Headache Over the Issue

Politicians consider abortion to be “the hot button issue,” “a headache,” and “faith meddling with politics.” They dread questions about it, wish it would go away, and do everything possible to keep it from being a central issue of their campaign.

An article titled, “Rudy rolls the dice with abortion issue,” by Craig Gordon, lead the headlines in this mornings Newsday issue. Rudy Giuliani has taken the brilliant stance of ‘it’s morally wrong, but let’s keep it legal!’ on the most emotionally charged issue of our country: abortion.

I wish I could sit down with him and say, “Look, you can’t think that being personally opposed is going to get you the pro-life vote. For crying out loud, we’re not slow. We know that by stating you are personally opposed but want it to be legal, that you care more about the money that Planned Parenthood will give your campaign than the lives of the unborn.”

The article admits, “But Giuliani’s advisers saw no alternative after the rockiest week of his campaign- believing it was better to stand squarely behind his abortion position rather than risk looking wishy-washy or even un-Rudy-life by edging away.”

Yeah, wouldn’t want to uphold the dignity of the unborn. You might look wishy-washy.

The article continues, “But even as Giuliani fought to put abortion behind him heading into Tuesday’s second GOP debate, his headaches over the issue remained…On a political level, the issue shrinks the field for Giuliani -- with as many as one-quarter of Republican primary voters off-limits because they determine their vote mainly on the abortion issue, GOP pollsters say. Beyond that, polls have shown roughly two-thirds of Republicans believe abortion should be illegal all or most of the time.”

If these stats are correct, Giuliani should be nervous. One-quarter of Republicans off-limits, another two-thirds believe abortion should be illegal all or most of the time. This is not a minor part of one’s constituency.

What really bothers me though is the notion that the issue of abortion can be summed up as “a headache.” Each day thousands of women face the agonizing decision of whether to have an abortion or to give birth. In the meantime, politicians are apparently conflicted about what to say about the death of babies and hope the issue to mysteriously go away. The idea that abortion is simply a headache ignores the travesty of abortion in and of itself.

We can never forget that abortion is the direct act of killing an unborn human being. We can never overlook the fact that prior to abortion a human is living in the safest place possible for him or her- inside of a woman. Call it my opinion, but how can women really expect the respect that we rightly claim if in the same breath we think it is okay for our mothers, sisters, daughters and friends to have a human killed inside of them?

If it is a headache of an issue for politicians to deal with, perhaps they should examine why. Is it because they are somehow aware that they are dealing with the death of a little baby?

The only concise statement that has come out of politics in regards to abortion can be traced back to Bill Clinton when he announced that he supported “Safe, legal, rare” abortion. Suddenly abortion was framed as something that the nation can deal with in a compassionate, yet legal way. After all, who can argue with the legality of something if it is both safe and rare?

But wait a minute, if something should be rare, why should it be legal?

If something is safe, why should it be rare?

Can abortion ever be safe for the human being aborted?

The truth is, abortion is never safe for the unborn child. Someone dies every time an abortion is performed. Furthermore, abortion is not mentally, physically, or emotionally healthy for women. The bottom line is, abortion always leaves a baby dead and will always hurt women. These truths are understood by those who want it legal. Why else would they want abortion to be rare?

The article also points out, “For a while, Giuliani was succeeding, largely by downplaying his abortion stance. So perhaps that's the greatest damage Giuliani did to himself in the past week -- he allowed the abortion issue to move to center stage.”

Here we are in the 21st Century, confronted time and again with the legality of terminating the life of a delicate little human and all politicians hope for is that the issue doesn’t “move to center stage.” If it does, they are faced with stating something, anything, about how hey feel about it. The dilemma for politicians is this: Say you’re pro-life and you kiss goodbye the money for your campaign. Say you’re pro-choice and you kiss goodbye the votes of millions of pro-life Americans.

Giuliani told an audience at Houston Baptist University that he thinks that abortion is “morally wrong, but I believe you have to respect their [women's] viewpoint and give them a level of choice. I would grant women the right to make that choice. I am open to seeking ways of limiting abortions, and I am open to decreasing abortions.”

Perhaps his strategists are assuming that someone like myself (female, age 25, advanced degree, New York resident) will not bring my thinking full circle and think, “Wait a minute. Giuliani states that abortion is “morally wrong” but wants to keep it legal so women can choose to do the morally wrong thing.” Why on earth would I vote for someone who wants something he thinks is morally wrong to be legal?

Anyway, I am sure that Giuliani is a very nice person and I would love to have lunch with him.

I just won’t vote for him.