It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything, for recent political matters have consumed me: the election of our new President, the Women’s March last weekend, and this week the Anti-abortion March at the Washington Monument, where Vice President Pence delivered the official (new) Government position on abortions.
Recently I was talking to an Anti-abortionist, who was deeply concerned about the pain of abortion on the fetus. It’s a huge issue, and it has set me thinking at a deep spiritual level: Why is abortion done? Is it morally wrong? Is there a solution? It involves hurting and killing an unborn fetus, or if done early enough a group of cells; and no woman would do this lightly. It is horrifying, and given a choice, I think no one would do it. BUT… — and there is always a “but,” even with the spiritual —
But I am of the age when women could not get an abortion, I’m that old. I remember how a young girl would get knocked up (as we called it), and have to marry, if she was lucky – if the rooster didn’t leave her to raise a child by herself at a time when to have a bastard left a single mother alone and isolated and disdained. She could put it up for adoption. But many women died in back alleys (which was the word for illegal abortion efforts), trying to poke or pull the baby out with a coat hangar, and many women were left permanently harmed. Or dead. Why? And what of those who became pregnant due to rape or incest, or little girls, thirteen or fourteen years old, still children themselves, whose lives are changed irretrievably by unwanted pregnancy (or even unwanted sex). What is our spiritual path?
Anti-abortionists call themselves pro-life, but, struggling with the spiritual aspects of this problem, I find they care about the fetus, but not the baby, child, or adult that the fetus will grow into, so that we find Congress determined to cut food programs, schools, contraception, health care, assistance for disabled–even for vets–anything that helps a woman live or raise her child. Is that pro-life? Spirituality is always about love. How can we love more deeply? How can we express it, show it, more? Isn’t that what Christ was teaching us?
And then I think that, instead of knee-jerk opposition, I should take the Anti-abortion position seriously. They have a point!
So, here is my MODEST PROPOSAL TO END ALL ABORTIONS in the United States and ALL ATTENDANT PAIN TO THE FETUS.
Given
- That too many babies are unwanted, resulting in abortions
- That abortions cause pain to fetuses,
- That abortions are morally and ethically wrong;
- That not enough people want to adopt less desirable or disabled babies
- That women, who are the ones getting pregnant and giving birth, have no capacity for wisdom or making sound choices concerning life, their children, or abortion;
THEREFORE, it is the responsibility of the U. S. Government to intervene in order to save the sacred life of each and every fetus, and
THEREFORE:
Every man or woman, married or single, shall be chosen by lottery (with special emphasis given to members of Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Executive Branch) to take one unwanted child and rear it for its lifetime, either alone or with the assistance of a spouse, AND MOREOVER
Given
- That Government intervention and intrusion by a Government bureaucracy in private lives is undesirable and morally wrong;
- That Government itself, being large and unwieldy, must be reduced or abolished, excepting for the military and national security;
- That health care, public schools, prisons, transportation, the environment and eco-systems, and other government functions, are best left to the private sector in unregulated capitalism;
- That dependence upon Government handouts is agreed to encourage malingering, selfishness and laziness:
THEREFORE:
The rearing of said new-born infant shall be undertaken by the lottery foster parent, (as with all children) with no government assistance, financial aid, health insurance, food stamps, or free public schools.
THUS, shall the need for abortions and all pain to unborn fetuses be eliminated while maintaining the dignity of the Individual and a smaller government.
sophywisdom 
Sophy, I admire your reasoning and thought process. Actually I am left speechless but I want to respond intelligently. The Anti-Abortion/ Abortion issue is a huge dilemma. When I read your words explaining that the Anti faction is all about the fetus, I wondered what if any of those supporters have any thought about the pregnant woman and the condition she is in. I am naive enough, and not ashamed to admit it, to believe any woman deciding on abortion has gone through the darkest night of her soul before making that decision. I don’t know of any spiritual teachings that condone killing. (What comes to mind are skewed interpretations by some religious fanatics.) Given that funding comes from all taxes, this adds to the dilemma. I can’t say anything more. This is the most tangled subject to unravel. But i still believe there has to be abortions for health/medical, rape and severely deformed fetuses. I believe the woman has a right to choose and live her life.
I totally agree. Abortion is such a tragic decision and NEVER taken without anguish, of COURSE. My Modest Proposal is, of course, a satire, taking off from Jonathan Swifts modest proposal to eat the Irish babies during the Starvation Period. But WHAT in the WORLD are the anti-aborionists thinking about — that the GOVERNMENT (!) should be the one to intercede in such a decision? there are v. v. few abortions relatively speaking, but all we have to do is take care of the CHILDREN BORN and there would probably BE no abortions! If i as a mother knew that my child (and I) would be cared for, why not give birth? But it is all hung up on ideology so feriocious (limited government, less money for public schools, helping the underprivileged makes people lazy)…. it boggles the mind. I’m glad you understood.