I normally don’t weigh in on this topic because I am…….a coward. Aha! You thought I was about to say that as a man I don’t feel qualified to offer an opinion. My friends, I have survived this life for 72 years by keeping most of my opinions regarding a woman’s rights between me and my Creator. However, should I be questioned about abortion and a woman’s reproductive rights, I would have to defer to an even greater right which we all have. And that is the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
But, I must occasionally quiz myself about my views. If I were a pro-lifer, would I value the life of a homeless woman equally to mine, would I embrace the life of a refugee from a country filled with violence and killing equally to mine, would I support the life of my Muslim neighbor practicing his faith, would I welcome the black or brown man as a life which matters equally in God’s eyes, would I cherish the life of a tiger or lion equally to mine? Would I value all of Creation equally?
Would I? Would you? Do you, who profess to be pro-life, value all life as sacred?
If you and I cannot affirm all of life and every creature’s right to live it’s designed purpose on earth, then we would probably need to approach the issue of pro-life this way:
the labeling is all wrong.
One cannot claim to be pro-life unless one supports every aspect of life, every human’s right to exist , every lion’s right to prowl and hunt, every butterfly’s right to flutter, every fetus’s right to be birthed. Perhaps some anti-abortion people who exclude a majority of life on earth as irrelevant ought to appropriately call themselves “pro-birthers.”
So, the question to me needs to be presented this way. “Whom do I choose to offend?” Whaaaaat? Did you really believe that after 72 years of survival in a woman’s world that I would offer an opinion? I may be old, but I am not yet senile. Yep, I’m a coward.
lpb quest - the twilight dance 