Abortion is not an issue for talk, but for action
by Steve Dupree
This is a message to some of those who presume to speak on issues of abortion. If you are still one of those folks, you recognize yourself in this article, there is really no argument. Shut up until you aren't that person.
Our prisons are full of people who claim a troubled childhood. Rare indeed is the death row inhabitant who claims to have had a loving, Ward & June style family life. The welfare rolls are rife with those who grew up knowing only welfare. Problems in school, bullying, obesity, domestic abuse (giver and receiver), and drug use have all been attributed to an abusive and/or unhappy family life during a child's formative years.
What might those homes have been like if from the first awareness of the pregnancy, mom-to-be knew she had someone to count on? What if there were someone who would make sure that mom knew how to grocery shop and prepare a healthy meal? What if she knew there was a safe place that would welcome her if things turned abusive? Might dad like to know that his family would not starve or be cold? What if the pressure were off just enough and long enough for young families to learn to how to parent, to learn how to be a loving family? Would more marriages survive? Would fewer children have to shoulder adult-sized burdens? With foreknowledge of the availability of help, would fewer women and girls choose abortion?
It could happen. Imagine if 10 or so folks from a church or investment club or book group or union or neighborhood group, whatever, who would adopt a willing young family and refuse to let them fail. They would teach, assist, safeguard, house, clothe, feed, employ, and befriend in general. They would be the constant and accessible positive influence missing in so many young families. It might even be one of their own number that they empower to adopt one or more children.
It is amazing to me that I am having to suggest this. In my casual studies of Christianity, it seems like an incredibly obvious thing for churches to lead the way on. However, it should certainly not stop there. There could be a tremendous benefit across the board, so it would seem reasonable for the support to mirror that. We could well see decreased crime, especially juvenile and young adult crime, which would lead to a decrease in required prison space. If such an effort were successful in reducing the junk food indoctrination that too many parents provide their children, we might see the benefits of reduced obesity and better health in general. That would affect the money the state spends on health care for the poor. Is it not obvious that many young families need the help? Is there a reason, other than the national selfishness epidemic, that this is not already happening? Is it that those who decry abortion do so just so that they can be seen doing that and don't really care about children at all?
Abortion would not be an issue if there were not unwanted children. When every child is wanted, when no mother will be treated like a criminal just for having a baby, abortion will cease to be an issue. When no young woman is afraid that she will be lost and alone in a bewildering sea of choices and duties, abortion will cease to be an issue.
So if you have never adopted a child, shut up. If you have never taken a young mother into your home to teach her meal preparation, shut up. For those of you who are sitting there reading this thinking that you donate plenty of money to charities, sorry, that isn't enough. There needs to be a physical commitment, and so, if you have not made the decision to "be there" for a confused child who finds herself with child, just shut up!
Abortion is the symptom. Societal isolation and ostracization is the cause. Eliminate the cause, and the symptoms will fade away. It will take more than a Sunday morning protest or a legal declaration. It will take love and action on your part. No religious teachings with which I am familiar advocate doing only those things that are easy as the prerequisite for an enjoyable afterlife.
I don't actually expect to see any significant reduction in abortion. All most of you are willing to do is indignantly opine. Action just ain't your thing.
November 13, 2003 * Vol. 13, No. 46
© 2003 Metro Pulse
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