Waxing Poetically: Addressing Culture with a Twist of Poetry

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Sunday night, as I happened to be flipping through my cable channels, I stopped at one of my favorite theological forums the Eternal Word Television Network. EWTN is an all Catholic Network which has some very interesting discussions on current events, politics, art and the like, and also has a daily mass for those of us Catholics who miss mass…. My point however is that during a break from one show there was a pro-life PSA saying how those who are of religious beliefs cannot, in good conscience, vote for a pro-choice candidate. So I began to ponder the assumption. Does who I vote for really matter in regard to the whole pro-life/pro-choice debate? The following is what I have concluded.

Abortion is probably the single most divisive issue in America and arguably the world. Pro-choice advocates argue that a woman has a right to choose her reproductive fate and to disallow abortion as an option violates that right. Pro-life advocates in turn object to this stance by saying that the unborn child is being killed before it has a chance to have any of its own freedoms and choices. I choose to side with the latter on the grounds that natural intent to be life precedes life in the same way that an idea precedes a completed project. In other words, although “full” life may not begin at conception, the idea or foundation for that life is laid down. Furthermore, that fetus is not a malignant cancer or a house built with bad blueprints…. It is supposed to be there and it is very likely to be healthy and well built so to speak, so why stop a perfectly healthy process?

I make this point to show just how pro-life I am. I am politically libertarian which basically means I believe in full social liberty (on the liberal side) and also believe in free markets with as little restriction a possible (on the conservative side). Yet on this one issue of abortion, unlike some liberals, I fight for the life of the unborn child who has no voice… but I have never voted for a fully pro-life candidate and I plan to vote for Barack Obama in November. According to Christian doctrine, I am voting against my conscience and my God, but I say I’m just a realist.

If a candidate is elected into office he does have veto power, the power to appoint judges, and the power to speak his mind. However, in America’s history no matter who has been in office, no one has been able to overturn Roe v. Wade in four decades! Therefore does it really make a difference who is president in regard to this matter? I don’t think it does. The only way to totally stop a social phenomenon to my thinking is through social means.

In the greater sense, society must take actions to curb unplanned pregnancy or at the very least make abortion less appealing through avenues such as a fully cultivated adoption system that nurtures and cares for its children and of course, a sociological system in which such expecting mothers can be made more secure in knowing that they’re not alone. America must build a culture of life around unplanned pregnancies and educate those who are not pregnant. The society at large needs to ease the fears of these women, give options, instead of opposition Only if these sociological changes happen will abortion be ended, it. If not, it will continue. Am I wrong about this? Please comment and please wax articulately.

Note to pro-choice readers: I’m not suggesting that pro-choicers want to kill babies. I fully understand you have a different view about when life begins. (Even some religions feel life is only life after birth).

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