I'm.....disheartened, saddened, I suppose, that in all this conversation, nothing has been said to effect that regardless of when you accept "personhood" in term of pregnancy, that every pregnancy represents the potential for human life.
Whether you believe "life" begins at conception, 18 weeks, 24 weeks, 30 weeks, a pregnancy represents an opportunity to bring another sentient being into the world. To enjoy life experiences. To explore their creative potential. To enjoy the privilege of living.
How many works of fiction have we lost to abortion? How many world-renowned paintings? How many symphonies and arias, how many songs? Can loss of potential be quantified this way? I don't know.
I personally believe that life begins at conception, but recognize that the world I live in has determined that until 24 weeks post-conception, an unborn child does not have a fundamental right to life.
This will likely not change, and any attempts to do so are likely futile at this point.
As a result, I can only offer the observation that under many circumstances, an abortion is tragedy, in the truest literal and metaphysical senses.
Obviously when the mother's life and health are at risk, or the child is the product of rape or incest, certainly a safe, legal abortion should be an available recourse. But in so many cases, an abortion is a tragic failure---and perhaps I am not fully without blame in the tragedy.
It's a failure on the part of the man and woman who initiated the pregnancy to evaluate the risks and take even the easiest of steps to prevent it if the pregnancy is unwanted.
It's a failure on the part of government and yes, concerned citizens unwilling to pay increased taxes to support health choices, increased opportunities for medical care, and general financial support for a woman who might choose to carry a pregnancy to full term. I would gladly double my current tax burden if it meant an immediate 50% reduction in the number of abortions performed annually in the United States.
In many cases it's a failure born of broken socioeconomics, of endemic poverty, lack of education and opportunity.
I also recognize that in some cases it is not a failure of any of these, but is a function of a lifestyle choice consciously made. Perhaps it would be these I would most hope to change.
If abortions will be deemed legal, so be it. My charge must then be to work to gently persuade those to choose a different course.
