Few today would argue that those who cannot speak for themselves need protection. The very young, the very old, those with Alzheimer’s, and the disabled all need the protection of loving, responsible adults. When family members cannot or will not care for them, the state steps in, with foster care, etc.
Last summer 460 bike riders joined many volunteers and GM employees who worked hard to put on the Milford Proving Grounds Dream Bicycle Ride to support a great cause - Special Olympics of Michigan. This year’s ride is scheduled for August 2, 2014.
Widespread community support for special needs kids and their parents; no controversy.
Find out what's happening in Birminghamwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Ignoring, then Controversy
Find out what's happening in Birminghamwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Why, then, was there such controversy over the Kermit Gosnellmass-murder trial in Philadelphia last year? Because babies don’t really come from storks (most everyone knows that nowadays, since comprehensive sex education is required in public schools), and people want their sexual pleasure without taking responsibility. This is a gross over-simplification, but many smoke-screens have been thrown up since the January 22, 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion on demand (55 million American babies have been aborted) to obscure the relevant question:
When does life begin?
Pro-life people have held that life begins at conception and ends at natural death. Therefore, the most vulnerable, who cannot speak for themselves, need protection. Most pro-choice people won’t answer the question of when life begins. They talk about whether the baby is wanted or can the mother afford it, etc. Some will concede that its rights begin when it can survive outside the womb, but won’t say exactly how many weeks gestation (a fuzzy line that decreases as medical science advances).
Is an embryo or fetus a human life?
Very few argue for infanticide (an infant cannot survive without constant care, either), but the line between infanticide and late-term abortions is a matter of geography, not time. Circumstances of conception, however tragic, do not affect the answer to this question, either. It’s either a human life or it isn’t.
Few have the callous perspective of Salon columnist Mary Elizabeth Williams: “My conviction that the fetus is indeed a life, alife worth sacrificing.” She continues, “A fetus can be a human life without having the same rights as the woman in whose body it resides. She’s the boss. Her life and what is right for her circumstances and her health should automatically trump the rights of the non-autonomous entity inside of her. Always.” Emphasis mine, quoted by Marvin Olaksy in a World Magazine column Against the Current.
I commend the entire issue “The Wonder of Life” to your reading. An article by Edward Lee Pitts highlights the progress made in state capitals. North Dakota passed a ban on abortions if a fetal heartbeat can be detected (as early as six weeks), and passed the nation’s first ban on abortions for genetic defects such as Down syndrome. Florida approved a law saying infants born alive during an abortion are entitled to the same rights as a child born naturally. Courts are often setting such laws aside, waiting on new guidance from the Supreme Court.
On June 25 President Obama tweeted, “something special is happening in Austin tonight” while pro-choice Texas State Senator Wendy Davis was filibustering against a series of pro-life bills in her pink tennis shoes. That same night, weeks after a staff member’s baby’s birth at 26 weeks, 1 lb, 4.8 oz, 11.5 inches, State Senator Kelly Hancock posted pictures of John Mark and tweeted back, “Tell me this child is not viable,” “Tell me this child is not worth standing up for?”
23 states now have late-term abortion bans in place, 4 of them third-trimester, the rest from 20-24 weeks including New York, where Gov. Cuomo has declared pro-life people are not welcome in his state.
Progress in Michigan, too
State lawmakers from both parties caught heat in Michigan last December for voting for the Abortion Insurance Opt-Out Act written by Right to Life of Michigan. Volunteers collected more than 315,000 signatures from all 83 Michigan counties over the summer after Governor Snyder vetoed a similar bill last year, pressured by the abortion industry and its supporters.
Controversy about this bill was so strong that Patch editors finally took down the article about it with a long thread of comments. Abortion advocates have backed down from their referendum threat to repeal the law, citing polling and a lack of resources and volunteers. They would have been required to gather about half the number of signatures which were gathered by pro-life volunteers.
Here’s wording of the law itself. Please take a look at it, especially Section 4 and Sections 10 & 11. Some companies may choose to provide abortion coverage, but Section 4 requires them to notify all employees that their dependents might get abortions without their knowledge.
The people who object to this aspect of the Obamacare law, now headed to the Supreme Court (Catholic hospitals, Wheaton College, Hobby Lobby and 20 or so other organizations) will now have a conscience exemption, while complying with the Affordable Care Act.
Sections 10 & 11 discuss abortion by physicians (can still be done) and treatment of miscarriages, which are not considered elective abortions.
No Taxes for Abortions or Insurance
Most Americans, regardless of their views on this divisive issue, do not think tax money should go to subsidize abortions or employers should be forced to provide abortion insurance in standard health plans. This bill allows pro-choice women to buy it as a separate rider if they wish if their employer chooses not to provide it, thereby preserving the conscience rights of business owners and other Americans who object to abortion on moral grounds.
For most people it will probably be the status quo, however, since only 3.3% of Michigan abortions were covered by insurance last year.
Good News
According to the Michigan Department of Community Health, abortions in Michigan were down to 23,230 in 2012, the second lowest level since 1976. In 1987 there were 49,098 abortions. Teen abortions are down 73% since 1990.
Bad News
In 2012, 51% of Michigan abortions were repeat abortions. 48% were performed on black women, even though they only make up 15% of Michigan’s population.
Guttmacher Survey: 2004 vs. 1987
A survey of the reasons why women choose abortions by the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute (formerly the research arm of Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider) has a predictable bias in its interpretation of results. Although several reasons were given by most respondents, the most important reason given for having the abortion (partial Table 3) was:
19% Not ready for a(another) child / timing is wrong
21% Can’t afford a baby now
19% Have finished my childbearing / other people depending on me / children are grown
8% Don’t want to be a single mother / relationship problems
7% Don’t feel mature enough / feel too young
4% Would interfere with education or career plans
4% Physical problem with my health
3% Possible problems affecting the health of the fetus
< 0.5% Was a victim of rape
Analysis
About 1% of the women reported they had been raped. It’s encouraging that less than half of them sought abortions primarily for that reason. Michigan does not have capital punishment for even the most heinous crimes; it’s nice that most victims of rape do not want to punish the children of their rapists (a horrible violent crime) in that manner. Less than 0.5% were victims of incest. The exact number was not stated.
(Rape insurance rhetoric from pro-choice people rings a bit hollow – let’s work together on reducing the other 98.5% of abortions.)
Health Concerns for Baby and Mom
Fetal health concerns included “a lack of prenatal care, risk of birth defects due to advanced maternal age, a history of miscarriages, maternal cocaine use and fetal exposure to prescription medications.”
“Concerns about personal health included… depression, advanced maternal age and toxemia. More commonly, however, women cited feeling too ill during the pregnancy to work or take care of their children.”
Adoption Omitted from the Survey – Why?
One giant flaw was its omission of the adoption question. “While fewer than 1% in the quantitative survey volunteered that they had considered and rejected the idea of having the baby and giving it up for adoption, more than one-third of interview respondents said they had considered adoption and concluded that it was a morally unconscionable option because giving one’s child away is wrong.” (Emphasis mine in bold type)
Education about Adoption
This is a big opportunity for pro-life and pro-choice people to work together on: reducing the stigma of releasing children for adoption if you are unable to care for them. It’s no longer a stigma to be an unwed mother (<0.5% cited not wanting people to know they had sex as the main reason for choosing abortion).
Adopted children are chosen children. Let’s promote that loving option – a gift to childless couples; no regrets for the birth mom who often can visit in open adoptions.
Marriage ignored – most were single
72% had never been married; the survey did not say how many were currently married. No distinction was made between husbands and partners except in the somewhat deceiving results for percent of married women who reported specific reasons for having abortions.
For example, 25% of married women reported that they didn’t want to be a single mother or were having relationship problems, while 71% of married women reported they were completed child-bearing or had dependents. Nowhere in the article could I find the overall percentage of married women who had abortions – it might have been 5% or less.
14% reported that their husbands or partner wanted them to have an abortion; 6% said their parents wanted them to abort.
Geography or Time – Where to Draw the Line?
A fine point of geography doesn’t change things – inside or outside the womb. Fetal surgery is considered a miracle if the baby is wanted. Good doctors do no harm. There is a near 100% death rate in abortion clinics for the one who has no voice in the matter. Politicians have voices and should be held accountable for their votes promoting life or death.
Neither does time or circumstances of conception, nor the difficult circumstances the mother might be going through. It’s either a human life needing protection or not. In my opinion and that of many other pro-life women and men, the only valid place to draw the line is when egg meets sperm and new human DNA is created. We realize that other good people disagree, but object when our views are misrepresented and disparaged as they were by Vice President Biden in his debate with Rep. Paul Ryan.
Because something is legal does not make it moral or right. Slavery was once legal, too. Thankfully that is behind us in America. If one does not have life, there is no chance for liberty or pursuit of happiness.
Where do we go from here?
I’m not going to argue that America should make all abortions illegal again – that horse has already left the barn. Ideally no one would ever want or need one.
We would ask for a level playing field in the news media to persuade people to choose life. The long-time use of the term anti-abortion to describe pro-life people is technically accurate, but negative, misleading and incomplete. We are pro-life and support life-giving alternatives to abortion and euthanasia, umbilical cord stem cell research that does not destroy human embryos, maintaining the dignity of all human life, from conception to natural death.
An abortion to save the life of the mother meets pro-life criteria. Thankfully America does not allow sex-selection abortions or limit the size of families.
Seeking Common Ground
Surely there is some middle ground where life is valued and pro-life and pro-choice people find common ground to discourage this national epidemic tragedy. Reasonable legislation can and has been enacted to discourage abortions and promote life. We should promote healthy marriages and fatherhood.
How about requiring a visit to an adoption agency and an ultrasound during the waiting period many states require? Or at least educating people about the benefits of adoption? This would promote a culture of life without the divisive wrangling and angling for vote banks.
Conservative columnist Dale Murrish writes on history, travel,technology, religion and politics for the Troy Patch. You can read his articles on other topics by clicking on the links.
