It isn't my general aim on this blog to wax controversial, but I'm having some thoughts, and I think I'll hash them out here. Objections? No? Okay, I'll continue. I do welcome feedback, by the way, but please do be nice. I'm actually rather sensitive.
So abortion is a hot politic issue. It's also an issue I encounter somewhat commonly at work. I had a patient (beautiful, young) once years ago who had 16 abortions. 16! Talk about fertile. And not so handy with contraceptives. I've also had some women post abortions with pain issues or other complications. And it's something I think about a lot. I may rabbit trail a bit for a while, but it'll all tie together, I promise. (Maybe).
So yes, I'm a Christian. And no, I don't think America should be a theocracy. I don't want to "force" my beliefs on anyone. I think power and religion (any religion) are historically a not so bueno combo. But I don't think we can escape the fact that what we believe (be it atheist, Muslim, christian), affects everything in some way. Because it shapes our view of reality and of what is important. We can separate church and state, but we cannot separate belief and legislation. Because laws ultimately spring from some sort of worldview. We don't think killing another person because we want to is a good way to go, so we make a law against it.
Abortion is one of those issues that has no easy resolution because it is tied so tightly with worldview. I have the belief that humans are made in God's image, and as such every human being is intrinsically valuable. No one else has to value a life for it to be valuable, because it is valuable to Someone who has a much more weighty opinion than the rest of us. So even a little developing life is intrinsically valuable, even if it has no value to the woman carrying it or to society at large. Which would make ending that life murder. But if we are all just the product of chance and chaos, than our only real value comes from the people that value us. We are not, in fact, intrinsically valuable. So of course, if I'm a woman who has become pregnant with a baby I don't want and am not ready for, my needs and desires trump the right of the fetus, or as a medical blogger I follow words it, "clump of non sentient cells".
Some of the arguments for abortion talk about the fact that if abortion is illegal, women will still seek abortions, and will end up having unprofessional, "back alley" abortions, with high risks for complications. Another argument has to do with a woman's right to choose. It is her body, shouldn't she have a say in whether or not she wants to go through pregnancy and labor for a baby she doesn't want?
I'm going to take those arguments and apply them to another (I think less controversial) issue, just out of curiosity, to see if they hold the same weight. Take prostitution. I think (hope) most of us would say that prostitution is something that should probably be illegal. We would most agree that it is degrading to women. But let's look at it from a different perspective. My body is my own, right? Do I not, as a woman, have the right, if I want to, to use it to make money? If I want to sell sex, why not? You might say it is degrading, but what if I don't agree? What if I feel that it is an asset I have and would like to turn into a profit?
Of course, we could point out that prostitution is dangerous. There is a higher than normal risk for abuse, murder, and contracting of STDs. But should that make it illegal? Wouldn't it be better to take prostitution, legalize it, then set standards for businesses that want to run it? Mandatory protection. Panic buttons for when a client gets out of hand, background checks to screen out violent offenders. Is it a better idea to throw prostitutes in prison? For exercising their right over their own body? Does the argument that we should not make abortion illegal because it will mean we open the door for more dangerous types of abortions and because we would then have to criminalize the women who have them, hold the same weight for prostitution? If prostitution is illegal it is more dangerous for women - because some women will be prostitutes anyways. Isn't the effect on women what we care about? Or is there a sense of morality still picking at the back of our brains that we can't seem to shake?
We can't necessarily argue against prostitution by saying it is degrading to women. Because if a woman who has control over her own body does not think it is degrading, who are we to say it is? I think abortion is degrading to women. Our bodies are in every way designed to nurture and protect life - what could be more anti - feminist than for us to instead choose to destroy that life we are naturally intended to protect? I don't know.
Belief should never be something that is legislated (you must believe x, y, z). But our worldviews will always effect the way we decide to run our society. The point I'm trying to make is not that I think prostitution should be legal (I don't), but that sometimes when we carry our worldviews out to their logical conclusions, they take us places we didn't expect.
Did this all make sense? I'm not sure. I guess that's why I call it 'ramblings'.
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