NARAL makes my stomach churn. I can’t help but think of my body in Fall 2006, how I got to hear my baby’s heartbeat at 8 weeks gestation, then listened fearfully only to hear silence a week later. With sadness I think of my miscarriage and I wonder how it’s considered a right to actually stop a baby’s heart from beating. How is that okay? Why do we celebrate a fetus’s first movements in the womb and in the next breath say that’s it’s okay to abort a human being of the same age? Baffles me.
NARAL has endorsed Barack Obama for president. And why not? Clearly, the candidate is pro-choice.
Boo to NARAL.
Boo to Obama for supporting abortion.
Boo to this presidential election.
7 Comments
Moriah @ Please Pass the Salt May 14, 2008 7:43 PM
Today (I think on the radio?) I heard someone say if we got Obama as the next President we’d get “B.O.” (get it?) and if we got B.O. for president, our country would stink.
Ha.
charity May 15, 2008 7:53 AM
Is this a surprise?
Adam May 15, 2008 9:22 AM
With a great deal of respect for those who have endured the pain of miscarriages and for whom the topic of abortion must be exceedingly painful, let me point out the gulf between those who desperately want children and those who do not is immense. There is no way to reconcile the two. Those who try will undoubtedly fail and hurt those on either side of the issue.
There are many ways for people to deal with troubles in life. Many of these so-called solutions are not as easy as others; some are painful, others humiliating. Some choose abortion to deal with an unexpected pregnancy. Some choose bankruptcy to deal with financial failures. Some choose to cede their parental rights and put their children in state care. These are not easy choices. While many people think they are easy choices, I find those people often believe the choices to be poor, are not in the position of making those choices, and often trivialize the pain and suffering endured by those making these choices.
Unfortunately, not everyone celebrates a baby’s heartbeat and not everyone agrees when the rights of the child supercede the rights of the mother. Many of the factors are summed up in a Wikipedia series on reproductive rights and its issues; for those who would like to read on the different philosophies and schools of thought go here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reproductive_rights. A box to the right will guide you to different topics. I would suggest reading the section on Libertarianism and reproductive rights. I think it accurately displays the divide among a similarly thinking group of people who pride themselves on rational thought, yet can’t agree on this issue.
Adam May 15, 2008 9:27 AM
B.O. compared to the Bush administration’s moral cesspool… hmm… that’s a no-brainer!
Jeremy May 15, 2008 10:09 AM
It’s not rational thought that propels this divide, it’s prideful, selfish thought. It’s the same for most issues, whether abortion, environmentalism, social welfare, etc. We’re either on one side safeguarding our interests or on the other side defending anothers’. Unfortunately, we’re rarely consistent in this … usually because it’s too inconvenient.
Rebecca May 15, 2008 1:48 PM
We could talk all day about choices that are painful and full of suffering, but I think we can agree that *compassion* needs to be practiced all around, whether or not we agree with someone’s decision.
The crazy thing about rights, that completely confuses me is this: we’re talking about one human being’s right to live versus another human being’s right to live in a certain way. Hm. The right to have a beating heart & breathe air vs. the right to various levels of discomfort? I hate it that this world is full of wretchedness, that women have to suffer because of abusive men or poor decisions. I agree that many need more sexual education and tons more support for healthy living. But abortion is not the answer. Stopping a wee heart from beating is so not the answer.
Rebecca May 15, 2008 1:53 PM
Y’all, I know this topic completely and entirely sucks. No one wants to debate abortion anymore and simply posting on the subject makes me uncomfortable. I like peace and the abortion conversation is divisive.
So… Thank you all for your respectful commenting. I like it that we can debate and discuss without slinging mud.