Monday, May 9, 2011

"Banned" Topics Series: Discussion #1 - Abortion

So, I was having a discussion the other day about how "political correctness" has brainwashed everyone into believing that if you even talk about certain subjects, you're in the wrong.  There is a specific way to think about things, told to us every day, and if you stray from that path you will be labelled by those that are more "enlightened" as something extremely negative.  There was a time when dissent and free-thinking were valued by our society.  I fear that if we can no longer voice our views, even if they're flawed, how can we hope to make progress.  Is the logical thought that we already have all of the answers?  Is the prevailing wisdom that there is nothing left to discuss?  I believe that the opposite is true.  I believe that by stifling independent thought, we've created a nation (and dare I say world) of zombies.  So, here are some of my thoughts on the topic of elective human abortion.

Abortion

First of all, I'd like to take back a term that has been hijacked - "choice".  Just like lowering CO2 emissions has nothing to do with "green" because nearly every green thing requires CO2 to live and actually does better when there's more, the opponents and proponents of this procedure use political correct zombie speech to avoid the ugly truth.  Here's a myth buster - nearly everyone in this country believes in a woman having a right to choose to have a baby.  What?!?  A 2004 survey reported that 1% of abortions began as rape and 0.5% began as incest.  So with a whopping 98.5% of all abortions NOT being the result of rape or incest, there was a choice made.  The rest of the elective abortions were for convenience.

Why do human beings take action?  Why do you make any decisions?  The answer is always a choice between reward and consequence.  As the rewards increase or the consequences decreases, you are more likely to choose a certain path.  As the rewards decreases or the consequences increase, you are less likely to choose that same path.  Each person will have their own risk vs. reward threshold at which their decision will shift.  Anything done to encourage a behavior must either increase the benefit or decrease the consequences.  In a free society, you make these decisions for yourself.  If someone else makes that decision for you, against your will, you are not free.  The key to this discussion is that you don't get to make decisions for other people that infringe upon their rights.

This is where the only point of contention exists, believe it or not, for abortion.  The only thing that matters is whether there is an independent life involved.  When taken to extremes, it's easy to make a determination.  On a child's second birthday, nobody says "congratulations on becoming a life".  We know it happens before that.  Similarly, nobody is going to accuse you of murdering a potential human being if you decide to not have sex.  Therefore, somewhere between the act of having sex and the child's second birthday (in my example) life is created.  The only argument that can be made is the "when".  All of our arguing and name-calling really boils down to a disagreement about when to consider the result of sexual intercourse a life worth protecting.

Some say that it occurs at conception.  This argument is typically based upon a very definite change taking place that creates something that did not previously exist.  The result is a composite of two individual human beings but a DNA and genetic analysis would show that it was not identical to either.  That is a magical moment and it's no wonder that some would believe it to be the spark of life.

Some say that it occurs at birth.  This argument has several versions and even if I try to list them all I would miss some.  The basic argument is that until it's separated from the mother, it is a part of her body.  The detractors of this approach point out many examples of premature babies being born, some in the second trimester, that are alive and well today.  Some say that if your definition of "life" must include the ability to live on your own without support, that would rule out many elderly and sick people as being "alive".  The most typical statements surrounding this belief are "It's my body" and "Women should have the right to choose".  Regardless of what your personal beliefs are, these are both dishonest statements.  First of all, it's not her body that's being destroyed (again, check the DNA).  Secondly, there was a choice involved in 98.5% of all pregnancies that desire abortions . . . the choice to have sex.  After that, there will always be another choice that cannot be removed . . . the choice to keep the baby or give it up for adoption.  So the only "choice" that they're talking about is the one where they wanted to have sex without taking responsibility for the possible outcome.  In other words, irresponsibility is the cause of 98.5% of abortions.  It doesn't matter if it's a life or not, that fact remains - it's a removal of consequences for actions and, therefore, encourages the choice and behavior patterns associated with it.

If there are only two possible truths, there are only two possible results.  In a country where we value life, where we consider it to be "unalienable", where we claim to stand for protecting the rights of innocent humans to be free from slaughter, if it could be proven that a baby boy or girl was being killed during an abortion, not only would it be the responsibility of the mother to protect that life,  it would be the responsibility of all of us.  On the other hand, if it could be proven that no life existed, that it was nothing more than having your appendix removed, that it was paramount to plastic surgery in its elective form, then we wouldn't need laws to ensure it could be accomplished any more than the other procedures require legislation.

So, here's the rub - There is no "right to kill".  There is no "right to surgery".  There is, however, a "right to life".  This was recognized at our founding and is one of the basic principles for our entire country - life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness were important rights, not granted by man, according to our founding fathers.  That means that in these two scenarios, the only one that would actually be infringing on someones "rights" would be to conduct an abortion if it was a human life.  There are no possible human rights violations to not allowing an abortion as an elective procedure.  That's a simple fact that often gets lost in these discussions where people are blinded by their own faith (whether it be faith that no life exists or faith that life is present).

And that's what it really boils down to.  It can't be proven so it must remain opinion-based.  Is abortion killing or not?  The thing that I keep coming back to . . . the aspect that haunts me . . . is that the outcomes of being wrong are not equal.  In one case, if we believe it is a life and it turns out not to be, all we've done is ensured there are consequences for our actions - just like for the entirety of human existence - if you have sex, you might get pregnant.  So, if we're wrong in that respect, it's inconvenient.  On the other hand, if we believe that it's not a human boy or girl and it turns that that we're wrong, we've endorsed, allowed, performed, and supported millions of murders in the name of convenience.  They are not equal outcomes.

You should be free to choose for yourself which one you believe because there is no proof either way.  The problem is that if you choose to believe that there is a life being taken, you are ridiculed and attacked, your money is taken away from you and given to those that perform the procedure.  What happens to you if you choose to believe that there is no life involved?  The scary thing is that the truth is not dependant on our opinions - regardless of what you believe, it either is or is not a life.

All I ask is that we stop playing word games and casting accusations and really get to the point.  The one question that everyone should be asking themselves when they choose to open their mouths on this topic.  That question?

"What if I'm wrong?"

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