3 posts tagged “abortion”

In my opinion, the problem of abortion is a multifaceted issue.  And, it is more of a symptom than a problem in itself.

A symptom of what?  Fear.  Taking yourself out of your normal perspective, can you imagine how scary it would be to find out you are pregnant and do not have the means to care for this child?  And what about what your parents will think?  They might even disown you.  Or if you're a single mother living in a poor community...how will you provide for your child?  You can't work and take care of her at the same time, except for very select jobs that probably won't pay much money.  And besides, you're not married.  What will society think?

I know it is their fault for getting into the situation (at least most times...rape is a special circumstance that most people are more compassionate towards), but that still doesn't change the fact that the guiding principle in these situations is fear.

Making abortion illegal, in my opinion, will only increase that fear.  Because before there was an out, a backup, if you couldn't figure anything else out.  And now there is no (legal) escape.  Because of this increased fear, I think women might go to greater lengths, unsafe ones, to be rid of that fear.

But then what do they trade the fear for?  Regret and guilt.  It's not a happy situation.

So I would approach the problem with the goal of easing these fears so that the woman can make a genuine choice from her heart rather than let her fear consume her.
 
On a social level, I would probably do things like provide free childcare in poorer communities, so the mother can work and earn money to take care of her child, or continue going to school.  I actually stole that idea from Obama. ;)  In addition, I would try to find ways to increase the quality of schools in poorer areas.  As it is, richer schools = better schools, and so the poor keep going in circles.  Basically, find things that will make it easier for the mother to give her child a good life, and you'll reduce some of the fear that consumes her.

Also, reform and improve the foster care system.  Address the issues that make people think growing up in the foster care system is a nightmare you wouldn't ever wish on your child.  Perhaps also offer tax credits or extra benefits to couples who adopt a child.

But the most important thing, in my opinion, is the hardest to implement.  I would make it a rule that before a woman can get an abortion, she must attend one or two counseling sessions.  The purpose of these sessions is not to persuade her to change her mind.  If it were, it would never work.  Abortion has to remain an option because it serves as the initial fear-reducer that will get them into the building, where counselors can hopefully help guide them to be sure they are making the best decision...the one their hearts tell them to make.

On a wide level this idea will only work so well because it relies upon an abundance of really good counselors.  If the counselor is pushing the woman towards one particular option (be it keeping the baby, giving it up for adoption, or having the abortion), she will sense that and resist.  The conversation really needs to be centered around the woman's situation and her psyche.  And the counselor must give up the idea that they can control the outcome, because by exerting control the situation is only made worse.

The idea is to get them to talk and think about their situation.  There might be an option they hadn't thought of, or a way to make it work they hadn't considered.  It also may be that they hadn't been thinking of the long term, only the short term goal of being rid of all this fear.  Regardless of the situation, their life would drastically change if they kept the child, and some of that fear is rational, and some of it isn't.  It would help to have someone you can trust, someone who isn't going to push anything on you but who will help you come to your own decision...one you can live with.

Yes, some of these women will still end up choosing to get an abortion.  But, if we approach them with compassion and understanding, I believe that many more women will make other, better decisions.  And our society as a whole will not look upon these women with either indifference or contempt but rather with compassion.

I think a combination of all these ideas plus many many more, all aimed at making the decision to keep the child or give it up for adoption easier to make, will help the situation the most.

But to just make it illegal, to me, is admitting we don't understand the problem, or that we don't have or want to give up the resources needed in order to really address it.  It's easier to just call something wrong and disallow it than to really engage the problem on all levels.  And that is what I think we need to do.

"A powerful Catholic leader on Friday accused President Barack Obama of pushing an anti-life, anti-family agenda and called Notre Dame's invitation for him to speak scandalous."

I hate how people use such polarizing language.  Is Obama, or anyone who is pro-choice, really anti-life?  Is he really anti-family? Come on!  All this sort of thing does is demonize the "enemy" without making any attempt to understand him...which, honestly, isn't very Catholic.

It also eliminates all possibility of a middle ground.  Believe it or not, there are those of us who dislike abortion, but think that there is a better solution than making it illegal and calling people evil for doing it.

I've had a lot of frivolous and short posts lately, so I decided to tackle a bigger issue.  Abortion.  I have plenty of people in my neighborhood who are both pro-life and pro-choice, and it seemed that this was a big (if not the biggest) reason why most of the Christians in my neighborhood tend to vote Republican.

I posted this on lcp a couple days ago.

I think one huge misconception is that everyone who is pro-choice is pro-abortion. You can hold the opinion that abortion should be legal in order to be safe, without encouraging it as the right thing to do in any case. The thing is, women are going to make these decisions no matter what. I think abortion should be legalized so that these women have a place to exercise that choice in a safe environment.

Then, let's make every woman who wants an abortion undergo at least one counseling session with a professional or understanding ear at the center itself. Make it part of the process. The counselor wouldn't try to dissuade the woman (because that can often times get the woman to shut down and go somewhere else that might not be as safe), but rather walk through her particular situation and make sure that the woman understands (a) all of the options she has and (b) the full consequences of her actions.

To make the choice to have an abortion is not an easy one, and if a woman has a place to go that will help her make the decision and support her in whatever she decides, she'll be more likely to be safe. Also, focusing on preventing unwanted pregnancy and encouraging counseling before and after the act will actually lessen the number of abortions had, and decrease the sense of helplessness that women in these situations might feel.

My two cents.  What are yours?  Let's try to keep the discussion respectful and polite, but other than that, post whatever is in your head.