just a few little thoughts

Whether you identify yourself as Pro-Life or Pro-Choice or if you are unsure, you still have to be respectful with your thoughts.

Granted, I am guilty of not being as respectful as I ought to be at times, but lately I feel like I am really learning (thanks in part to a section on common ground in Fr. Frank Pavone's book Ending Abortion) how to conduct myself, express myself, and understand others and where they're coming from.

Clearly I am a supporter of Life and respect for life from conception until a natural death- which means I am against abortion and against the death penalty- and I believe I have a good understanding of the issues at hand. For me, I've found that people who support abortion haven't been exposed to some truths about abortion. I remember, while being very underinformed about abortion, thinking that it should be a woman's choice... I mean, what if she was raped? or what if the baby would die right after it was born? or what if the baby was going to be disabled? All of these questions' answers were slowly revealed to me and over time I believe I have come to see the truth and understand the ethical issues that we, as human beings, are facing with an injustice like abortion present in our world. I feel that I have also considered the points that the "opposition" (using quotes on that one... opposition implies that it is an "us versus them" thing and really, the more I think about it, the more I think that it isn't an "us versus them" issue) cites, such as poor living conditions for mothers in crisis pregnancies that cannot afford to keep a child or add another child to their family or couldn't continue their education with a baby, but I've found loving and lifegiving answers to those issues in my journey to understanding Life.

While on the topic of loving answers and approaches, I just have to say something about the use of graphic imagery. I believe people who use graphic displays have good intentions but I don't believe it is as loving or sensitive as other approaches could be. As a pro-lifer, seeing the images breaks my heart in a deep way that it almost needs to be broken sometimes so as to not forget the true gravity of this injustice, but were I not pro-life... I might be so turned off by the grotesque, graphic nature that I would reject the message.

Just some frustrations. As if abortion isn't bad enough, the banter between "sides" of the issue is hurtful as well.