The election has brought abortion to the forefront of my mind. Money issues will “ebb and flow”, but life and death issues take priority. I did some homework and also emailed Granby’s state representative candidates. In summary, the responses were Kim Becker (Democrat) being pro-choice/reproductive rights defending abortion and Mark Anderson (Republican) being pro-life.
My homework found that: There are approximately 1,000,000 abortions in the United States annually. That surprised me. Eighty-seven percent of abortions are to unwed mothers. The mortality rate for normal births is 17 for every 100,000. There are two million couples waiting to adopt in America, however the complaint is that adoptions are too expensive.
Based on current mortality rates, the risk of death if these women didn’t have an abortion would be significantly smaller (170 women) than the numbers of abortions. I’m not for the quick big stick/knee jerk approach to legislation and there are many sub-issues to writing public policy and attendant legislation. Both candidates recognize that. However, per my homework, where are adoption and the man’s responsibilities in these discussions?
I can’t in good conscience ignore the numbers, and the underlying premise of treating human life (regardless of the form) as dehumanized expendable property. This is morally wrong and destructive to marriages and families. We are “endowed by our Creator” with inalienable (God given) rights, the first being life. If the fetus was not alive, one would not have to kill it. I advocate that you vote your conscience in the coming local elections. Vote.