Abortion

I don't generally have much to say about the subject of abortion. My own personal feelings are in conflict when it comes to this topic, as are those of many others. Some people simplify the conflict by simply saying that abortion is wrong no matter what and should be banned, no exceptions. Some would allow an abortion to save the life of the expectant woman, but many won't even allow for that in their moral calculus.

I tend to think that abortions are an unfortunate reality in life. I go back far enough to remember what women were going through before the Supreme Court struck down anti-abortion laws. Women were having abortions before Roe v. Wade. Many, if not most, of those abortions were risky and performed by people with no medical background or support. When Roe v Wade came down, many in our society breathed a sigh of relief that women would finally be able to have abortions safely. Those who provided abortion services weren't seen as mass murderers. They were seen for what they were doing, helping to preserve the lives and health of women seeking abortions.

Most pro-life advocates try to paint abortions as murder. They passionately preach that a fetus is a living human being and that to kill a fetus in an abortion is to murder a human being. Yet, despite that rhetoric, I have yet to meet a pro-life advocate who thinks pregnant women who hire specialists to perform these abortions on them should be tried for murder. Apparently it is not murder to buy an abortion. Apparently it is only murder to perform the service. Apparently it should be a criminal act to use professional skills in order to help a woman seeking an abortion save her own life.

When pro-lifers come to the point where they say there should be laws for convicting a woman of premeditated murder for having an abortion, then I'll take them seriously. As it now stands, this is nothing but divisive politics, pure and simple. Scott Roeder earned his verdict.