Sebelius at HHS
President Obama nonimated the Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to head the Department of Health and Human Services. She is entrusted along with Nancy Ann DeParle, the Presidents choice to lead the White House office of Health Reform to overhaul the current heath care system.
Sebelius has been the governor of Kansas, a republican dominated state since 2003. She has the reputation for reaching across the aisle to work with Democrats and Republicans alike. While her nomination is waiting for Senate confirmation, the anti-abortion groups have started making noises and making their views known. Sebelius is known to favor abortion and therefore disliked by the anti-abortion groups. Her primary concern is towards women's health and welfare. In one of her speeches she said "My Catholic faith teaches me that all life is sacred, and personally I believe abortion is wrong," she said then. "However, I disagree with the suggestion that criminalizing women and their doctors is an effective means of achieving the goal of reducing the number of abortions in our nation."
This started me thinking on the age old controversial subject of "abortion" - the pro-choice vs pro-life debate, the moral and ethical issues that surround them, the political and social factors that shape the "abortion laws". If we go back in history, we can see that this is a debate that started long back. Plato and Aristotle both argued in favor of compulsory abortion under certain circumstances, though Hippocrates expressly disapproved the practice. This is one issue where everyone has an opinion - either they are for it or against it! It is not one of those topics where they say "I don't know or I don't care" - it touches the very basis of human life and therefore they do care. The stand that one takes on this issue depends on one's view on various factors regarding life. What is the origin of human life? When does the zygote/embryo/fetus becomes a "person"? When the fetus have "self-awareness" and "temporal-awareness"? It also depends on one's take on women's right on her body or rather the extension of her rights on her body and on the fetus that is part of her body.
Do I have a view on this subject? Ofcourse I do. What is my stand? Well, I am in favor of "pro-choice"! I am in favor of "abortion" ! But for records, I also want to say that I am "only" in favor of the abortion done during the early term of pregnancy (e.e. within the first 12 weeks) for the obvious reasons.
Yes, it is cruel to kill the fetus in the womb but then it is worse to bring the life into this world and not able to provide the basic needs of the new life. If a wife with her husbands support, or a single mother or an unmarried teen mother decides to go for abortion, then it is because she is not capable of bringing up the baby in the present circumstance in her life. She has one life to live and therefore has every right to choose the way she wants to live it. She has every right to control her present and future life. The responsibility of a mother does not end with giving birth, it just begins then. If she is not in a physical, mental or financial situation to take care of her baby, she has every right to choose not to have the baby. The well-being of the women and the value of her life should be recognized as something that she is entitled to put forth before everything else in life including the fetus that is going to shape into a baby.
Great article but IMO dangerously biased logic! First of all, I am one of those "I don't know or I don't care" guys :) so take what I say for what it is worth.
ReplyDeleteYour basis does not include the fact that there was a conception to start with. Infact, the religious angle comes in here too. Most religions view the act of sexual union as an act of divine creation. An unwanted pregnancy implies a total denigration of what is considered holy. To a less religious person, it is also an act of irresponsibility for your actions.
So... if you are being righteous about "bring a life and not being able to provide the basic needs", then why is it not a higher moral responsibility to not have conceived the child in the first place! If you are talking about "one life to live" aren't you being super selfish and altruistic in the same time?
Pro-choice vs pro-life is a "moral stand" rather than a "convenient conviction".
OK, if I did not care as I said before, where would I stand? Pro-choice ofcourse. My reasons - I don't have a moral stand :)
Unfortunately, my morality is born out of either a sense of attachment or forced out of fear. I find it hard to understand attachment to an unborn child that I have never interacted with. There may be people who feel that way, but as I said, unfortunately I don't. If there were a law against abortions and it presented a clear and present danger to my wellbeing, then I would undoubtedly be pro-life.
So, if aborting a fetus is a matter of convenience, then I would cringe a little knowing that I am responsible for killing something, but it wouldn't be a game changer.
- Shyam the terrible