All of this talk about Roe v Wade and abortion rights - seems to me that the passions really reside on the fringes, and the center is melancholy.
For me, and for millions of people in the 'middle', the issue of abortion is one of selecting the lesser of two evils. Very few of us in the middle think that abortion is a good act. Many of us believe, inherently and in our gut, that it is a bad act. We have a situation, a condition, where if nothing is done to intervene what nature would intend, a baby will be born. If we intervene, the baby will not be born. The fetus will be killed. If my mother, at age 42, had decided to have an abortion, my beautiful brother John would not have been born, nor would his two beautiful children. This would not have been a good thing - I assure you. It was not convenient - or perfectly safe - for my mother, who already had 5 children, the youngest of whom was 8 years old, to have another child whom she and my father (7 years her senior) could ill afford. But she did the good thing - by not doing the bad thing. And a strange thing happened along the way. John kept them young - and my parents are now 79 and 86 years young. As against that, must we insist that a drug addict see her baby to term, unwanted and uncared for, whence he or she will be born a drug addict, perhaps be adopted, perhaps not, perhaps be one more victim of abuse, one more ward for the state to care for, one more criminal on the street, or in our prisons ? And there are thousands of scenarios in between, no doubt. I am not a particularly religious person - I am afraid that organized religions are responsible for more harm than good. And I abandoned the one I was raised in, without organized substitution. So, I cannot be labeled a religious zealot. In fact, my position on abortion has been, over the years, that I am uneasily accepting of current law (pro-choice, if you must, but certainly not pro-abortion). But it is wrong to label all of those who are opposed to abortion as insincere in their belief that abortion is wrong. That it is morally equivalent to murder is a big stretch, in my opinion, but that it is a bad act is self evident. My current wife had an abortion, before I knew her. She had her reasons. I have sinned many times - I wonder which of my sins God thinks is worse. It is also religiously fanatical to label those who participate in abortions as murderers - is there no separation between religious theory and real life decision making? Are all mortal sins still equal, damning one to hell ? Where do the mortal sins begin and end ? Using birth control ? Do the rules change every 20 years ? On the legal theory side, I suggest that everyone interested in this matter read Roe v Wade. I am not a lawyer, yet I have read it and - I flatter myself to think - understand it. It is not a terribly complex document. That said, I think that it is obvious that its natural lifespan is approaching an end - it will be obsoleted by science. This is because its fundamental underpinnings include concepts such as viability (marked by "quickening', and - 28 years ago - the gray area of the second trimester); the state has an interest in the unborn from the point of viability on. That point is earlier and earlier, and soon - in 5 years, or 10, or 20 - this point will be moot. Before anyone yells at me, would you please read the decision ? Also, from a logical point of view, how can one have a right to have another person perform a bad act on your behalf ? What if you cannot find anyone to perform the bad act ? That said, those who would legislate against abortion are fighting a hopelessly lost battle. Give it up. Even if Roe v Wade is overturned (rather than re-affirmed de facto with a different line of reasoning - one or the other must occur sooner or later), most states would not pass laws barring abortions. And even if some states did, there are other states. Not to mention pills. And, if necessary, black markets. It is moot. By all means, in peaceful ways, anti-abortion proponents should express themselves and try to persuade the rest of us that abortion is a bad act and that we should avoid doing it. They probably have righteousness on their sides. But we must not tolerate their becoming terrorists in the process. And, of course, we will not. On another thread, my wife Barbara, my daughter Leah and I are leaving for Paris Friday for 10 days. My first time ever to Europe. Thank goodness Leah is semi-fluent in French (she will be working in France at the Pasteur Institute next year on a Fulbright). It will make up for my recently acquired pigeon French - Barbara will have to get by on her pretty face and the good graces of the French who speak better English than we do French. No doubt I will soon be 'sitting in a park in Paris, France - reading the news - it sure looks bad. They won't give peace a chance. That was just a dream some of us had". But then, at night, it will be lit up - more than 'Paris like'. I like the threads where we try to love and understand each other better. Let's take our sad songs and work to make them better, collectively. Let our tones of voice (written as well as spoken) reflect that commitment, and our respect for one another's views. Even if we are in the right, we are near the borderline. Non ? Bob S.
