an amniocentesis test, which is recommended by many, if not most, obstetricians for expectant mothers of any age and more or less required for mothers-to-be over age 40, such as Gov. Palin. In my experience, my wife and I chose not to even have the test performed, because, just like Gov. Palin, it would not have made a difference to us. Our “choice” would have been to have the child(ren) regardless of any genetic defects present.
I am pro-life. Further, I am pro-life without exception. Yes, even if the mother’s health is in danger. The granting and taking away of life is not my responsibility; it is God’s and, therefore, I will not make that choice. I thank God that I did not have to choose between my wife or my baby (or, possibly, losing both) as it would have been agonizing. However, as a man of principles, I cannot say that abortion is OK if this or if that. That is just too wishy-washy for me.
All that being said, I do not believe that this is a political issue. Or, better said, I WISH it was not a political issue. I cannot believe that our nation is at a point in its political life that the concept of when life begins defines our debates and political choices. It is indeed a sad day; how can we decide how to govern ourselves if we can’t even decide what constitutes a human life? How can we decide how to educate our children when we can’t even decide if we want them to live? This issue should have been put to bed years ago, but, here we go again…