How Pro-Choice is America, Really?

[Semper Fidelis]

Just How Pro-Choice Is America, Really? -- New York Magazine

I found this article fascinating. I have to find a news article to write a blurb about how it represents a certain philosophy of history for an assignment. I was reading Schlossberg's Idols for Destruction this AM on the elliptical and his first chapter on Idols of History. If you've never read this book I highly recommend it.

He makes great points about our culture's helplessness with historical trends. What is current becomes normative and I was simply searching for recent news articles that use the term "out of step" and it is quite remarkable how often that phrase (or phrases like it) are used to determine what is correct.

I happened upon this article and it couldn't really make any judgments about an objective value judgments about whether or not aborting children was wrong but simply that sentiment regarding abortion seems to be swinging in favor of opposing abortion. On the one hand it is an encouraging trend while it supports Schlossberg's points about how history is flattened out as to provide no values except that which are present.

 

[Scott1]

And we are, darkened by sin, full of such contradiction.

While polls show "pro life" growing, we elect the most pro-abortion leaders ever, advance euthanasia, and teach it in school as moral, and almost exclusively so.

May God help us to see clearly, our sin, our need to suffer to make it right, and protect life created in His image.

 

[kvanlaan]

Abortion is taught as a right/moral because that is the venue they control. The public schools are their lifeline, and sadly reach into Christian home as well (that and the TV). However, outside of that, their position necessarily erodes by virtue of their very stance on the issue. They froth at the mouth to have 'reproductive rights' that kill off their future generations. Claiming the right to your own life and opinion while holding a gun to your own head is simply nonsensical.

 

[Montanablue]

I actually do find this trend encouraging, because even if we are not electing leaders that will outlaw abortion, we are changing people's minds and making it less likely that they will have one themselves or that they will pressure their wife, girlfriend or daughter to have one. (Many abortions, in my experience, take place because the girl's parents want to avoid humiliation).

 

[BJClark]

Montanablue;

(Many abortions, in my experience, take place because the girl's parents want to avoid humiliation).

In part maybe, but also because their boyfriends/husbands push for it as well..
it could also be that with some teens, they've seen their friends have babies, and seen how difficult it is on them to be a 'teen parent' and instead of choosing not to have sex, if they get pregnant they choose abortion instead..

Also, as the young woman in the article, her boyfriend didn't want a child..and she looked at her reality of 'if she has this child, this man will leave, and she will have 4 children to raise alone' and instead of the counsel giving the young woman the facts..that this young boy is using her for his sexual gratification without wanting to take any responsibilities that may come his way..and one day she will come to that realization on her own and he's going to leave anyway and move on to the next young girl who doesn't expect anything from him except a body to meet his desires..

The more I see these things, the more I understand just why a young girl needs a strong Christian man to protect her..and why these young men need Strong Christian men to hold them accountable and teach them to take responsibility for their actions..

Abortion is one of the biggest things that have destroyed manhood..years ago, many young men were forced to take responsibility and marry the young woman he got pregnant or some parents made them take responsibility for their children..but not any more..

 

[TimV]

Interesting article by Pat Buchanan

With the House debate on health care at its hottest, the U.S. Catholic bishops issued a stunning ultimatum: Impose an absolute ban on tax funds for abortions, or we call for defeat of the Pelosi bill.

Good stuff about the media elite and the subject, especially half way down.

Taki?s Magazine, edited by Taki Theodoracopulos

 

[ColdSilverMoon]

Great article, and encouraging trend. In the medical medical profession, there is a big stigma attached to elective abortion providers. Calling someone an "abortionist" is considered an insult to most doctors. I wish the medical community would repudiate the practice altogether, but most physicians would never perform an abortion.

 

[Andres]

Certainly encouraging, but to answer the title's question, "Just how pro-choice is America, really?" I would say as long as it remains legal, America is really pro-choice.

 

[BJClark]

TimV;

With the House debate on health care at its hottest, the U.S. Catholic bishops issued a stunning ultimatum: Impose an absolute ban on tax funds for abortions, or we call for defeat of the Pelosi bill.

I'd have to locate the article again, but I was reading the other day where at least one RCC Bishop asked the young Mr. Kennedy to refrain from taking communion..

Kennedy dispute reveals divide among Catholics - KansasCity.com

He continued by pointing out that he had in fact asked Kennedy to refrain from Communion approximately three years ago, in light of Kennedy's consistent opposition to Church teaching. "On February 21, 2007, I wrote to Congressman Kennedy stating: 'In light of the Church's clear teaching, and your consistent actions, therefore, I believe it is inappropriate for you to be receiving Holy Communion and I now ask respectfully that you refrain from doing so,'" said Tobin.

http://www.christiantelegraph.com/issue7750.html

 

[MMasztal]

I actually do find this trend encouraging, because even if we are not electing leaders that will outlaw abortion, we are changing people's minds and making it less likely that they will have one themselves or that they will pressure their wife, girlfriend or daughter to have one. (Many abortions, in my experience, take place because the girl's parents want to avoid humiliation).

Excellent point, Kathleen. As I stated here just a couple days ago, the Religious Right and Moral Majority got it wrong. We aren't going to reform culture by electing Chrisitan/conservative/pro-life candidates into government. We've seen that Falwell/Reed/Robertson's social experiment failed. We will reform both culture and subsequently the government only when people change their minds after responding to the Gospel and the work of the Holy Spirit.

 

[nate895]

Being, technically at least, a senior in high school, I'd just like to say that the reason why most of the young kids are pro-life is because of what is taught about pre-natal development in so-called "health" classes. The pictures they show of the pre-born child show that they are, in fact, a human being with a beating heart and an active nervous system, and this causes all but the most hard-hearted to be a pro-life activist for the next 24 hours.

What I find most ironic about this is that they teach two different stories about human development: one in biology class, and the other in health class. In biology you are taught the evolutionary fraud of recapitulation, and in health you are taught the actual story. I actually got taught both on the same day in sophomore year. With this kind of teaching, it is no wonder I am convinced that most of my fellow students in the public schools live in a state of perpetual cognitive dissonance on many issues.

 

[Zenas]

I found it highly amusing how one commentor in the article framed the conflict.

To have an abortion is an analytical decision, whereas the pro-life position is merely visceral and emotional.

Seriously?

What sort of logic or analysis are you using to determine another person needs to die to make your life easier, and that that is morally correct?

It seems to me that the pro-life position is the analytical one. Humans may not be killed without cause. Babies are humans. Babies may not be killed without cause. Logical, analytical, and simple. It doesn't involve re-defining terms and performing logical acrobatics to arrive at the conclusion either.

What it comes down to is that there is a very vocal minority who condescendingly tell the rest of their peers that they are stupidly wrong and need to listen to them. They know what's best for the rest of us. The article itself takes the tone of "Well, most people are pro-life, but the pro-abortion agenda is really the right one and needs to be defended against these pitchfork wielding morons." Elitism.

 

[MMasztal]

I found it highly amusing how one commentor in the article framed the conflict.

To have an abortion is an analytical decision, whereas the pro-life position is merely visceral and emotional.

Seriously?
.

I agree with your assessment. Maybe the commentator meant to say decision to have an abortion is a "rationalization" rather than an "analytical" one. It takes a whole lot of rationalization to justify killing an unborn baby.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

I found it highly amusing how one commentor in the article framed the conflict.

To have an abortion is an analytical decision, whereas the pro-life position is merely visceral and emotional.

It is amusing but sad because it really represents how fractured modern man in his knowledge. Modernity has pushed transcendence to the realm of "faith" where "reason" is based on measurable phenomena. What is even more sad is that many Christians would echo the above sentiment. The reason why it is wrong, for many, can only be expressed from an interior motivation that this is wrong for me.

 

[Montanablue]

Montanablue;

(Many abortions, in my experience, take place because the girl's parents want to avoid humiliation).

In part maybe, but also because their boyfriends/husbands push for it as well..
it could also be that with some teens, they've seen their friends have babies, and seen how difficult it is on them to be a 'teen parent' and instead of choosing not to have sex, if they get pregnant they choose abortion instead..

Also, as the young woman in the article, her boyfriend didn't want a child..and she looked at her reality of 'if she has this child, this man will leave, and she will have 4 children to raise alone' and instead of the counsel giving the young woman the facts..that this young boy is using her for his sexual gratification without wanting to take any responsibilities that may come his way..and one day she will come to that realization on her own and he's going to leave anyway and move on to the next young girl who doesn't expect anything from him except a body to meet his desires..

The more I see these things, the more I understand just why a young girl needs a strong Christian man to protect her..and why these young men need Strong Christian men to hold them accountable and teach them to take responsibility for their actions..

Abortion is one of the biggest things that have destroyed manhood..years ago, many young men were forced to take responsibility and marry the young woman he got pregnant or some parents made them take responsibility for their children..but not any more..

Oops, I was trying to quote you and thanked you instead...

My experience is fairly limited. I worked at a crisis pregnancy center for 3 years while in college. It was in a fairly small and fairly conservative town and I sure those were influences on the types of situations we saw. Certainly, there were girls that had abortions of their own volition. And certainly there were girls that had abortions because their boyfriends or husbands pressured them. However, I saw MANY girls whose parents basically forced them to have abortions so that they (the parents) could save face. I also saw many girls whose parents pressured them into abortions because they were worried about the effect of a baby on their daughter's future.

In a very dark and grim way, it was almost amusing to hear people talk about the need for parental notification laws. In my experience, its the parents taking their daughters to abortion clinics while school nurses and other community members try to intervene, not the other way around.

 

[awretchsavedbygrace]

If liberals are so pro-choice, how about allowing the baby (when he gets old enough) with down-syndrome or any physical or mental disablity, choose for themselves whether they want to live or not.

 

[Zenas]

I found it highly amusing how one commentor in the article framed the conflict.

To have an abortion is an analytical decision, whereas the pro-life position is merely visceral and emotional.

Seriously?
.

I agree with your assessment. Maybe the commentator meant to say decision to have an abortion is a "rationalization" rather than an "analytical" one. It takes a whole lot of rationalization to justify killing an unborn baby.

That's precisely what it is, and I think that's precisely the characterization that the commentator was attempting to avoid. They would rather have framed it as an intelligent decision, rather than a selfish rationalization for convenience.

Even in the example that the author gave, she attempted to frame it like it was a tortured decision that the woman made because her boyfriend wanted it. In reality, it was a rationalization she made so that she could selfishly continue life as she wanted to with her boyfriend. She may have tried to convince herself it was best for the child, but I'm sure all dead children, if given the chance to speak, would have rather been born than dissected or vacuumed out of the womb so as not to inconvenience their "mother". She can "make it work", she just doesn't want to. Too big of an inconvenience for her.