i was wondering about something the other day....
It seems like many of the anti-abortion people in the US are also politically conservative. This may be a misperception, of course, and I'm known for making those all over the place on this blog. But if it is true, there seems to be a major inconsistency, and I wonder if they are aware of it.
They claim to be opposed to abortion out of their belief in the sanctity of life and their concern for the welfare of the child. I can accept this, and see quite a bit of validity in their position. I actually agree with most of their beliefs about life and personhood, just diverge with what they are saying when it comes to the part where they insist that everyone else should be forced into living their life under their rules and perceptions. But that isn't the point I'm trying to make here, and I don't want to get distracted.
The conflict comes in when the conservative agenda of cutting government support for the poor. No, not all mothers who seek abortions are poor and not all poor mothers seek abortions. But some women do seek abortions precisely because they do not feel that they are capable, either emotionally or financially, to care for the child in the manner in which they think is needed. Having a baby would disrupt their livelihood and contribute to a pathetic life for both of them.
If abortion opponents are so concerned about the health and welfare of mom's and babies, why aren't they greater defenders of welfare benefits for them? Where are the child-care programs that enable single parents (or dual-income, for that matter) to work enough to provide for family, secure in the knowledge that their kids are taken care of in healthy environments?
I'm a lefty dipshit sometimes, I know this, but I also know that we have a crisis going on (more than one, actually) with childcare right now. Humans need to be taken care as children, and not just in the 3-hots-and-a-cot sense. They need active engagement in a stimulating social evironment full of affections. Our brains respond to mirror the environment, and if kids grow up in lonely crappy environments, they will grow up to be crappy adults.
I've gotten off-track, again. The point I was wondering about though was how can conservative anti-abortion people reconcile the proposed outlawing of abortions while opposing social support to mother's and families? It seems that if they truly cared about the health and wellbeing of the people involved in a potential abortion, they'd want to do what they can to help them succeed in a difficult, and often unplanned, situation.
But I guess claiming to be opposed to abortion on moral grounds vis a vis the sanctity of life is easier than admitting that they don't really care about human welfare and wellbeing and that you just want people to live by your moral code. And that is a fine way to be I guess, except when you live in what is supposedly the freest country on earth.
Posted by Nutrimentia at June 24, 2003 11:12 PM | TrackBack