Abortion and an Excellent Interview!

I had a conversation with a classmate (who I totally love) the other night after a tough day at school with multiple tests. She is very different than me in that she uses her religious background to guide her decision making, including those made in medicine. She is anti-abortion, anti-plan B (which is not abortive), and not exactly "pro-gay" (but not a hater either!). I really would not expect anything different as she grew up in a family with 3-4 aunts who were nuns and several priest uncles because, after all, we really are just conditioned monkeys. Anyhow, also in conversation was another classmate who also happens to work on woman rights issues, is a pro-choice activist, and is gay herself. Needless to say, the conversation was interesting. The great part though, came at the end of the night when we all hugged and said goodbye no worse for the wear and still good friends.

Abortion, in particular, is a touchy subject and one that is not going away anytime soon. As a social liberal, I too have my strong opinions. I believe a woman has a right to chose. I believe there are already too many sad, unwanted human beings on this planet. I believe it is wrong to encourage young mothers who are not ready to have a baby but whose hormones have deceived them to keep a child… only to provide them with limited social services and healthcare later down the line. I believe the earth is struggling under the burden of our species’ needs, wants, and wastefulness. I believe strongly that there should be a solid line between church and state, one that the Republican Party and the conservative right seems intent to erase to gain ground on issues such as abortion.

I sometimes have a problem with my classmates who are very religious and pro-life but are getting their scholarships through the armed forces. What? You can't wield a uterine vacuum but you can shoot a gun? You can be part of an establishment that has also killed innocents in Iraq? Is it any worse to snatch away the life of a conglomerate of cells we call a fetus than it is to bomb people or shoot our enemies and surrounding innocent civilians down? There is a serious failure in logic here.

I was intrigued , however, when last night I heard this INTERVIEW on fresh air. It was a great interview because it represented some logic and intelligence from within the conservative, evangelical religious right...a supposed once “leader”, Frank Schaeffer, son of the late Francis Schaeffer.

All too often, I turn on the radio to listen to 'church radio'(for fun) and find it to be mind numbingly lacking in rationality. This was different. I liked this interview. Mr. Schaeffer was calm, collected, and intelligent. He had some sage advice for Obama. He provided a solid middle ground for both liberals and the religious population to potentially find common ground. He lamented the graphic “abortion holocaust” and hysteria that he, himself, had helped create with his father. He explained that his religious beliefs were, too some degree, never meant to be politicized or directed against abortion rights or the gay population. He implied that he was sucked into the anti-abortion movement by his own ambitions, interest in film, and the sense of importance. He also noted how he maintains his love for god and his pro-life philospohy in the context of a society that allows one to choose what is best for him/herself. I think this is an interview that anyone interested in the abortion debate should listen to, especially the last several minutes.

Listen... I respect the rights of everyone to decide their own life-paths as well as the right of my religious classmate to not partake in anything that she does not believe in, but we need to maintain abortion as an option and a medical out when life goes wrong or a mistake is made.

SOrry for the poor grammar and rambling post...

Be Well.
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