Since it’s clear there is a strong possibility that Roe v. Wade may be overturned, it got me to thinking even more so about life and the value placed on it. Even though I don’t recall any conversations with my parents about abortion when the Supreme Court was hearing the landmark case, it was obvious that they believed life began at conception. It may have been more the fact that the church we attended as a family was the spokesperson for my parents, relieving them of the uncomfortable task of explaining to their teenage daughter just what the hoopla was all about during the sexually political era. However, I do recall my mother’s response when the birth control pill was first put on the market. At the time, I felt there was something disingenuous when she tsked in disgust at the idea of women using such a means of intervention. Perhaps I misread her, but I couldn’t help think she was responding more on behalf of her religion while her heart was questioning its merit. Still, there was no doubt that barring life before a menstrual cycle is missed was one matter in my mother’s eyes, but snuffing it out after was another.
Admittedly, my point of view has changed over the years regarding this hot topic. But, when I was younger and had strong maternal yearnings and the subject of abortion was raised, I mentally envisioned the slaughter of vibrant, rosy-cheeked cherubs who, if not terminated, would have grown up to benefit society in one way or another. I didn’t go to any demonstrative extremes, such as standing outside abortion clinics and protesting or praying aloud for the women scurrying by to gain entrance, but I did ache for all those never-to-be-born babies. It wasn’t until years later that I realized I was aching more for my own selfish desire than for any other, since pregnancy for me was taking longer than I wanted it to. The very thought that women were “discarding” something that I desperately wanted was difficult for me to handle. As a matter of fact, this is one of the many fundamental topics I deal with in my first novel, Of Little Faith. So, for me, I looked at abortion as someone else’s thoughtless act without considering the woman who had to make the difficult decision. At the time it was only about me and my longing to have a baby to love and nurture.
I wonder if the Bush administration also has difficulty objectively viewing this issue due to some similar opaque, emotionally-driven thinking. After all, it’s obvious that this administration’s world is far, far different from the rest of the world. Babies born in their world are to mothers whose worries are not about where the next meal will come from but more about acquiring the latest designer baby paraphernalia, or finding the right nanny. While the woman’s belly is burgeoning, the nursery is being decorated in pastels and routine doctor’s appointments are kept since health coverage is not an issue. Babies are to be celebrated– babies that grow up expected and given the means to attend Ivy League schools.
Whether there is strong financial support from the fundamentalist Christian community in order to have the president’s indebted attention or whether the president truly believes that abortion is an act against his God, I cannot speculate. However, Bush is quoted as having said the following: “We must appreciate the dignity of life in all its seasons, even the path of the elderly in the twilight of their years, to work toward the day when every child, born and unborn, is welcomed to life and protected by law.”
Who can argue with such an optimistic statement? Unfortunately, it’s an unrealistic one. I imagine that all of those elderly people in the nursing home who were unable to escape from Hurricane Katrina didn’t feel terribly dignified while the water rose around them and the able-bodied left them behind to fend for themselves. I also do not see much dignity in bringing a child into a world of poverty and starvation or in an abusive environment where the child has no voice, but only bruises and scars, emotional and otherwise.
These are issues though in which the so-called pro-lifers seem to lack answers. Instead, many from this assortment are taking it upon themselves to speak on their God’s behalf. Scripture is used to quote commandments, and even though these scriptures are vague or taken out of context, there is obvious desperation to have the omnipresent speak in order to support the pro-life position. Without any gray shadings, we are told that terminating an unwanted pregnancy is a grievous sin because the believer’s God is the creator of life, and the one who decides when it should begin and end. This is the God who allows conception to occur whether it be from a loving act between two consenting adults yearning for a family or an act of violence between a rapist and his victim. And sometimes, the so-called miracle of conception is nothing more than a snafu on the road of life and a woman has to decide whether she can not only responsibly bring a child to fruition, but be emotionally and physically engaged for a couple of decades– A personal, difficult decision, but one that should not involve a government and its dictates.
It’s frightening and tragic to think that we may be legally forced to turn back the hands of time in the event of a new Supreme Court decision. However, wouldn’t it be better time served to expend energy and money on those who have already squirmed out of the birth canal and need to be fed and clothed? Let’s value breathing beings and give them the dignity they deserve and allow those carrying the burden of a weighty decision to do so with their own God or conscience.
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