I started this thread because it combines two main topics about abortion taken from the two most recent threads on that topic. I think it is important after hearing a comment by none other than Bill O’Reilly when referring to immigration. Forgive me for being long-winded.
Why is abortion a major issue to conservatives like me? To answer that, I have to describe our position. Conservatives like me consider unborn babies living human beings. We have different reasons to believe this. For me, it was the premature birth of my daughter Grace. (Pictured in my avatar) I think about the defense of late term abortions and can’t help but think that for the first few weeks of my daughters life, she could be legally killed if it weren’t for her location relative to my wife’s belly. I’ve also met a baby given up for adoption and accepted her as my sister. So I’ve pulled what has been called a parasite from my wife’s birth canal and welcomed an unwanted fetus into my immediate family. So when I hear about abortion, my mind fills with images of those closest to me.
This brings me to the first topic I want to address. Some of the people arguing for abortion are arguing for a principle where we are arguing for the defense of living children. It is impossible to have that position and not be emotional in its defense. It frustrates me to read the dry, emotionless, theoretical application of ethics when the other side of the argument is coming from people who are basing their feelings on personal experience. It actually angers me to see the dictionary definition of parasite posted in such an argument because I don’t have to enter “define: parasite” in Google to see my daughter’s face the first time I held her.
The second topic I want to address is that it is perfectly acceptable for people who feel this way to consider abortion the most important topic in American politics. Simply put, if your position is that abortion is the murder of a child, it has to be important to you. Surely, even if you are against abortion, you would be angry if the U.S. government allowed anyone aged less than 1 year could be legally killed. We see this as the same thing: killing a baby. We aren’t hijacking a religion (I haven’t mentioned Christianity once in this post) or manipulating politics, we are doing what we have to do considering our belief.
Hopefully this post has conveyed the reason for the emotional nature of conservatives when discussing abortion as well as reiterated my personal position. I hope that I have at least given understanding to some of my opponents of this subject. So feel free to defend the principle of abortion while I, and those like me, defend the victim. However, my position will not be changed by a principle because your principle will never have a face as beautiful as my daughter Grace’s.