On Abortion

(written to the venerable audience of Facebook)

I don't always broadcast my political opinions, but this time (after watching a video about Planned Parenthood keeping a baby alive wherein to better harvest their organs), I couldn't stay silent because it hits close to home:

I am "pro-life" (and "pro-choice").

I will teach my daughters that they will have the choice of creating a human life BEFORE that life is conceived. I will do my best to teach them values and to make sure that they have all the information they need to make sure that this choice is not denied them--because yes, having a baby is incredibly "inconvenient", and it is a "life sentence", and it is expensive, and it is a heavy burden of responsibility (of course, based on the number of children I have, I also believe that raising children is fulfilling, and entertaining, and interesting, and fun, and really one of the few things in this life worth my time). People will bring up, "Well, what about cases of rape or saving the mother's life?" I think anyone would agree that such cases constitute a small subset of abortions, but in those instances I would leave that choice up to the individual.

I believe in freedom as a human right, but I also find it inarguable that choices we make can limit our future freedoms.

Why do I have this opinion? The most remarkable events of my life have been the births of my children and what I find every time to be the most incredible part is the relatively small amount of effort that is required...Yes, I'm sick the whole 9 months and yes, it's painful, etc, etc, but if I keep myself relatively healthy, that little baby is born a HUMAN BEING--a gorgeous, adorable, individual. There was nothing I could do to magically turn them into a life at 20 weeks or whatever the cut off for abortion is--they just grew, all by themselves, in every aspect a miracle.

And so, considering how miraculous and precious and yet how considerable the stakes are, I would think that this of all freedoms we as human beings should be infinitely careful with. This is human life. Trust me, I have every sympathy for a woman who has become pregnant when she wasn't prepared for it, and that's why I'm saying "Be educated, be careful, make your choice, preserve your freedom!" Pilots aren't constantly "accidentally" diving head first into rocky cliffs--the cost of human life is too great, they are too careful. So let's be careful with these sweet little babies, they deserve it.