Melinda Penner:
On last Sunday's radio show, we had several calls on the topic of abortion. The second to last caller, a woman from Texas, began her call affirming her strong opposition to abortion and value for the unborn baby. The next word was "but." But I'm in favor of abortion in cases of rape and incest to "stop the cycle of violence." Women will be traumatized if they carry the "seed" of the rapist. And it's too difficult to put the baby up for adoption and live with the idea of having given up the baby.
This isn't a rare view. People holding this view have no idea what abortion is. And I have to seriously wonder if they truly believe anything before the "but."
Thinking an abortion ends the cycle of violence is absurd because abortion continues the violence. Abortion is the violent dismembering and killing of an innocent, helpless baby.
Aborting the baby rather than giving it up for adopting is absurd because it suggests that the idea of a dead baby is easier to live with than live one without her. Here's what her statement really means: It's hard to live with the idea of my child alive in the world without me having given him up, so I'd rather live with the idea of a dead, bloody, dismembered baby in the trash can. That's what abortion is. That's the alternative. That is in no way compassionate, kinder, or easy to live with.
The only way people can have that kind of absurd idea is because they don't really know what abortion is. Most of the discussion about abortion in our society is conducted without a very clear idea of what abortion really is. Part of the task of pro-life persuasion is to restore meaning to the word, define it for them. Visual images are an effective medium - if used properly - to define abortino and make it real.
No comments:
Post a Comment