I truly appreciate the effort you have made to research and post about the bill itself. I will try to explain the Catholic position without seeming preachy and with the understanding that I am not attacking you or anything you have written here, this is just food for (further) thought.
When a Catholic looks at the issue of abortion, she does not view it as a matter of it being a woman's choice to do what she will with her own body. She looks at it as the permission for a woman to kill a child, her child. It comes down to the idea of when life begins - not just when a fetus can maintain life outside of the womb, but when life is created - which we believe to be at the moment of conception. Legal abortion means that a woman has the ability to decide whether someone has the right to live or die.
To draw a comparison, we can think of slavery. Once upon a time (but unfortunately, not that long ago) people of African descent were considered something less than human in this country, and were treated as such - denied an education, forced to work in deplorable conditions, told what to eat, where to sleep, when to breed and who they should worship. This was an acceptable state until civil rights were established, but the scars remain to this day - part of what makes this election so remarkable. Today, no one would say that enslaving someone is something you would not personally choose for yourself, but is acceptable for other people to do. It is universally recognized as evil.
So...back to abortion. Since this issue calls into question not just the dignity and rights of a living individual but rather whether or not this person will be allowed to exist, it is considered the fundamental issue upon which all others rest. How can we believe and proclaim as Christians 'though shalt not kill' and then say that it is an acceptable practice to abort a baby? How can we fight for rights for the living when there is an entire population that is not spoken for?
i hear you. i understand the catholic position on all of this. it makes complete sense to me. i guess it all rests on when you believe life begins. my brain may not be able to wrap it's arms around the totality of the situation at this moment, i am fully aware of that. it has always been a question of choice for me...that i would not choose it but that i cannot choose for someone else b/c it is not my place. i am still in that category today but i have been pushed into a fidgety place with all of the information i've been getting from my friendly, albeit adamant, catholics :) i have a feeling that my opinion on this will change over the next few years, especially when i begin thinking in earnest about a family of my own. although, i can't see myself voting for a republican simply for a pro-choice candidate. what an interesting election this has been!! yes...let's get that wine...pronto!
God knows I do not wish any further anxiety on your already torrential mind, but I'm glad that this topic has pushed you into a 'fidgety' place because it SHOULD. Abortion is a terrible thing, and the reason it has been sustained so long in this country is because no one talks about it. It is never at the forefront of any politician's mind or campaign strategy. If you don't really think about what it means to 'choose' (and I might add that the language used is vague on purpose so that you don't actually think about what you're choosing) it is easy to push it aside as an issue that doesn't really affect you on a day to day basis because it's not something you would choose for yourself.
If more people listened to this argument - which really goes beyond being just a religious issue - the fidgety place they find themselves in might spur a fundamental change in the way people think about this 'choice.'
Having said this, though...I am not naive enough to believe that abortion will ever be taken off the table for some women, or that any legislation will ever be enough.
When a Catholic looks at the issue of abortion, she does not view it as a matter of it being a woman's choice to do what she will with her own body. She looks at it as the permission for a woman to kill a child, her child. It comes down to the idea of when life begins - not just when a fetus can maintain life outside of the womb, but when life is created - which we believe to be at the moment of conception. Legal abortion means that a woman has the ability to decide whether someone has the right to live or die.
To draw a comparison, we can think of slavery. Once upon a time (but unfortunately, not that long ago) people of African descent were considered something less than human in this country, and were treated as such - denied an education, forced to work in deplorable conditions, told what to eat, where to sleep, when to breed and who they should worship. This was an acceptable state until civil rights were established, but the scars remain to this day - part of what makes this election so remarkable. Today, no one would say that enslaving someone is something you would not personally choose for yourself, but is acceptable for other people to do. It is universally recognized as evil.
So...back to abortion. Since this issue calls into question not just the dignity and rights of a living individual but rather whether or not this person will be allowed to exist, it is considered the fundamental issue upon which all others rest. How can we believe and proclaim as Christians 'though shalt not kill' and then say that it is an acceptable practice to abort a baby? How can we fight for rights for the living when there is an entire population that is not spoken for?
...
So...ready for that wine? Me too.
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If more people listened to this argument - which really goes beyond being just a religious issue - the fidgety place they find themselves in might spur a fundamental change in the way people think about this 'choice.'
Having said this, though...I am not naive enough to believe that abortion will ever be taken off the table for some women, or that any legislation will ever be enough.
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