Why All The Focus On The Abortion Issue?

Friends, here are some simple thoughts that need to get out.  They might need to get out over and over again in fact.  "Why all the focus on the abortion issue?" many may ask.  Many may ask why I, a Christian conservative white male focus on this issue - as well as many others who fit that description do.  At the outset, I'll tell you that I think the second question is a smokescreen.  It's often an attempt to divert attention away from the real issue (i.e. abortion) and attempts via a kind of genetic fallacy to prejudice all those who don't fit the said categories (i.e. Christian, conservative, white, male) against the position I or others who do fit those categories hold - in this case, a Pro-Life position on the issue of abortion.  It should not matter whether one is Christian or not, politically liberal or politically conservative, white or non-white, male, female, or two-gendered.  Enough said about that.

I'll focus on the #1 question: "Why all the focus on on the abortion issue." This issue is focused on so intently because that's where the fight is.  What do I mean by "fight?"  I mean that there is not cultural consensus that abortion should be illegal and that unborn humans should be protected by law just as born humans like you and me.  There is not even broad consensus that the unborn is even human. The reasons for this non-consensus are many.  I will not get into these reasons other than to say that I believe there are many on the pro-choice side that are mainly there because they themselves have been subject to the effects of smokescreen tactics like the suggesting the issues is more about womens' rights than the protection of human life.  As I indicated, the reasons for the divide in the abortion issue are many.  Since there is a strong division between proponents of legal abortion and those against legal abortion (who are of course against all types of abortion too), this would be the "fight."  It is a battle of ideas.  As a soldier for any kind of cause, you go to where the battle is - thus the focus on this issue.  There is indeed a battle.

You may ask: "Why is there not similar fervor among you people (Pro-Life advocates - especially of the Christian conservative white male type) about and focus on other evils such as spouse-beating, infidelity, theft, child abuse, child-molestation, and rape?" The answer is simple: There is already broad cultural consensus that those thing are wrong.  Yes, they occur, but you will not find much open support for those things - and you will definitely not find support for government (i.e. taxpayer) funding of those things.  Stated another way, there is no significant "fight" about those issues; there is no significant battle about those ideas - at least not to the extent there is with the abortion issue.  Yes, we (at least the overwhelming majority of us) Pro-Lifers do find spouse beating, infidelity, theft, child abuse, child-molestation, and rape to be reprehensible - but we focus on the abortion issue because that is where the battle is.  Each changing of the mind toward our side is a victory.  When enough victories occur, then legal protection for the unborn will not be long in coming: First change the minds, then the law will follow - and it will follow without an autocratic dictatorial coercion.

I, and many others like me, are personally passionate about this issue because we DO see it as a "black and white" issue.  Yes, I hold other divisive opinions and stances, but those ones are on positions far less clear than this life issue.  For this reason, I generally don't post nearly as far and wide on Facebook (for example) about my other strongly-held positions.  Concerning the abortion issue though, especially with the advent of 3D sonograms, but also with the simple scientific fact that the unborn human - regardless of stage of development - is in fact HUMAN, people from all walks of life, liberal and conservative, should stand united!  If human life in the earliest stages of development is not legally protected then it logically takes away the  firm foundation for protection of human life (and human rights) at all other stages of development.  We currently tend to take our own legally protected status for granted.  We should not.  Humans have been designated non-humans before in our history.  Need we revisit the history of the Jews in Nazi Germany?  This is only a recent example.  It has happened in other places and times as well - among different people. We should want iron-clad reasons and protections for our laws - especially those involving human life and human rights.  We are all put in a much more dangerous position when the legal protection for our particular life or stage of life depends more on subjective evaluations like"quality of life" or more quantitative determinations based on majority opinion (i.e. "the tyranny of the majority").

So, we are passionate and fervent because there is a battle - and the battle is an important one because it is not about which TV we could get or what color the carpet should be.  The battle is one over human life and its legal protection.  We are not talking about condemned criminals and the death penalty.  Please do not attempt to use that smokescreen.  We are talking about the legal protection of judicially innocent human beings - those who have committed no crime.  Among humans, who can be more helpless and innocent of crime than an unborn human?  Yes, this is a life and death issue.  Our passion is further fueled by the sad fact that many of our own friends and family are fooled by the tactics of the other side.  We want to turn them.  Our passion is further fueled - and our hearts are grieved by - the fact that many on our own side simply keep their mouths shut about the issue.  I can only suspect that the reason is fear of others' opinions about them and the potential loss of friends and relationships they would have to face.  I exhort and encourage these beloved team members to reexamine the stakes and to be bold.  Risk the friendship.  Risk ridicule.  Risk the alienation you may get from your chosen political party for standing up on this most important issue.  If the unborn is not human, then no justification should be needed for its destruction; it would just be a medical procedure one should be able to get with no stigma attached.  If the unborn is human, then no justification for its willful destruction is sufficient; willful destruction of it would be murder - plain and simple.  Isn't this a truth worth speaking about?  Isn't this battle worth some personal cost and perhaps some friends?  You know the answer.