Confused & Conflicted

CONFUSED & CONFLICTED

My Views on the Abortion Debate


Oh, yes, I am confused. I consider myself somewhat superior. That’s only because I can point to certain of my attributes in which I find justifiable rationale that support my superiority complex. Sadly however, I am under the impression that everyone else holds similarly inflated opinions of themselves. If I’m right about that, and no doubt I am, I don’t understand all of the antiabortion sentiment.

A trip to the mall, dinner at a favorite restaurant, a drive along any of our fine highways, an evening at the movies, all provide the inevitable encounter with other people; many, maybe most it seems to me, are living, walking testimonials in support of abortion. Though in some cases it seems justified, I do not advocate retroactively taking measures that would achieve what abortions could easily have accomplished years ago. Looking forward though, I am hopeful and reasonably optimistic for future generations. All we need is to apply a little more common sense to the issue.

Now lest you brand me a white supremacist, a Christian supremacist, a Hitler, a Muslim supremacist, a black supremacist or any other hate-group advocate, let me dash such thoughts. There are no superior groups. Every race, creed, religion, tribe, club, society has more than its share of undesirables. There is no avoiding it. Where there are people there are losers. Logically then, where there are fewer people there will be fewer losers. It’s a numbers thing. Mathematics are involved here, specifically probability.

All of this, I’m afraid, causes me to be baffled by the strong stands being taken against abortion. The strongest objections seem to be based on religious beliefs. It is claimed that God said, “Go forth and multiply.” If God did say that, I say, fine, we’ve done that and we’ve done a good job of it. And you must admit that we continue to multiply even while abortions are going on. Some also say that God said, “Let there be light.” Nonetheless, it’s dark about half of the time. So much for literal interpretations. And God is also credited with admonishing that, “Thou shalt not kill.” Well, I’m not advocating for forty days and forty nights of rain, bringing floods to kill off any and all who aren’t on my ark. No one is advocating mandatory abortions, only freedom of choice. If you don’t want an abortion because of religious beliefs, don’t have one. If I do, that’s my decision. It doesn’t concern you. If God doesn’t like it, let God and me deal with it. He doesn’t need your help. Have faith. Surely He is mighty enough to do His own work. After all, no one was around to help Him with that flood.

Restricting or eliminating abortion results in increased numbers of unwanted children being brought into an already unfriendly world. No one wants to be or should be unwanted. The consequences of being unwanted can be devastating. Personally, I’d rather deal with it as a fetus than as an abused or ignored foundling.

There are those who insist on promoting the crap-shoot consequences often attributed to abortions. What if, they say, an abortion denies us a genius, an Einstein, a Mozart? No individual, no matter how significant, how unique, is indispensable. As the Desiderata eloquently reassures us, “No doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.”

But in the end, as is so often the case, it comes down to the almighty dollar. Who pays for a woman’s abortion? There are those who grudgingly acknowledge the legal status of abortion, but staunchly object to paying for them with “taxpayer” dollars – as if abortions were a major factor contributing to the national debt or our skyrocketing health care costs. The fallacy of that objection is its failure to take into consideration the long term total costs. An abortion is less expensive and less of a financial burden on society than child welfare, education, incarceration and the other potential costs to society that result from unwanted and neglected children.

Not only should we favor free choice, we should enthusiastically support and pay for abortion. Granted I’d still be subjected to encounters with undesirables and losers, but there’d probably be fewer of them.

A.N. Pavia
November 2009