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Sunday, August 17, 2008

Steadfastly Avoiding the Tough Questions

It's as predictable as the sun coming up every morning that in any discussion, liberals will always try to move it away from whether it is right or wrong. How disappointingly fearful that they just can't bring themselves to get down to the really important questions in life.

Anna never fails to disappoint as she posts today at DakotaWomen that, by golly, if we can just steer this issue of abortion away from a moral issue to one of convenience or practical outcomes, well, those silly pro-lifers are on the losing end of the proposition.

Well, health issues for the woman aside, Anna would probably be right. Back when I was pro-abortion, I thought abortion was simply a matter of expediency. I thought it was simply a matter of a woman's right to have dominion over her own body.

I still do think a woman has a right to dominion over her own body (within reasonable limits, of course, such as illegal drug use, prostitution, etc. which really connect to issues outside her body).

But what I just said in the last paragraph is essentially at the heart of why I am no longer pro-abortion: I realized abortion doesn't just affect her body. Abortion affects the body of the child inside her.

If a woman had a benign tumor she wanted to remove, no one would really stand in her way. If a woman wanted to remove a part of her body with liposuction or a tummy-tuck or something of this nature, nobody would really object. Why? It would only be affecting her own body.

But this is why attempts to move the discussion of abortion away from the question of whether it's right or wrong are utterly useless, except to salve our hurting consciences.

Because if what is growing inside the woman's womb is not just a part of her body but a separate and unique human being, as science indicates it is, then abortion is also affecting another human being.

Then, if we are intellectually honest or have the slightest interest in being genuine seekers of the truth, we have to deal with the question of whether abortion is right or wrong.

Here is how Anna attempts to neatly (in her mind) sidestep the real issue:

Incidentally, Cory is absolutely right about one thing: the question facing South Dakotans in November is not whether abortion is right or wrong. It's whether abortion should be legal with some restrictions like parental notification, waiting periods, and paperwork requirements, or whether it should be largely illegal. It's about the role the government ought to play in the relationship between a doctor and a patient, and, in my mind, it's ultimately about the role women ought to play in our society. Women are either capable of making these decisions ourselves or we aren't

Let's consider this question another way.
It's whether rape should be legal with some restrictions like parental notification, waiting periods, and paperwork requirements, or whether it should be largely illegal. It's about the role the government ought to play in the relationship between a rapist and a woman, and, in my mind, it's ultimately about the role rapists ought to play in our society. Rapists are either capable of making these decisions themselves or they aren't.

Or try this:
It's whether child abuse should be legal with some restrictions like parental notification, waiting periods, and paperwork requirements, or whether it should be largely illegal. It's about the role the government ought to play in the relationship between a child abuser and a child, and, in my mind, it's ultimately about the role child abusers ought to play in our society. Child abusers are either capable of making these decisions themselves or they aren't.

Now both of these examples seem silly, don't they? Why? Because they completely ignore the question of whether rape or child abuse is wrong. And they ignore that question because they ignore the subject of the action being taken.

In the case of abortion, the question ignores the effect of the action on the child.

Just as the question of whether abortion is wrong is ignored in Anna and Cory's non-judgmental fantasy world.

And that question, of whether abortion is right or wrong, comes down to whether the contents of the womb are simply a piece of tissue that the woman can do with as she pleases as pro-abortionists contend...or if the contents of the womb are a separate human being created in the image of God and endowed by its creator with certain inalienable rights which include the right to life.

Even pro-abortionist will usually conceded that abortions should be rare. If abortions are not wrong, why is there a need to minimize them?

Because even the pro-abortionists know--as they desperately attempt to run from the knowledge--that there is something inherently not right about abortion. We look away from that hard question and attempt to distract ourselves with questions of "tissue" and "viability" and "women's rights."

But that question of how it affects another human being--the human being whose life is to be extinguished--keeps coming around to bug us.

We can continue running from it, but if we have any interest in being honest with ourselves, if we have any interest in moving beyond a self-seeker to a truth-seeker, we have to deal with the real question.

When it comes to truth, distractions are no substitute.


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