I’m a “Unitarian”, and if people don’t understand us well, we don’t understand ourselves well either. You can’t say we are “true believers” in that we don’t have a creed. The joke about us that that we are lousy singers because we are always reading ahead to see if we agree with the words.
At our Sunday service there is time set aside for “joys and concerns”, when people step forward to talk about personal matters. A lady stood up last Sunday to talk about the killing of Dr. George Tiller. I got very uncomfortable – I don’t know about the others. It’s a liberal group, and I think it safe to say that most members favor legal abortion.
But Dr. Tiller provided “late term” abortions, and I assume that they were “medically necessary”, otherwise they would be illegal. Killing him was a heinous crime, of course, and justice should be meted out accordingly. But it is hard to be “pro-choice” when the fetus is so obviously well-formed. It seems like … murder.
I’m troubled by abortion – I finally settled on the idea that early-term abortions are a woman’s business, not mine. I know about life and how people are. I know that if abortions are outlawed, they will go on as before, only less openly. I don’t think a woman should have to pay with eighteen years of her life for one night’s foolishness. And I agree with Gloria Steinem who said that if men could get pregnant, abortion would not just be legal – it would be a sacrament.
It’s a woman’s choice up to a point. It should be.
I want to give some support to those who in good conscious decide that they oppose abortion in all cases. That’s an honest and defensible position. These folks should not have abortions, but it stops there. They don’t get to make law for all of us. They are usually driven by religious belief. They should follow their religious beliefs and be true to themselves. Its for them. Not everyone.
I think free and easy access to a morning after pill would be a nice compromise. Are there any out there who are “pro-life” who are willing to make that concession?
Just curious.
Piece of Mindful 
Not likely. Religion is by its nature pushes on every institution for more control. It will never end with a compromise on abortion/”life” issues. Schools, hospitals, art museums, courts, media, literally everywhere you turn, religion is trying to dictate to others. As we enter the neo-Dark Ages, it will only get worse.
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Mark, thank you for your honesty on this issue.
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Mark, I urge you to consider that, as with many issues in which you see compromise as viable, the issue at hand is vastly more complex than you wish to be.
ladybug is right. The pro-life movement would be better characterized as the “Pro-life as we have always accepted it being” movement. This has as much to do with behavior control as it does with just the medical issue of abortion. As such, you have a picked a rational point of compromise to the degree that you misunderstand the issue. This isn’t, at heart, about the sanctity of life as much as it is the sanctity of sex. To the ‘pro-life’ movement, sex has a profound meaning and purpose. Any sex that results in a child out of proscribed dogma is an abomination. If one commits such an abomination, then they must again seek grace through suffering. Your compromise position, though fair, does not address the actual problem at hand. And this, the lack of suffering for actions they don’t agree with, the pro-lifers will not abide.
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I am trying to put myself in their shoes. I understand the depth of their belief and know they are sincere. I’m just wondering if they will let a little non-idealistic reality work its way in – all of us would be happy if there were never another abortion. The “morning after” pill, as I understand it, blocks the sperm before it unites with the egg, and so there is not even a fertilized egg at stake.
I know some of them are so extreme as to not even approve of birth control, but this seems a reasonable meeting point. But if you are right, they are not reasonable.
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There is the unproven idea out there that the woman’s body sheds a fertilized egg because of the “morning after pill”. As long as that idea persists, then Plan B is an abortive agent. For them, problem solved, it’s an abortion. That is simply because the problem isn’t the pregnancy but rather the sex which led to a possible pregnancy. The problem isn’t contraception or ever will be. The problem is that sex must be a sacrament.
Let me confess. I abhor the very idea of abortion. I always have. It is a harsh choice, and it makes me thank God that I was born a dude. But that doesn’t change the facts of science, or the anti-scientific philosophy that others apply to the lives of those around them. Science is not belief. I know what it is to put myself in the position of a ‘pro-lifer’. I know this because I have done the same thing, put myself in control of the life of another. That, itself, is a sin. God made damned sure, literally, that we could choose our path for ourselves. Ourselves, and none other. The ‘pro-lifers’ aren’t fulfilling the will of God. They are dictating the free will of others.
Women can choose abortion. That may well be a sin. But God decreed that we have forgiveness for all sin, such that we ask for it. The hardest sin, the worst sin, is the sin of pride. For others to claim supremacy over another based on their idea of sin is itself a sin. Hypocrisy is the worst of sins, and one I personally can’t abide. You are right. These people are not consistent in their belief, and as such are not reasonable.
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Thank you for some very thoughtful points. It serves us all well to really examine our conscience on matters like these. I don’t believe anyone is pro abortion, its the matter of choice. And I do not belive it is an easy decision although at the time it might appear to be. I never thought about the morning after pill but what an absolute blessing that would be for many women – and also remove the crippling remorse that often follows the choice one makes. Thank you for a very considerate option that should be widely considered and supported.
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