Abortion

While I am on the topic of adoption, it is hard not to also think about abortion.  Because the two tend to be very closely related.  Unwanted pregnancies, leave the mother with three options, 1) keep the baby, 2) adoption and 3) abortion.

Based on my earlier post, you would think that my politics would be pro-life.  That I would want everyone to choose as my mother did, and not chose abortion.  In reality, my politics and my beliefs are at a crossroads on this issue.  I believe very strongly that the government has absolutely no right to tell me or any of my sisters how they need to manage their pregnancies.  That decision should be left to the pregnant woman, her doctor, the father and G-d.  There is no reason the government needs to enter into that process.  For that reason I am strongly pro-choice.

My beliefs on the other hand are pro-life.  I believe that every child is a gift.  That unborn baby might be the one that cures cancer or negotiates world peace.  We do not know what impact that baby will have on the world and maybe we don't have a cure for cancer because that child's mother chose not to keep him/her.

I do not think that I could have an abortion.  If I got pregnant and did not want the child, I would choose adoption.  That said, there is more to it.  What if I got pregnant by rape?  Probably adoption, but who knows.  What if I had medical complications that would make it dangerous for me to continue the pregnancy?  I don't know.  I have not been confronted with that situation.  Would I be able to keep a child, not matter how wanted, if being pregnant might jeopardize my health.  To what extent would I let my health be jeopardized by a pregnancy?  I think that these are all questions that you can not answer unless you are in the situation.

I am thankful that I have not been in a position to test my over-riding belief about abortion.  I am thankful that those of us who have been forced to choose have the ability to do that.  I am glad that the women who went before me were able to give me the choice about what to do with my body.  I hope that we never loose that choice.