Reproductive Choice and my vote for President of the United States.
Posted by bob on 17th October 2008
There is within me a core moral fiber that cannot be broken.
I believe without question that in order for one to be “pro-life” they must love all life from conception until natural death. I don’t believe this because the Church teaches it, though that is helpful. I have actually held this belief since before I was Catholic, before I was Christian. I believed this when I was simply, human.
To compromise this would be to compromise who I am…who God made me.
I decided tonight to look up some statistics. Often I have quoted statistics about abortion and the quantity of children lost to this tragedy of human stupidity and greed. Here they are again, to help you understand my belief.
• For 2003, approximately 848,000 legal induced abortions were reported to CDC from 49 reporting areas.
• The abortion ratio was 241 legal induced abortions per 1,000 live births. This represents a decrease from the 2002 ratio of 246 abortions per 1,000 live births. • The abortion rate was 16 legal induced abortions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 years. This represents no change from the 2002 report.
• As in the past, the highest percentage of abortions were obtained by white women, at fifty-five percent. Unmarried women accounted for 82% of abortions. Women under 25 years of age represented 51% of all abortions.
• Sixty-one percent of reported abortions were performed during the first 8 weeks of gestation. Approximately 88% were performed within the first 12 weeks of gestation.
If you say, well that’s only one year, perhaps it spiked that year.
A total of 839,226 legal induced abortions were reported to CDC for 2004. A big ole 1.1% decrease.
One chart from the 2004 report shows that between 700 and 800 abortions occur per 1000 births in girl 15 years of age and younger. That’s 70-80% of girls 15 and under getting pregnant have Abortions! HOW is that acceptable? HOW is that benefitting the health of the mother?
There are many more statistics in the 2004 report which I encourage you to read, especially the findings/results section. You can read it here: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5609a1.htm?s_cid=ss5609a1_e
Psalm 127:3 reads, “Behold, children are a gift of the LORD; the fruit of the womb is a reward.” How precious is this gift and yet, we squander it like everything else. In Act’s it is written, “…because he himself gives men life and breath”. I believe that when man is in conflict with God, an internal turmoil exists that cannot be forgiven or reconciled by man. Only God can resolve this war within us. This is true with abortion as well.
While in college I dated a girl shortly after she had an abortion. No, it was not my child. Though in a variety of circumstances in my life, I too could have dealt with a teenage or college girlfriend who became pregnant. Thankfully I did not. This girl was nice, fun, and we had a deep relationship. My affection for her was quickly replaced with caring and the desire for physical intimacy. Her need, while I know was in her mind a love for me, was actually a soulful need for forgiveness. There are multiple nights in which she cried in my arms. Her pain was deep and her wound was a thrashing cut on the soul. I have and continue to pray that she finds peace with her decision and reconciliation with God.
But this furthered my belief that life is precious and those that mess with it, mess with God on a personal level. And God don’t play that.
I have to be honest. I strongly considered not voting at all. In fact just this evening I had that conversation again. But 2 things have swayed me to vote.
First, my Dad is a WWII veteran of the Navy. I've met many of the men who fought for you and I to have the right and opportunity to decide our country's leaders. I've attended too many memorial services for those that died for the same cause.
Second, my wife and I talked about this and she is right. I have a moral obligation to fight for what I hold as the highest value. That of human life.
So, I'm voting for McCain. Failed economic policies, crappy health care ideals, stupid public policy and all, I'm voting for him because I choose life. And while there are many uneducated and ill informed Catholics out there who think they can side step the issue and vote for Obama, let me be clear.
Immediate moral corporation occurs when the cooperator participates in circumstances that are essential to the commission of an act, such that the act could not occur without this participation. So, because Obama has said he will do everything he can to uphold a woman’s right to kill her baby, and he will provide public funds to do so, and he will and has supported partial birth abortions…a vote for him is immediate moral cooperation with evil because Abortion is killing which for those of you who read the bulletin too much during Mass, is a commandment.
Vote McCain, save your soul.
Comments are welcome if they are clean.
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