Recent polling data would suggest that the tide is turning in favor of life. Before you start the celebration, however, it would be wise to keep in mind that one positive poll result is not indicative that the mission has been accomplished. Polls tend to fluctuate and more time and data is needed to confirm a genuine trend is in progress. Proviso stated, there are some factors in addition to this poll that we can look to with a measure of hope.
1. Pro-choice Republicans who once held sway within the party (Whitman, Weld, Wilson) are out of favor or mysteriously silent.
2. In-fighting over the Republican party pro-life plank has greatly decreased.
3. Democrats have tried to court pro-life voters and have soft pedaled or obscured their positions on the issue.
4. Many Republican candidates for party positions (state chairs, etc.) are making the pro-life issue a badge of distinction.
The fight is far from over. Authentic Christians must continue the good fight politically and remain faithful socially and spiritually. We must continue to meet the needs of pregnant women facing the tough choice of life or death.
It would be good to have a more balanced view of these issues rather than offering only a biased view. You have good points – please make it more accessible for people.
Love Clapham,
First off, let me say that I love your name. I do love Clapham and have enjoyed my visits there. As far as your concern about balance, I can only share what I believe to be true. The balance comes from comments like yours which I am always willing to post and discuss. If you would like to begin a dialog about this or any other issue, I would be thrilled to oblige. I do ask one favor, please go through this site thoroughly first and read every page and watch all the videos that I have posted. Thanks for visiting here. You are always welcome.
Interesting that a posting on abortion quickly becomes a commentary on the two national Parties. According to the FoxPoll sited in this posting, over a quarter of self-described Republicans are pro-choice and over a third of self-described Democrats are pro-life. With these substantial minorities, perhaps we would do well to move away from Party distinctions when discussing abortion-policy distinctions.
But if we want to have a Party conversation… with the Republican party continuing to flounder, what “measure of hope” can we really find in the points enumerated. In a Gallop poll published yesterday, Republican self-identification is now at 27% having suffered measurable decline “among nearly every major demographic subgroup” since 2001. Moderates (as noted, often pro-choice Party members like Colin Powell, Rudy Giuliani, and Arnold Schwarzenegger) are being pushed to the fringes of an increasingly fringe party. Even with a firm plank and a badges of distinction, pro-life Republicans will hardly affect fishery imports while in the minority, much less abortion policy.
Scott,
Your point is well taken. That is why my effort to fight this evil does not rest on politics. I certainly work through the political system to limit and restrict abortion but the majority of my efforts are spent in prayer, in giving financially to proven social agencies that are preventing abortions (i.e. my local crisis pregnancy center), and volunteering time to help those who are making those daily life or death decisions. I wouldn’t trust any political party to come up with the right answer, but I do show up and speak-when allowed-to make sure that the truth is heard.
-Mike
Hi Mike and fellow bloggers…
As a director of a pregnancy resource center my life is pretty centered on having an idea of the climate surrounding abortion. I would venture to say that the “prolife” and “prochoice” language is what leads us astray in our conversations about abortion.
What I find is that most people are very pro-abortion; however, most people do respond positively to offering practical support to women who want to choose life.
Either way, the women we serve at the pregnancy center fall in to 3 primary categories:
1) women who have chosen to carry to term within less than ideal circumstances and they need some education and material and emotional support to move forward with confidence;
2) women who want to choose life but they can’t see a way to do it because of the obstacles facing them which is where we can step in and help them find solutions to their obstacles and support them long term so they can make some truly life enhancing changes. The majority of women fall in to this category. Most of them still hold a foundational view that abortion is just a solution to their problem…not necessarily “ending a life”.
3) Women who have decided to have an abortion no matter what. These women generally have few thoughts toward the life within the pregnancy and see abortion as a fairly simple decision. Few of these women change their minds; however, when their “obstacles” are on the table and can be talked about and addressed some of them reconsider their decision.
The problem with abortion debates are the sweeping generalizations that are used to identify women with unplanned pregnancies. These women come from ALL walks of life. What we see at the pregnancy center…It is generally the lower income women who want to carry but feel they can’t get past the obstacles while it is the more financially secure who quickly turn toward abortion. But yet, the abortion debate often centers around the “women who can’t afford a baby”. Truly, it seems that it is those who can “afford” the baby but don’t want to have the inconvenience or “change” of being a parent and who won’t consider placing for adoption who are most headstrong toward abortion.
Conversations with those outside of an unplanned pregnancy are generally balanced as I noted above but I have also talked with many people who hold aview that if the circumstances are not ideal then abortion is the best option.
Just a few thoughts from someone in the middle of the debate…oh, and as a woman who had an abortion as a teenager…so, I’m not just a right wing, opinionated woman…I am one who chose abortion without knowing ALL of my options and resources available or knowing that my baby had a hearbeat and organs and a central nervous system…and the abortion clinic DID NOT educate me.
This is why I run a place that objectively presents the options information, helps women work through their obstacles, and gives them a non-judgmental place to take a deep breath and consider their options and know that someone cares for them.
~Amber
Amber,
Thanks for joining in the conversation. I would agree wholeheartedly that the political language used to discuss the issue is grossly simplified. I appreciate your service and your ability to shed light on the subject and give us a view from the real trenches.
-Mike