Tales of a coffee-holic: Two side and reality

It seems that when it comes to many social issues those on both side of the aisle do nothing but scream at one another and decide they are effectively deaf to any opinions different from their own.

Personally, I really do sympathize with both sides of the abortion debate. I don’t understand how any rational person who tries to look at the situation from outside his or her own emotions could lack at least some empathy for either stance. No matter what your feelings on abortion, the only way to solve any problem is to analyze all the factors effecting that issue in a logical and rational way, even if that issue might stir up strong emotions either for or against.

There’s general agreement that one shouldn’t make large life decisions when emotionally distraught. So why do we crowd debates about enormously complicated issues facing our nation with emotion, with both sides ignoring some of the very valid points of their opponents?

I absolutely agree that a human fetus is a life. I don’t really think there can be a lot of valid argument against that. On the other hand, a fetus lives inside another autonomous being and you can’t get around that one either. When pretty much all of the many conservative candidates that I’ve interviewed tout the rights we all have to personal freedom, it seems that a woman’s uterus is often, in their view, a freedom-less zone. I think it’s pretty tough to decide if a mother’s freedom trump’s a baby’s, or vise versa.

Having an abortion can lead women to depression and regret. It can be emotionally devastating. That’s something a woman who decides to undergo an abortion will have to live with for the rest of her life. That fetus has all the potential that any human being possesses at the beginning of life and aborting it wrecks that potential.

On the other hand, if we’re being logical, unwanted children are born and then neglected all the time. If you don’t want women considering abortions, you need to support aid for poor, young single mothers. I don’t think there’s any way a realistic person can say they’re pro-life and not support aid to poor mothers. Poverty and unwanted pregnancy go hand in hand. Although most of those who have abortions are 20-24, I think education about and access to birth control is key for all age groups.

If you are pro-life, it only makes sense that you’re pro-birth control. In my opinion, the best way to put an end to abortion is not through legislation that would make it illegal, it’s though better access to birth control.

Even if abstinence until marriage might be the ideal, we should all know that it’s not realistic.

We can’t hide the fact from kids or young adults that sex is natural. They have raging hormones, they’re curious and they’ll find out soon enough. There’s no hiding it. There’s no arguing with me on this.

I can’t say if a woman’s choice to undergo an abortion is immoral or not. I think the difference in opinion between the right and the left comes down to whether or not you’re concerned about the life of the baby before or after it’s born. Conservative arguments place more concern on the health of the fetus while liberals seem to worry more about what happens after the baby is born. Personally, I think we should all be concerned about both.

I’m sure that unwanted pregnancy has been an issue basically since the beginning of time. These are complicated issues and I think sometimes the moral ideals we hold in our hearts don’t line up with reality.

In my opinion, the only logical way to prevent abortion is to make sure young people are well informed about birth control options and have easy access to it. Whether you believe that abortion is cold blooded murder or an unfortunate choice that is sometimes necessary, it will continue to happen whether it’s legal or not. Our policy choices concerning this issues should be made based on reality and not idealism.