Some Thoughts

Bear with me. With upwards of 10 people to feed, clothe and keep happy around here (the actual number varying widely, and often changing mid-day) I don't really have the time for deep thinking. But I have been tossing some ideas around in my head, and I thought I'd let them out.

About this pro-life thing. I've been thinking that I'm not sure the movement is taking the right tack. I mean, babies are cute and lovely and I'd have 5 more if I could, but this is not a generation that gives a rip about someone else. If they can't be reached by showing life in the womb, by describing the horrific ways in which women who have "made a mistake" are kept from "being punished by a baby," then it needs to be made more personal.

Perhaps a discussion could be started about end-of-life issues. We already discuss euthanasia, and how "it should be available for those who want it." How about those who DON'T. What happens to those who age less than gracefully and find themselves to be "non-contributing members of society?" What happens when (not if) society comes to the point of totaling up medical costs, labor, energy, etc, to "keep these people alive?" What happens when (not if) it comes down to minimal resources TO keep "non-contributing members of society" alive?

I have been thinking that, if we let the pro-choice folks have their way, it's only a matter of time before we look to our elderly as burdens. Heck, we already do. I see that first-hand. It's only a matter of time before we decide that no one should be "punished" by having to take care of Grandma when they'd rather be spending their middle age years traveling and having fun. It's only a matter of time till we try to convince Grandpa that he really doesn't want his money pumped into the medical industry, does he, and he could save a lot by talking to Dr. Kevorkian now.

And it's only a matter of time before we are old enough that we'll be the Grandma or Grandpa.

Please don't start with me about how we're too caring for such things. About how no one would be forced to do something they didn't want to do. Talk to me sometime about how many of my personal friends have been abused by physicians who didn't want to care for them through high-risk pregnancies, and even pregnancies where defects were identified and moms were told it was "their child's right" to not have to live "like that." Let's have that conversation someday.

If you can't support pro-life initiatives because a precious little child, who may be destined for greatness, will meet his or her death by suction or saline or some other monstrosity, do it for yourself. Do it for the day when you will be strapped to a gurney and told to say a permanent goodbye to those you love. 'Cause it's coming.