Abortion doesn’t guide my politics

I got an email today from someone I really love asking me not to support Obama because of his stance on abortion. And the email went on to hint that Obama could possibly be the anti-christ.  I still remember 88 reasons why the Lord was comin’ in 88 and also that everyone from Ronald Reagan, Gorbachev, Vladimir Putin, Bill Clinton and even George Bush were possibly ‘the anti-christ’. So I couldn’t take the email seriously on that front.

What did bother me was the ignorance involved in picking a president based solely on abortion rights views.

I don’t like abortion. On a personal level, I really don’t like abortion. I have three boys. Three strenuous pregnancies I thought would nearly kill me. I struggled through violently dark valleys of postpartum depression. Yet, I can’t imagine ever having not given birth to any of them. I love them.

But – I have never been in a position where I had to choose – give birth or abort. I don’t think I could have an abortion. On a very fundamental level, the thought abhors me. However, I have not ‘been there’; I am not going to cast the first stone. Plus, abortion is not a clear-cut, one size fits all, kind of thing. Even within Christian circles, there are debates as to when life truly begins and should be considered sacred. And what about rape? Incest? Danger to the woman’s life? These are questions that keep the debate going.

Abortion is legal. Making it illegal again would be like trying to push the toothpaste back into the tube. Nearly impossible and very messy. Even if it were illegal, it wouldn’t stop women from getting abortions. It would simply mean the government couldn’t regulate it. And women’s lives would be in danger from backwoods abortionists and unsanitary conditions.

I think the government would best serve the situation by limiting the hows and whens of abortion. Like, not after the first trimester, not as a repetitive form of birth control. Allow greater access to the morning after pill so that abortion is not a big issue. (For those opposed to even that, conception can sometimes not occur for a full 72 hours after sexual intercourse. The process of the embryo attaching itself and becoming viable is not a guarantee. The morning after pill is simply blocking the embryo from implanting and therefore preventing a woman from getting pregnant.)

If you want to really stop abortion, then you have to find the root of the problem. Picketing clinics doesn’t stop it, shoving pictures in aborted fetuses doesn’t stop abortion. If you really believe it is immoral, then fight it with prayer and love. Take care of a woman who is down on her luck and provide monetary and emotional support while she is pregnant. Help her contact a good adoption agency or mentor her and give her the support she needs to provide a safe, loving home after she delivers.

Too many times the same people who are so vehemently against abortion are also against the social programs that could give this woman and her future family a chance to beat the odds and have an intact, loving home environment.

So, I don’t pick my presidents solely on their abortion views. I am picking my president as a whole package of ideas. I don’t necessarily believe I have to agree with everything they stand for. But for me, education, healthcare and the economy are the most important issues. I am looking for a better future for my children and if we ignore these issues their future will be very bleak.

And if I remember correctly, Senator Obama said ‘Nobody is for abortion’.