by Mark B. Evans on Jun.12, 2009, under Editorials, Health, Life, Politics
Abortion battle the wrong fight
For the past six years, former Gov. Janet Napolitano’s veto stamp has stood in the way of abortion opponents in Arizona. She rejected at least nine bills that would have restricted abortion in some way.
Abortion opponents hope this year will be different now that Jan Brewer, who has stated her opposition to abortion, is governor.
There are five bills moving through the Legislature. Among the restrictions they would impose is a 24-hour waiting period and requiring minors to get written permission from their parents or guardians.
It’s unfortunate that the Legislature consumes itself each session on this topic because it is mostly futile. It’s a fight being waged on the margins that will have little effect on the core issue – abortion.
The country is too evenly divided for the passage of a Constitutional amendment to overturn Roe v. Wade. And the Supreme Court, though given numerous chances to overturn or reel in Roe, has failed to do so and is unlikely to do so.
Abortions will remain legal in Arizona regardless of legislative tinkering.
Moreover, the effort expended by both sides on these peripheral fights is wasted because abortion is not the problem, it is merely the symptom of a larger disease – unwanted pregnancies.
It need not be a zero sum game. There is common ground to stand on. First of all, abortion is abhorrent.
Second, some abortions are medically necessary to save the life of the mother.
Third, no woman who conceives a child as the result of rape or incest should be forced to carry the child to term.
Fourth, abortion as birth control is an outrage.
These tenets make up the vast middle ground of American attitudes toward abortion. Those who advocate for abortion for any reason at any time during pregnancy are extremists. Likewise, those who insist all pregnancies, no matter the danger to the mother or the crime that created them should be carried to term also are extremists.
The key to the debate is how to prevent unwanted pregnancies that aren’t the result of crimes.
Abstinence only programs have been only marginally successful and that’s not good enough if the goal is to prevent the need, or demand, for an abortion.
Clearly the answer is open and honest sex education in schools and at home and free, universal access to birth control and so-called morning after medications.
We can teach, ask, beg, plead or cajole our children and unmarried young adults not to have sex but we’ve been doing that for hundreds of years and it has yet to work.
Bristol Palin being a prime example.
If we can’t keep them from having sex, we should at least give them the tools, so to speak, to keep them from conceiving a child when they do.
It’s wrong, if not extreme, to argue that pre-marital sex and contraception are the evil equivalents of abortion.
This effort is not without its pitfalls, to be sure. At what age do you start said open and honest sex education? At what age do you make birth control of all types available? Should young girls be handed a free prescription for birth control pills immediately after their first menses? Should boys get handfuls of condoms right after their voices change?
Unfortunately our biology betrays us. It’s almost a cruel joke that we become sexually mature at 12 and 13 years old but don’t become emotionally, physically, economically and socially mature until our mid 20s.
But these debates are all much simpler problems to overcome than the one over the legality of abortion.
We’ve had enough of extremism. It’s time for reasonable people to solve the real issue and in so doing, solve the false one.
Let us resolve to make it so that the only abortions that occur in this country are those rare times when it is medically or morally necessary.
23 Comments for this entry
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June 12th, 2009 on 11:41 am
FINALLY, someone offers a sane evaluation of the problem: “…the effort expended by both sides on these peripheral fights is wasted because abortion is not the problem, it is merely the symptom of a larger disease – unwanted pregnancies.” Let’s attack the real source of the problem–not the result.
June 12th, 2009 on 11:42 am
You can make any argument that you want….. debate until the cows come home.
Abortion is just another word for murder under any and all circumstances.
Slaughtering a child to cover one’s whoring or flat out irresponsibility is completely and totally unacceptable.
You are right in that we are evenly spilt on abortion (murder). This is true for one simple reason ………. half of all American no longer have a values or morals base to keep their knees together and their pants zipped.
This fact does not give me and other anti-abortionists an excuse to stop now or ever.
I will continue on until the day I no longer draw a breath.
I will stand before God with the battle scars to prove that I never was willing to compromise on the slaughter of tens of millions of innocent infants.
We owe Hitler apology…….. based upon this nation’s actions, Sadaam was a saint.
June 12th, 2009 on 2:48 pm
Wow, Someone has clearly lived a charmed life. I’m happy for you.
Let me tell you the one reason abortion should be legal and safe. 10 years ago my wife and I became pregnant with our first child. Up till 12 weeks everything seemed fine then during a sonogram we found out the most terrible news a couple could hear. That your seeming perfect treasure was not going to live outside the womb.
I want you think about that for a second. NEVER survive outside the womb.
Of course you can imagine we were devastated by the news and got a second opinion with the same diagnoses. Our doctor recommended that we abort the pregnancy due to the fact of my wife’s age and that she was high risk to begin with. After a very painful week we decided to end the pregnancy.
In your world she would have had no choice but to continue knowing the child would die right after birth, if it made it that far, and could have taking Mother with it. Want to hear something worse? After the whole thing was over and we got pregnant again…The SAME thing happened. To go through it once was bad enough but twice? YOU can’t imagine.
While everything in this world may look black and white to you…I know better that there are shades of gray. I thank the maker everyday for my 3 kids we now have.
If a elitist jerk like yourself had gotten in my face while my wife had to go through both the procedures…You would have had a hard time eating dinner that night after losing all your teeth.
June 12th, 2009 on 2:54 pm
Oh I forgot. Google – anencephaly
June 12th, 2009 on 3:54 pm
Oh My God drinkkman, you and your family have our deepest sympathys. You are right, people never seem to get past their own agendas to see the reality of a situation, the ‘grey’ area. I know it was hard but thanks for sharing your familys’ ordeal.
June 12th, 2009 on 5:42 pm
drinkkman-
Hello.
So sorry to hear about the tragedy you and your wife went through. You are strong folks to have survived all that, and to have a happy, healthy family and marriage. Lesser things rip families apart.
I’ll be honest, I’m against abortion also, but not under certain circumstances. I suppose that makes me a bit more moderate pro-lifer than some.
I’m just so happy to hear that all is now well with you and yours.
June 12th, 2009 on 9:26 pm
Dear dinkyman ………..
asses come in all sizes and shapes and also call themselves drinkkman.
I don’t get in people’s face and I do not remember saying anything about that in my comments.
Of course, lowlifes always resort to some violet comments and/or innuendos.
I have been threatened before and I am still here.
I have been attacked before and I am still here.
In my world?
In your world abortion (murder) is used to cover immorality and irresponsibility.
I wish that your wife (you can kiss my ass) had to go through her ordeal.
That said ……….. I still will fight against any and all forms of abortion.
June 12th, 2009 on 9:40 pm
I am correcting two typing errors
“violet comments” should read violent comments
“I wish that your wife (you can kiss my ass) had to go through her ordeal.” should read ……..
I wish that your wife (you can kiss my ass) had not gone through her ordeal.
June 24th, 2009 on 7:15 pm
Too bad that alot of doctors are wrong and you might have murdered your baby for nothing. There is no way to tell if the baby will survive uness you have it . If you are going to be murduring your own children then you or youre wife need to get fixed so that it doesn’t happen again.The only time I see abortion as “acceptable” is if the woman will die from trying to carry the baby because there is no use in 2 people dying. The problem with abortion is that most people that have one, have one because they don’t want a life style change or to pay money for it. I will pray that God heals your family and I hope you realize that the doctor may have lead you wrong.
June 12th, 2009 on 1:10 pm
You make a good, valid argument, MEvans, but comment #1 is off b/c there are plenty of people who have been arguing this for years. Its comprehensive sex ed. that is needed, which doesn’t happen that often. It is one or the other (don’t have sex or here, have a condom with no effort to explain why young people are better off playing football than taking the risks of sex.) Great start on a discussion.
June 12th, 2009 on 1:56 pm
Times have changed. There really aren’t any excuses for unwanted pregnancies. There are so many different ways these days to prevent this.
Also, there isn’t the stigma that used to be associated with being an ‘unwed Mother’ or teen like it was back in the day.
Take the extra time to take the steps needed to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
We need to make abortion more of a non-option.
June 12th, 2009 on 3:33 pm
Adoption. The pregnancy ends with the no abortion but no obligation, and wanting parents have a child. Try throwing in that option in your next “middle ground” arguement.
June 12th, 2009 on 9:33 pm
“violet comments” should read violent comments
“I wish that your wife (you can kiss my ass) had to go through her ordeal.” should read ……..
I wish that your wife (you can kiss my ass) had not gone through her ordeal.
June 13th, 2009 on 7:46 am
It’s such a big subject with so many elements to be argued that it’s hard to even know how to get a handle on the issue.
My opinion is necessarily one which Mr. Evans would consider extreme, I guess, because I consider the holding of reactionary viewpoints in the same way the anti-abortionists consider abortion.
I can, however, speak calmly about one element of the issue that is highlighted by Mr. Evan’s comment, “This effort is not without its pitfalls, to be sure. At what age do you start said open and honest sex education? At what age do you make birth control of all types available? Should young girls be handed a free prescription for birth control pills immediately after their first menses? Should boys get handfuls of condoms right after their voices change?”.
I think this comment points out a component of the problem that has made it impossible for us as a society to make much headway on unwanted pregnancies: the shaming of sexuality and the body that comes with the world’s big three monotheistic religions. The answer to all of the questions is the same: you begin open and honest sex education as soon as the child is old enough to understand. Once you take the moralizing out of the equation, rationality can come in.
June 13th, 2009 on 12:55 pm
Abortion is settled law. That is why Roe hasnt been overturned.
http://www.ffrf.org/nontracts/abortion.php
June 13th, 2009 on 1:05 pm
It is “extreme” to think that a woman is the best person to decide whether she wants to carry a pregnancy to completion and give birth, rather than let you make that decision for her ?
I guess there are a lot of “extremists” around then.
June 15th, 2009 on 9:53 am
Excellent article! Now if someone could only bring the Catholic Church into the 21st century, it might help. Educate + Condoms = fewer abortions
June 15th, 2009 on 10:30 am
Lots of crazies have checked in (on BOTH sides), I see.
I’d decided I’d probably try to do something more constructive with my time than comment here (until you and Ryn get your act together and at least get back the previous format where you emailed us), but the story in the Red Star rattled my cage.
I find some big false assumptions in the story: The main one is that there are significant numbers of pro-lifers who would withhold abortion when the life of the mother is in danger. I’ve campaigned against abortion for more years than most of you have lived, and I’ve yet to find one person argue against abortion to save the life of the mother. But the liberals would add ‘health’ right after ‘life’, which is a total copout.
The second false assumption is that an innocent baby should be slaughtered when the pregnancy results from a rape. Most pro-abortion folks add ‘or incest’, though you missed that one. In either case, you’re ignoring the FACT that the rape (or incest) resulted in a HUMAN LIFE, to be murdered because of something IT’S FATHER DID. I’d call that an extreme case of misdirected justice, or total injustice.
But in spite of the libs here, there’s a sea-change going on, with a general consensus of over 50% against abortion. But that’s far from the whole story, considering the antics of the liberal media: They ALWAYS word their ‘polls’ in an attempt to attain their liberal aims, but even then have been overruled by common sense.
Just think of the overwhelmingly pro-life result if we had an HONEST abortion poll: That poll would have every respondent considered pro-life if they would allow abortion to save the life of the mother; but against abortion as a means of birth control; or against abortion to choose the sex of the baby. Ain’t gonna happen with today’s liberal media, but if it did we’d find 75 to 90% of Americans to be pro-life.
June 15th, 2009 on 12:05 pm
Wow, what a well-reasoned presentation by Mark Evans! Unwanted pregnancies cause extensive societal damage. This whole problem of ideologues wanting to deny freedom of choice to women would reduce much further if all of us could admit that a petri dish is not a swimming pool for kids, even though the pope may preach otherwise.
An acorn is not an oak tree; and a petri dish is not a children’s swimming pool!
June 25th, 2009 on 11:22 am
You must be retarded. No body said a sperm was a human being. But when you get a sperm and an egg together you get human life. Why don’t they just call it freedom to murder since thats what it is, and why does the woman get the freedom to choose if the baby lives yet the man cant choose if he wants to pay child support. Maybe both sides should be held responsible.
June 15th, 2009 on 2:06 pm
Typical liberal faulty ‘reasoning’ above: No, an acorn is not an oak tree; and no, a human egg is not a living human being; and no, a sperm cell is also not a human being. But once the sperm and egg do their thing (in the petri dish or the womb) we have that most sacred of all things…….a human life in one of the many stages it goes through.
June 15th, 2009 on 3:00 pm
When my children are old enough, I will use this editorial to discuss the abortion issue. I will challenge them as we end the discussion to always err on the side of life because that is what Our Creator tells us. It is His morals we stumble daily to live by, not human morality.
June 17th, 2009 on 10:02 pm
I don’t like okra, therefore, I do not eat okra. However, I would not stop another person from eating that slimy green veggie. I feel the same way about abortion. If a woman does not want an abortion, she doesn’t have to have one. The law leaves the issue open to choice. Abortion is not mandatory.
Unwanted pregnancies are the result of two careless people, who in a moment of passion let their libidos overpower their brains. And, guess who gets stuck with the consequences? The woman! And, guess who rails against option of choice? You know who, big boy.
Men are fixated on the sanctity of life in the womb. Once a child is born we read about abuse, torture, neglect, and even death by the hands of the biological mother or father. In Arizona we love children so much that we fail to provide sufficient funds for education. We love children to the extent that we need a child protection agency and are willing to eliminate case managers when the budget gets tight. We love our children so much that thousands of Arizona kids are without health care. We love our children so much that when George Bush starts a bogus war, we send our 20-something-year-olds into the killing fields. Ahhh, yes. Only in the womb do we truly love our children.
The option to take a pregancy to term is a personal choice. The people who speak for the “unborn” are not the people who will raise that child. They are not entitled to make a difficult decision for the woman and her family. If evolution had provided men with a uterus, abortion would be a nonissue.