Mike Huckabee was the keynote speaker at the event and I was a bit nervous. I'm not exactly liberal, but I am surely not conservative. While I liked Huckabee when he ran for the presidential nomination- he is a former Southern Baptist preacher and I was pretty sure I would not like what he had to say about abortion and being Pro-Life. It just so happens I was wrong. I actually enjoyed his speech and I agreed with about 90% of what he said. My basic stance is this: I do not believe abortion should be used as birth control and I absolutely believe it is a choice to be entered into with prayer and much thought. I had a friend in college who "accidentally got pregnant" and went to have it "taken care of." She was careless and ended up pregnant, and she made the decision so flippantly that I was the one who sat and cried for hours and she just had it done and then flew to New York for a trip. That is not OK. As someone who faces the distinct possibility of not having biological children, I take it hard when people do not take children seriously and throw them away. On the other side, I will never, ever believe it is OK for the government to decide one way or the other what a woman can do with her own body. You may speak to them, counsel them and give them information- but you may NOT decide for anyone else. Additionally, legalizing abortion took it out of back allies and butcher shops and put it into hospitals and clinics where women could get proper care. And as hard and awful as it may be, I truly believe there are times when abortion is appropriate.
The center hosting the event focuses very strongly on not judging the women's choices who enter their doors. As a Christian organization, they do counsel for carrying the baby, however they do not force the issue. They give information, offer classes on birthing, raising young children, how to balance life as a mother and also give tangible support like strollers, diapers, baby food, etc. That, my friends, is a program that I can support.
All of that being said, I think open and rational debate is vital to any topic like this. I learned a lot from just listening last night and realized that my Christian beliefs put me in very close proximity with Pro-Life believers. The problem lies in the fact that few people can be rational when discussing these topics.
My main take away was this- I find it incredibly unfair that by being Pro-Choice I am filed in the category of Anti-Life. I am in no way anti-life. I think my arguments for the right to have a choice in certain situations is, in fact, very pro-life. This is not a black and white topic. There is no one right way. And to believe that that is the case is naive.
No comments:
Post a Comment