Abortion: One Size Does Not Fit All

The problem with abortion is that the details of each situation are so personal and so varied it is impossible to make a single encapsulating statement on the issue, or legislate a single stance. Even within myself, I feel completely conflicted and pulled in about five different directions at the mere mention of the word. As a Christian, I am a humanitarian, value human life above all else, and wish abortion simply was not possible. As a woman, it’s infuriating that the vast majority of legislators who affect my ability to choose are male and 100% of them will never be pregnant. As a girlfriend, I have watched my boyfriend struggle to be part of his daughter’s life while her mother remains uncooperative and have seen firsthand that parenthood affects men just as much as it affects women.

As a liberal Democrat, I can’t help but agree with Rosa De Lauro, a Democratic House Representative from Connecticut, that “this amendment takes away freedom of conscience from America’s women. It invades women’s personal decisions.” As a native of the Bronx, I have seen quality of life so low I’ve questioned whether an abortion would not have been better than people raising a child they could not properly provide for in any way - spiritually, emotionally, mentally or financially. The question is: where do we go from here? Which road should the government take in order to act in the best interest of the nation?

We are not just any nation, but the United States of America, the world’s beacon of freedom. What happens here has long-lasting global effects. The bottom line that brings together all my aforementioned selves is this: we collectively need to stop and think about how abortion is affecting us. We need to be better educated about ourselves, each other, our history and it’s effects. Too much is going on that wouldn’t if Americans, in general, were more conscious. Issues reach the headlines and fade within days. Our intellectual scope on matters of heart and home is too small, and when it comes to big things like abortion, we fail ourselves because of it.

If abortions did not exist, would we be more careful not to get pregnant in the first place? If divorce were not an option, would we be more careful about the person we chose to marry? If there were no such thing as credit, would we be more careful about our cash flow? I doubt I would find many people that would answer “no” to these questions. We are deep in economic recession, housing and credit crises, and depressingly high divorce rates because we let ourselves run unchecked. It’s high time we hold a magnifying glass over this issue, let all points be heard and find a compromise that assures our freedoms, but does not leave us so free that we’re slowly destroying ourselves. Nothing we come up with will be perfect, but something’s got to give.

-Vanessa is a blogger for The Sorbate. Check out her bio to see where her view comes from.