My love/hate relationship with Sarah Palin continues. I love her energy, I love her star power, I love her ability to motivate and move people, and I just plain love the way she looks. I really, really, really don't like her unabashed anti-intellectualism, and I don't cotton to her blatant populism. And frankly, her stance on abortion really confuses me.
Yesterday, at a breakfast meeting of the Susan B. Anthony List (a group dedicated to electing anti-abortion candidates to public office), Palin ONCE AGAIN described what must have been the agonizing process she faced several years ago when she learned that the baby she was carrying had Down Syndrome--and the decision she ultimately made to continue the pregnancy to full term.
I am delighted that Palin made the decision that she did, and I am so grateful that her son has a mother like Palin to love him and raise him.
But isn't it just a little bit ironic that this icon of modern politics--this standard bearer of the pro-life movement--can stand there and talk to a group of women about the CHOICE she made to continue the pregnancy? Again--I support the choice she made and admire her for it. But without Roe v. Wade--there IS NO CHOICE. At least no legal one. The process of reflection, love and sacrifice she and her husband went through in order to reach the decision they did was exactly the kind of process I hope couples facing this decision go through. But prior to Roe v. Wade--the choice came down to carrying the pregnancy to term or breaking the law.
Look--I remain deeply troubled by the concept of abortion. The Pro-Choice movement does the very best job they can dehumanizing human life in order to justify their position. At the same time, the Pro-Life movement minimizes the reality of what carrying an unwanted baby to full term can mean to a woman. There are no easy answers here on either side of this issue. But if we're going to have a meaningful dialogue on this issue, the irony of Sarah Palin's "choice" cannot be dismissed lightly.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
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14 comments:
Pro-abortion, pro-life, it's all bullshit. How about this, pro federalism. Abortion is an issue that should have been left to the states, as in the much ignored 10th. Amendment to the Constitution.
When those dickheads declared abortion to be Constitutionally protected they harmed federalism, they harmed the Constitution itself, they harmed the people.
If there ever was one this is a legislative issue best handled by the States and the 40 year war we've had proves my point.
Oh, and one more thing. Palin isn't anti-intellectualism as much as anti-elite. Have a look at our recent Supreme Court nominee. Born and raised on the Upper West Side, elite schools (Haaaarvud) elite jobs and on and on. This woman knows nothing about me or people like me. She doesn't care about us. She has lived in a bubble all her life and even though she has had what many would term the best education and life experience, SHE DOESN'T KNOW SQUAT ABOUT THE REAL WORLD! And a person like this will have a major impact on me and my children's lives for years to come? Kiss my ass, I don't think so! I don't like it and neither does Sarah Palin.
You're deeply troubled by abortion?? Come on, CW. You take difficult stances all the time. Either human life begins at conception or it doesn't, either all life is sacred and worth protecting or it isn't. The choice comes well before the conception of a human being. A society that devalues human life (as ours does) and that allows selfishness to reign supreme (as ours does) is one that is "deeply troubled" by abortion because it does not want to ever, ever sacrifice for others, yet knows that abortion is murder.
Anon--must be nice to live in your simplistic world.
All life is sacred? Does that mean murderous child molesters too?
All life is sacred? Does that mean Osama Bin Laden's life?
Sorry--you and I live in different worlds.
Some people need killing. Child molesters, Bin Laden, Pirates of all flavors.
I hate to agree with Hammer on anything, but the 10th Amendment is my second favorite, and of course the Second Amendment is my favorite.
I want to by Dick Heller a beer.
CW,
It is condescending to say that my world is simplistic. It is very difficult to believe that all life is sacred - the examples you give are why it is difficult - but yes, those lives are sacred also. God created each of us in His image, even those child molesters and murderers and there is the chance that they can be redeemed. It is the hardest thing in the world to believe that God can forgive even them.
A woman who finds herself facing an unwanted pregnancy is often in a troubling position, but we, as a society, should offer her something better than the "choice" to have an abortion. The decision to have an abortion is one made based on the negatives in one's life - I'm not old enough, young enough, financially stable enough, educated enough, I'm not married, I'm in a bad marriage, I was raped. Abortion is a decision borne from despair. Abortion has done untold damage to the women of this world - not to mention the men and children in their lives. Women suffer after an abortion from depression, drug and alcohol abuse, suicidal tendencies, eating disorders and host of other problems. Men need to stand up and offer the care, support and protection that is needed.
Anon, can I guess that you are a Democrat?
Anon--you are right--I was condescending, and I'm sorry. Thanks for calling me on it.
You have achieved a level of internal consistency that is very, very rare today. The world is full of those who say life is sacred, and then support the death penalty. Conversely, there are those who would abort the truly innocent while marching against the execution of the truly evil.
I strive for such consistency, but fall short. I no longer support the death penalty, as I fear irreversible punishments in a human-run system. I consider myself pro-life, yet would not vote to outlaw abortion. Internally inconsistent? Yep.
I was always a fan of the 17th Amendment, followed closely by the 21st. I feel that the 10th and 2nd are like the Cowboys and Lakers where people fan them because they are trendy.
The Constitution trendy? Gee never thought of it in those terms. The only Amendment I have a problem with is the 18th. The rest are good to go.
You all are forgetting, the 2nd is not trendy. It is "a quaint relic of colonial times."
CW,
A less secure and intellectually honest man would never have admitted to being condescending...I appreciate it. I respect your beliefs and really want to know why you would not vote to end abortion.
Obviously, I'd love for abortion to be outlawed, but I also believe that changing the culture is the way to get there.
Why would I not vote to end abortion? Wow. A huge question--and I do agree that changing the culture is the way to move toward its abandonment.
I would have a very, very hard time voting to outlaw abortion because unlike many--if not virtually all other matters of great import and debate--I will NEVER be faced with the decision to keep a baby or have an abortion. Oh sure, I could be a party to such a decision, but ultimately, the decision would never be mine. This fundamental and irreversible inability to understand at anything other than a superficial level, what goes through the mind of a woman who is considering an abortion, leaves me without the moral, ideological or social courage to deprive her of it.
Well said CW. This is an emotional and incendiary topic and many well-meaning men think they know best. Although it does take two to tango, it is ultimately the women who have to live the with the consequences of the decision.
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