Today, I sat down in a Starbucks with an older married couple. As I went through the questions, I noticed a few things.
First, the wife cared a lot more about the issue of life than the husband did. This seems to be an all too frequent problem in America: men think that since they can't be pregnant, they can't tell women whether or not to have abortions. It's going to have to be one of the first things we in the pro-life movement change if we expect to have an effect.
Second, religion played a huge part in why the woman felt the way she did about abortion. This can be both a positive and a negative thing. When I asked her if it would be wrong to abort a baby with Down's Syndrome, she answer: "personally, it's a life. I don't have the choice to take it. God gave to me... [but] I don't know about for other people. " Because religion is such a personal thing, people sometimes feel that what their religion says about right and wrong is also personal, not absolute.
Third, both the husband and wife said they thought that it should remain legal to abort a baby with Down's Syndrome, because "I don't feel like a Down's Syndrome baby has even the opportunity to come to know God." Because he is unable to reason in the same way as we are, it is less evil to kill him. They also said that a baby with Down's Syndrome can't possibly have a good life, so why make it come into the world? This is just a way of rationalizing killing. If you can say that this baby will not have a good life, you could say the same about a child born in the ghetto, or in the slums in China. Humanity isn't based on our perception of existence, it is an absolute.
However, on all the other issues, the couple was staunchly pro-life, and I urged them to get more involved in the Pro-life movement. The woman was shocked at the number of abortions that occur per year, and said that she would consider getting more involved.
Please, go and and do the survey, and engage people in a conversation. Even if you don't convince them of anything, they'll be thinking about it. And if you have something you want me post up here, email it to: lfieandcoffeeblog@gmail.com.
