Life Supporter

You know, most of my cognizance of the Superbowl actually comes from the fact there has been this debate about a commercial that is supposedly going to air espousing the virtues of the anti-abortion side. Of course my radar is a political one. Especially for touchy issues like this.

I admit I try to dodge this subject more often than not. In the public conversation, it seems more to me a political decoy to lure good hearted souls to vote for a particular side. But also… to me, it is a very personal choice. And one that no matter my opinion on the subject, I have no right to tell another person how to decide.

But this brou ha ha ruffles my feathers. Enough to speak my side while CBS gives air time to the other perspective.

You know, believe it or not, I was adamantly pro life when I was in high school. Viciously and unrepentantly in favor of the unborn baby. I said some pretty brusque things when arguing the case for the precious concept of life. And when anyone threw the scenario of incest or rape at me, I had no sympathy when that victim made herself a murderer.

Yeah, well… I changed my mind and developed some heart plummeting shame about the arguments I voiced about this subject. A lot of experiences and observations have shifted my perspective. But the thing is, I just stopped being anti-abortion. I didn’t stop being pro life.

Yes, I am in favor of life. You know, I watch my favorite Dr. Who and get a twinge of sadness when a Dalek viciously kills off the secondary guest star. That person had a life, feelings, hopes, dreams, sadness… people who loved him. And there goes the emotionless monster dematerializing him. Yeah, it’s fiction… but why is the idea of a living breathing person who stops existing not a sad idea? 

I admit that I tune out the reports from Afghanistan or Iraq… and even the reports on Haiti. It makes me very sad to see those people’s lives destroyed. Crumbled. Exploded into piles of rubble. That destruction eats at a part of my stomach, a part of my soul. So I can’t watch.

I look at old photographs. Ancestors from a century ago. Historical compilations from my hometown’s earlier decades. I see those eyes radiating with a smile that has turned to dust. And I think of that life, that spirit, that conscious, that soul that flows away in the wind now.

I value life. Immeasurably.

So why on earth do I think I have a right to choose to not let it happen? Well… on a very basic level, I’m not convinced at the exact time when that soul, spirit, conscious enters the body. But that is something I can’t argue or prove. Nor can the other side. Nor can a book. Or a pulpit. We don’t know that. Just as we don’t know what happens when the heart stops beating. Sorry. You can’t tell me you know. Because you don’t.

But I do value life. And I value the quality of life. And while I would never wish that a soul that breathes and thinks and has an opportunity to make a better life for herself was never born, I do think there are some people who should just not be parents. I would find the fact they had an abortion a far lesser crime against humanity than the neglect, the abuse, the poverty through which they might make a child suffer when the brain is active enough to feel pain. 

This is all just part of so many muddy scenarios that can be referenced when arguing this issue. Having been passionate on both sides of this debate, I know the heartstring pulling stories that make one answer more obvious than the other. There is no one answer in this issue. It has to be a personal choice by the one who knows the history, the consequence, the ability to make a good life for a child.

But… to go back to the label on this argument. Pro life. If life is really what this argument is all about… if we think this nation should respect breathing and cell reproduction and blood flow above all other debates of brain activity and emotion, why are we at war? Why do we glorify violence that destroys lives and then condemn sex that creates life? Why aren’t we doing EVERYTHING possible to preserve lives by getting everyone healthcare? Why do we let the banks get away with destroying our economy and drying up the job market? If LIFE is so God damned precious, why aren’t we fighting tooth and nail to protect the rights of the living? The lives of the people who think, who smile, who sit next to you on the bus, who have sisters or brothers, who cry, who fear the undiscovered country just like everyone else? 

If pro life is important enough to spend millions of dollars to spread the message during a football game, why isn’t it important enough to fix the problems that take life away from those already living?