January 20, 2009 - Washington D.C. Though this woman shared her views in a very gentle way, and I support this woman's right to speak her mind in believing that sentient human life begins at the moment of conception, I also support every woman's right to make her own informed choice and have an abortion by a qualified doctor in a clean environment. As per the message on this woman's sign, though I feel very fortunate to be alive, I would have fully supported my own mother's choice to terminate her pregnancy early on if she had been raped, or if my pre-natal existence had threatened her health, or if she realized that she was unwilling, unable, or unfit to make all of the sacrifices necessary to raise a child. There are already so many born yet seemingly unwanted children in the world who need a loving family. And there are way too many people unfit to be parents, who end up raising a child in an emotionally stagnant or emotionally/physically abusive environment. And frankly, there are too many people, who are living longer than ever, in a world with increasingly limited and misdirected resources. To bring another child into the world unprepared, unable to live healthfully, and without at least one loving parent who can be present to raise them is, in my opinion, a much greater crime by orders of magnitude. Though I in no way support the use of Abortion as a casual form of birth control, I most certainly don't think government should be in a position to control a woman's body or her freedom to choose how to live her own life. On the other hand, I would be very supportive if the government took a role in mandating the availability of both preventative and informative measures through our public education, public health, and healthcare systems. To teach our tweens and teens about responsible health, sex, and parenting practices, as well as, and the benefits inherent in a functional community network, makes perfect sense to me. And it too is important to inform a potential parent, be s/he twelve or older about the sacrifices, the consequences, and the alternatives to child rearing (such as adoption). The parent too should be be made aware of the many community and government programs and resources available to them so they can raise their child within a supportive social framework. Anyone who is capable of co-creating an offspring should know all they can beforehand. To have a child is an enormous responsibility and an altogether life altering event. So, to go through with a pregnancy simply because a person is pregnant and without being comprehensively informed, is to choose the socially irresponsible path. This realization would greatly reduce the number of abortions performed, as well as be an thoughtful measure to promote a healthful and balanced society. This too would more than likely result in a notable decrease in STDs, juvenile delinquency, violent crime, and prison inmate populations, to name a few things. And though I do not wish any ill onto those who believe that life begins at conception, I do wish they would choose to be critical thinkers, and therefore less ideological, because they tend to be altogether inconsistent with their arguments. For example, it is all too common that a person who preaches pro-life are Evangelicals. And, more often than not, though this person will sometimes kill to defend and undeveloped cell mass, they too will vigorously defend war spending and blind patriotism at the expense of the wholesale murder of people from another culture to further our national interests; who too will deflate the importance of a quality public education and healthcare system; who too will diminish the importance of a science that will save the lives of many (ie. stem cell research); who too will scream long and loud to have the right to own a collection of semi-automatic weapons and claim rights to use it on any trespasser; who too will disparage the use of educational tools and contraception alongside abstenance as preventative measure; who too will support the incarceration of non-violent offenders, the building of prisons, and the death of a convicted murderer. I wonder if these righteous few consider whether this murderer facing the death penalty was once the child of a parent who was unfit, abusive, and never around because s/he became a mother/father at a young age and had to work overtime to put food on the table and a roof over their head, while perhaps living in a neighborhood that had a poorly equipped school and medical facility, while directly adjacent to the toxic plastics industry that produces Christian crosses or the filthy paper industry that prints the Bible.

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