I Dream Awake

Babies are people. The pre-born aren’t babies. The pre-born are proto-people or pre-people. No amount of yelling, posturing, or spinning of studies is going to change that.
The potential for proto-people to be more than they are and “cute factor” are the arguments of large parts of the vegan and animal rights movements. They don’t belong in a serious argument about abortion. Why? They are based on fully subjective choices for which “potentials” we get worked up over. Argue as strongly for the rights of a carrot as a cute living thing with the potential to morph into a sentient person, and I might reconsider. Sure, a fetus is on it’s way to becoming a human person. But that’s just the point: It’s not there. It’s not a person. It’s just got potential.

In this conflict there is an overlap between the clearly defined rights to self-determination of a fully recognized person and the bitterly disputed designation of rights for the pre-born. There is plenty of moral ground for both sides. Not so much “obvious truth”.

It reminds me of disputed territories vs. Palestinian territories. I find myself on the same side on that as here. If one side is graciously using the term “disputed”, be thankful for that. Otherwise we could all go back to listening only to our own sides. What a concept… Israelis calling the West Bank, Gaza, and the Golan, the “Israeli territories”! Sure it’s better than suicidally sticking up for your enemies while they try their best to kill you. But while that fits the disputed vs. Palestinian situation, only the most cynical can consider anyone who disagrees with them on abortion to be their blood-sworn enemy.

I think the best solution for such a morally entangled mess like abortion is to find points of agreement between the sides. Even though my own belief is that life is that thing which begins at birth, not with practice and potential for life before birth, I’m willing to vote for policies that don’t fit 100% with that. The reason is simple… I recognize it as a BELIEF, not a fact.

Here’s my bid for negotiating a workable solution to the conflict of beliefs on abortion: It should legal everywhere in this nation up to 13 weeks, a decision for each state as to whether it is legal between 13 and 26 weeks, and illegal after 26 weeks everywhere in the nation, except in extreme situations (the usual life of the mother type of exemptions). Combine that with ubiquitous access to birth control and aggressive promotion of pre-natal care and sexual education (not classes — those suck). Pay for it all individually, using money from health savings accounts.
Don’t like it? Come up with something else that doesn’t involve magically convincing me to suddenly see the obvious truth or your own subjective light.