Pro-Life or Pro-Choice?

 I've been doing some reading and reacting tonight, and I just really felt this needed re -posting. I apologize if you have read it before~

What does it mean to be pro-life or pro-choice?  It's an interesting question. Katrina from They All Call Me Mom, wrote a post the other day entitled "Am I Pro-Choice?". In it she states that while she is in her heart, staunchly pro-life, she does not know if, given a vote, she could ever vote to outlaw abortion entirely. Katrina cites, as many others do, that she would never want a woman resorting to a back alley abortion, and possibly lose her life as well as her unborn child. When I replied with a few points as to why the procedure should not be legal, she invited me to cross post.
I have a two-fold argument when it comes to the legalization of abortion. The first, to get it out of the way, is the constitutional legality - is it constitutional? And should it be under the state government, or federal? So, the first part of my two fold argument is also two-fold. And no, I don't think that makes it a three fold argument! (Sorry, this discussion does not lend itself to levity.) (For an abortion legalization time line, check all.org.)
1. I do believe that Roe vs. Wade was an unconstitutional decision by the Supreme Court. The court ruled that  "a constitutional right to privacy exists that protects a woman's decision to have an abortion" and with that, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion on demand.This decision was based on a number of items of false evidence:
A. One being that the majority of the population wanted it to be legal. Founder of NARAL, Dr. Bernard Nathanson has admitted that he inflated many statistics to sway both the public and the courts to allow abortion to be legalized.
B. Secondly, the Court took into consideration when life begins, and it of course, did not have the scientific advances we have now, knowing full well that life begins at conception (not an opinion, scientific fact now admitted to by even pro-abort factions).
C. Because they did not take into consideration that life begins at conception, they did not extend Constitutional rights to the unborn. Because we now know when life begins, those rights are inherent, and make the arguments for Roe V. Wade irrelevant, and the law itself unconstitutional. 

2. Laws regarding every aspect of abortion had up until 1973, been under state law. The Roe V. Wade decision did not change abortion law, per se. It changed privacy laws which allow a woman to procure an abortion with almost no restrictions. If Roe v. Wade were overturned, it would - unfortunately, not immediately make abortion illegal. The laws on the books of each state regarding abortion would then be in effect. Some states, such as Ohio, would immediately go back to illegal abortion, but others, such as California and Colorado,  who were among the very first to legalize abortion, it would remain legal. As a person who believes in States Rights, I do not think that the Supreme Court, or the Federal government should be able to make such sweeping laws, and impose them on states that clearly do not want them.

The second, and really to my mind, the most important part of any argument, is the moral aspect. To define any nation's law, one must consider natural law(here's a  very educational and enlightening run down of natural law and how it pertains to the Constitution). I prefer to think of it as God's law, but in this ever increasingly atheistic society, that doesn't get you real far in an argument. Anyway, Natural law dictates that man has God given rights. And among these are truly, the right to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Now, I know, you are going to say that this is a tired old argument. But, it is so essential in the practice of obtaining and maintaining liberty as a nation, that it must be presented in any argument where a person's liberty is at stake. Of course, for this discussion, I am referring to not just the unborn baby, but the mother as well. God has given each of us these rights, and for any of us to be truly free, to truly have liberty, we must be able to live without the threat of violence, to ourselves, or each other. This is the essence of liberty. Without liberty, and with it, the right to life given to each individual, we are not observing natural law. We are flying in the face of God's law. Abortion is violence. To the baby, and to her mother.

Now, I really don't want this to get too weighty, because you'll get bored and leave. But, this is a weighty topic. I can get so emotional about it, because the idea of it is shocking to me. Truly, truly shocking. It never fails to stun me when someone says they are pro-choice. Especially someone who is truly pro-choice. When they think an abortion could EVER be the best answer. To me, this is shocking in the way that slavery is shocking to all of us now.
But, it wasn't always. When we read historical accounts of what happened in this country during the years that slavery was legal, we are shocked. We, as a nation, cannot fathom one person owning another. We read about children being sold away from their mother's arms, and cry for those children. We read about slaves being whipped for some imagined infraction, and we gasp. We see pictures of slaves on auction blocks and are astounded that this ever happened here. Why are we shocked? Why does this seem so unfathomable?

Because it goes against God. It goes against nature. That one man can own another. That one man can sell another away from his family. That he can beat him, work him, and call him "property". That he can have him killed if he does not work as he should. He can do whatever he wants with him, because it's legal - seems to foreign to our thinking, because we cannot picture ourselves in either place. Not as the owner, and certainly, not as the slave. A war was fought in this country over the right to own slaves. Slavery wasn't new, after all, it had gone on since the beginning of time.  Many thought they could not afford to run their farms and businesses without slaves. Many felt it was their right to do with these slaves as they wished - after all, they weren't really human - they were some form of sub-human. Since they weren't fully human, they were not entitled to the same rights as humans. But, they were. They were human, created in God's image. Entitled to the same rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as any other human being.

We look back now and are grateful to those who finally saw the truth, and fought for it. They knew that slavery had to be made illegal. Many were willing to fight and die to make it right. So many people worked to smuggle the slaves out of the South, to freedom.

The sarcastic me wants to know if you see any parallels here. The me that wants to make a point wants to know if you can see how abortion is slavery. It is the same issue. The unborn baby has no control over her existence, just as the slave did not. The unborn baby can be killed, if the mother can't afford the child, or doesn't want the child, or if it's a boy, or if it's a girl, or if she is unhealthy. After all, the baby isn't really a baby, she is sub-human. Except that she is fully human, from the moment of conception. And abortion isn't new, it has gone on since the beginning of time  - but that doesn't mean it should be legal in a civilized society. Just as slavery should never be legalized in a civilized society. Certainly not in America.

Every person, black or white, born or unborn, has the right to life. Has the right to liberty (an existence free of the fear of violence) to live in the pursuit of happiness. Someday in this country, and please Dear Lord, let it be soon, someday, people are going to wake up, and see what abortion has done to us as a nation. We don't treasure children. We see them as burdens. We have people in this country that think abortion doesn't go far enough. We have people who think it's okay to partially deliver a child, and then kill her. Or slit her throat on a table if she has the nerve to be born alive. When does it stop? Does it stop with abortion? Infanticide? Euthanasia? Anyone is is burdensome? That' not where we are headed, folks, that's where we ARE. It takes one, just one thing to create an avalanche. If abortion is okay, because of reasons x,y, and z, then those arguments are applied to the disabled, the elderly, the sick and infirm. Don't believe me? Read about Terry Schiavo, Baby Joseph, the huge number of babies with Down Syndrome being aborted.

A baby is a baby, a person, from the moment of conception, until natural death. This is scientifically proven, and it is also Natural Law. God's law.

I have argued from legal and moral standpoints. May I now offer the emotional one? As someone who has experienced a unplanned pregnancy, I honestly do know some of the fear and worry that comes from an crisis pregnancy. I also know, that from the moment I knew I was pregnant I would never, ever let anyone hurt my baby. It was instinctive. It was visceral. I know that most, if not every single woman who has been pregnant has felt the same way. It's part of who we are. God's law, nature's law, whatever - it's how we are made. To obtain an abortion, some part of a woman must be silenced, must be numb, to let it occur. She is lied to, told that her child is not really a baby - that makes it easier to bear. But she knows. And she carries the guilt and the horror with her forever after.

If I could ask for just one thing, it doesn't seem like such a big thing, since lives are at stake, both the mother's and her baby's. If it could be made a law that every woman seeking an abortion had to first see an ultrasound, preferably 3D, of her child, and then make the decision. Could she look at her child, see her face, and still say yes? I am sure there are some who could. Most could not. That instinct to protect, the one she has been trying so hard to ignore, would kick in. I think most mothers would change their minds. Most would have their babies. Is it so much to ask that the abortionist, who probably is using ultra sound to find his wee target, turn the screen first, and show the mother what she is getting rid of, what she is losing? I think not.

And one more thing - prolifers are often accused of talking the talk, but not walking the walk. That is - they want women to keep their babies, but don't want to help them. I want to just say, anyone who contacts me with ANYTHING regarding a crisis pregnancy - I will do anything I can to help her. I will help her get whatever she needs. We would keep a baby for someone who needs time, and let the mom come back for her child. We would get her in touch with whatever services she needed, Pregnancy Support Centers, maternity clothes, whatever. We would help, and I know so, so many others who would help - So if you know someone who needs help, I am here. I am willing. Please, forward this along to anyone who may need it. I will be here, if she needs me.