While this topic has been stewing in my head for quite some time, in light of the recent birth of my son I've decided to write about this very controversial topic. I'm talking about abortion. I wanted to know more about that ubiquitous court case, Roe v. Wade, so I propped my eyelids open with some toothpicks and read the whole shebang (if your Nyquil ever seems a little inadequate, pick up a court document, it's guaranteed to be snooze-a-licious). While very informative and extremely well researched, the court's opinion seemed to lack what I consider common sense. Let me break it down.


The Supreme Court, in the spirit of following precedents (which is its banner responsibility), gave a succinct but detailed history of abortion legislation throughout history. From the ancient Greeks on down to the, then, present time they noted what other governments had considered legal action in pregnancy termination. They made sure to emphasize that the wisdom throughout the ages has been that until the fetus is "quickened," or in other words animated, it was still considered part of the mother and therefore not a separate entity.




Here's the problem I have with this "wisdom." Once the elements of life have combined, namely the sperm and the egg, to form a zygote, they are no longer divisible. The fetus, even before showing "signs of life," cannot become anything other than a human being. Essentially, the precedent that the court decided to uphold stated that a fetus in the initial stages of growth is no different to the woman than her spleen, as if that spleen could one day develop a heart, a laugh, a preference of beverage at Sonic, or a passionate love for another person. So I contend that once the other organs of a woman's body start to develop into independent organisms then I will eat my words, but until then I hold that this is faulty reasoning based on archaic logic.


Now I realize the troubles that lie in wait if abortion were to be made illegal, outright. I am fully aware of the various extenuating circumstances that arise with pregnancies, not the least of which is the case of rape. I can touch on that another time, but for now I'll stick with plain Jane, good old fashioned consensual sex. Women's rights activists claim the right to choose what they do with their bodies, and I completely agree. I whole-heartedly support a woman's freedom to do what she wants with her body. However, as I stated earlier, the fetus of an unborn child at every stage of pregnancy is a separate person with a body of its own over whose mere existence the mother should not have liberty to end. A woman who decides to engage in an act that has any possibility of resulting in a life has made her choice, and if she also chooses to look at herself as being "punished with a baby," then there are people waiting years, even decades, for the chance to raise a child, people who haven't been given the gift of fertility that she has.


No matter which way you slice it, the halting of a life's natural development at any stage is inherently bad. I apologize if any toes were stepped on, and by that I mean I regret that your toes were in the way. There's simply no other way for me to look at life now that I, even presently, hold it in my hands and feel the full weight of responsibility for it on my shoulders. And here is where I end this lengthy tirade.... for now.

P.S.-- I saw the title on a t-shirt somewhere, I thought it was hilarious.