the abortion issue

it looks like other people i know are starting blogs now, too. i think the election had something to do with it. besides hearing about all the blogs that were influencing the media, i think our frustration and need to vent have drawn us to the medium of blogs.

morality was the issue. but whose morals? and why were certain morals more important than others? abortion is a big issue. i heard interviews with plenty of voters who were upset with the way bush is running the country, but are so pro-life that they absolutely could not vote for kerry.

i read an interesting article in this month's issue of harper's. "Gambling With Abortion: Why both sides think they have everything to lose," by Cynthia Gorney. it gave me a new insight into the pro-life movement, which is obviously well-intentioned. i just never realized to the degree that the pro-choice movement has been ignoring the fact that abortion is a hideous procedure that should be discouraged.

i personally am pro-choice in that i don't think the government should be involved in such a personal decision. but i do think abortion is absolutely awful and i would not want anyone to have one without a good reason. that's why we need more eduction, family planning and real sex eduction, not this abstinence-only. while abstinence is a great concept to include in the curriculum, the kids it reaches probably were not going to have sex anyway or were on the fence. we really need to reach those kids that are going to have sex anyway, and convince them that birth control is essential, that it's terrible to have a child at such a young age, and that having an abortion is the worst experience they could ever go through and should be avoided at all costs.

this country also needs to do more to promote adoption. we never hear anything about it. everyone is having 7 babies at a time these days due to expensive fertility measures and the media celebrates it, oprah gives them presents and we check in on them a year later. this should not be celebrated. adopting children should be celebrated. we need to make it easier and more affordable. there are way too many foster children and homeless, parentless children in the world ... and way too many abortions.