This is quite the hot button topic and there are many schools of thought. This one is mine on what to do about it. First off, I'll just say out front that I never, ever want to see a child aborted for any reason what so ever. Second, this is to provoke thought and civil discussion. Third, this is my effort to influence change to encourage a better world. Lastly, I have been told that I am a male and therefore have absolutely no right to say anything about this topic. I'll just say that I recognize that fact, however my gender has very little to do with what I am about to say.
My wife said something about abortion the other day that really got me thinking. She said, "Abortion should never be a political issue." Her statement really struck a chord with me. I completely agree with the notion that government should not be in a great many things in our lives and that includes abortion.
Now that that is out of the way, let's continue on. I can say that I personally do not know anyone that would flippantly get an abortion because they made a decision to have sex and got pregnant as a result. What then are the justifiable reasons that people terminate a pregnancy. Some, but not all, are rape, incest, inability to provide for the child, also coupled with misplaced religious ideology that says that women cannot deny their husbands sex for any reason.
All three of those reasons that I mentioned have to do with decision making by at least one party to the conception of a child. A strong case can be made to justify an abortion in those cases. Such an argument was made to me and it really made me think. I am a huge proponent of helping people maintain their dignity in a corrupted world that is CONSTANTLY trying to take it away from each and every one of us.
So what can be done about those 3 situations? It is simple, but not a quick fix. It will take a lot of people doing a lot of work! It also encompasses irresponsible casual sex that results in the birth of a child. That solution is being a responsible adult. Responsibility is something that is so heavily lacking in our current age that even those in the highest positions in their respective fields are probably not being the most responsible with their decision making. For example, due to the irresponsibility of decades of politicians inaction to actually deal with real life problems of their constituents, a man was elected that had never held political office and ran on the anger of voters at government's past performance. I am not here to debate whether he has done a good job or not. I am simply stating a fact that I have heard both sides of the American political aisle agree on. Moving on!
The "great prophet" Austin Powers (yes, the guy in the Mike Meyers movie) has a line that I dearly love. To set it up, Mr. Powers is a spy from the 1960's that was frozen and thawed out in the 90's and faced extreme culture shock at what had changed in 30 years. He was the stereotypical swinger, "groovy" guy from his original decade and a man out of time. He had some lessons to learn to be able to survive in the 90's. His nemesis tells him near the end of the movie, "There is nothing more pathetic than an aging hipster. Face it, Austin. Freedom failed." Austin responds, "No man, freedom didn't fail. Now we have FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY. It's a very groovy time."
Just speaking about America for a second, mainly because I have never left American soil, we have freedoms in spades that large sections of the world do not. We can bad mouth our government, we can start a business and expand said business as big as our imagination can carry it, and we do not have to live in fear of someone coming in our house, taking our possessions, raping our spouses, and killing us. With that freedom that we enjoy comes a price. To paraphrase Spiderman's Uncle Ben, With great freedom comes great responsibility.
What does this have to do with abortion? Well, I'm glad that you asked. As it pertains to the irresponsible couple having casual sex, what would happen if they took responsibility for their actions and did not have sex until they were ready to have children? I am not trying to push an abstinence only type of thing. I am trying to show the value of responsibility over having to kill an unborn child because of poor decision making. What would happen if the rapist took responsibility and did not rape the woman causing her to get pregnant? Years of emotional and psychological trauma would be avoided and 2 lives would be saved. What about the male family member that slept with his female family member? It is widely known in the scientific community that there are serious genetic consequences to mixing similar DNA in reproduction. It is not something that is difficult to find out with a simple internet search. What if the man with religious zeal forcing his wife to have unprotected sex with him took some responsibility and read more of the parts about how he is supposed to treat his wife. Sorry guys (not really), your wife is not your property to do with as you please. If you are using her as your personal sex toy then you are not in a marriage, you are in an illegal slave/owner relationship.
This responsibility thing goes WAY beyond abortion, but what if we could all but eradicate the need/want for abortions except in serious medical situations. What if we began to teach the next generation responsibility and accountability? What could we achieve together? Parents, before being our children's friend, let's fulfill our responsibility to mold them into productive adult human beings that seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with Jesus. It is not a popular thought in modern times but it is the mandate that we were given from our Creator. They'll get upset with you, they'll probably throw a fit sometimes. However, you must be stern with them and stand your ground. They will thank you for it one day.
As I said, this goes way beyond just abortion. We could literally change the world. I am not talking about utopia. I am talking about showing the world what life with Jesus looks like when it is lived out to the best of our ability. I hope that this finds your earholes and causes you to ask serious questions about what we can do as individuals to influence change in the next generation. Our actions now can dramatically change the next 2 generations. Just ask the veterans of WWII. We now call them the greatest generation simply because of the example they set for us by their actions.
Grace and Peace be with you Always.
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