My views on the abortion issue.

I am sure to take considerable flak from this discussion. Those strongly opposed to abortion will call me pro-choice. The pro-choice crowd will label me an absolutist. It is the individuals right to put whatever label on me they wish.
For the record, I had virtually no guidance on the abortion issue from my parents as I was growing up. It simply was not discussed. And not until I was almost thirty years old I even thought about the issue.
That was about the time of the famous Supreme Court Roe vs. Wade ruling in 1973 that made abortion legal. It was also about the time I had some personal experiences involving back alley abortions.
First, let us step back to my upbringing and teachings about religion and life.
When I was still very young we lived on the west side of Chicago and even at the tender ages of seven and eight, I would take a little pocket change and ride the street car and busses alone into the big city. I would usually go directly to one of the famous museums there. My favorite was Shedd Aquarium but the Field Museum of natural history and the Museum of Science and Industry were not far behind.
I could spend an entire day in the Science and Industry museum. Admission was free and lunch was less than a quarter.
In that museum was a display that endures to this day. It is a series of large sealed tubes containing fetuses at all stages of development. It starts with just the tiniest white dot and progresses through full term. The vision of all those ---take your pick: products of conception or babies---remains strong in my minds eye to this day.
Even though I had never heard the arguments that these represented “life” or were just “tissue blobs” I intuitively knew they were some kind of miracle of creation.
As the years went by I came to the belief that fetuses were not yet children. I believed that ones soul was not imbued until the first breath of life at birth. Where this idea came from is unknown to me. It is what I believed.
There are phrases in the Bible that may give credence to the breath of life belief. Reportedly, there is considerable belief among theological scholars, of many faiths, that the breath of life point of view is correct.
This is what some believe.
Nevertheless, I have always believed that, in most cases, abortion was wrong. Is it murder? I don’t believe so. Is it a sin? I believe it is even though I cannot point to a commandment that says it is.
When is abortion justified? My view is never or almost never. There may be exceptional circumstances and I hope I am never confronted with the decision.
In fact, that was a common belief until just after the famous Roe vs. Wade decision of 1973. Shortly after the decision we started hearing preachers saying that an unborn child was “life” and abortion was murder.
That argument has always rubbed me the wrong way. Using the word “life” is simply dramatic rhetoric.
If you disagree, look at it this way, whenever you go to a doctors office and have blood drawn for tests you are allowing some of your “life” to be killed. Killing animals for food is taking “life”. So is swatting a fly or mowing the lawn. The word is simply emotional rhetoric.
The real question is whether a fetus is a child with a soul and whether aborting one is murder.
When I was a hard news photographer in Chicago, I saw young women who had abortions because they believed bringing a child into the world they could not feed was sinful. Their belief was that allowing a child to be born into poverty was a greater wrong than aborting it.
In poverty stricken rural areas of the country, such as the Arkansas Ozarks and Appalachia, many believed similarly. Certain herbs could induce abortion and were used regularly as a means of birth control.
It was, and remains, a question of ones beliefs.
Today, the argument is whether public funds should be allowed to be used to pay for abortions. The absolutist anti-abortionists flatly say no.
Those who call themselves pro-choice say yes.
People of faith usually turn to their religion for answers to difficult questions. For Christians it is common to ask ‘What would Jesus do?’
Let us examine the question of whether public funds should, or should not be used for abortions.
Here is a pregnant and unmarried young woman seeking an abortion. Her reason is that her faith and culture say bearing a child while unmarried is a great sin. She also has been taught that the unborn is not yet a child and has no soul.
Problem, no doctor or hospital will accept her for the procedure. Her option is a back alley abortionist. I have personally seen the results of back alley (and they really are “back alley” locations) abortions in dead and dying young women.
OK, hospitals will not accept her and provide the procedure under proper medical conditions.
The back alley provider is a very undesirable, perhaps deadly, choice.
What would Jesus do?
I believe Jesus would tell us a hospital is the only acceptable decision for the procedure.
For the record, I believe Jesus, in his infinite wisdom, would reason with the young woman and convince her to not have the abortion. But, we mortals are not equipped with such wisdom.
When the decision has been made, whether you agree or not, an abortion will happen. What would you do?
Would you prefer to let her bleed to death in an alley or have the procedure done by a qualified doctor in a hospital?
(I have asked this question in person. At this point the strong anti-abortionist, without fail, changes the subject and begins shouting that abortion is murder. They never confront the issue.)
Where do I stand? To answer that, even to myself, I must decide if the unborn has a soul or must wait until the first breath of life to become so blessed. I would choose against the procedure.
However, we are dealing with someone who believes bringing a child into a world of poverty, or worse is the greater wrong. The decision has been made.
Would I send the young woman in question to a hospital or a back alley butcher? That’s easy. I would allow her to have it done in a hospital by a doctor.
Does that mean I still believe the unborn doesn’t have a soul. No. But the only honest answer I can give is that I don’t know. And, I believe no one knows. What one believes is simply a matter of unproven faith.
I do believe that your faith should not be allowed to dictate whether that young woman is treated properly or be allowed to bleed to death in an alley. I believe Jesus would agree.
Where is the answer? It is not on earth.