it's not my Cause, but some people seem to really care about it

Today is, apparently, Blog for Choice day. I'm not really pro-choice. I'm pro-responsibility, and pro-consequences, and pro-making-things-work. Peyton Manning is probably those things, plus Pro Bowl.

I have no problem with OCPs or condoms. I have no problem with the fact that a good number of fertilized eggs don't implant in the endometrium and are therefore discharged at menses (i think this is the irregular plural of mensa). I have no problem with reality that a fetus doesn't survive well outside the uterus until it's lungs are well enough developed (at about 24 weeks, if I remember correctly, though legal viability is 20 weeks). And I have no problem with children not being able to do well without his or her parents for many years, sometimes even into his or her early 40s. Consequently, I don't see a clear line that demarcates the beginning of life. Any time point we could assign would end up being as arbitrary as calling an 18-year-old an adult.

When I think back to when I was a small mass of gastrulating cells, I distinctly remember hoping that I wouldn't be aborted. True story. Which is why my concern is mostly for the mothers (though, while I think it's the mother's decision legally, there are other parties—the dude/douche, the family, the doctor—who should get some voice. Gender-equality Donne would state that neither a man nor a woman is an island). I can't imagine that terminating a life that you are responsible is an easy decision to make or to live with, regardless of how disruptive it would be to the life of the potential mother. To me, it seems like it would be unbearable either way (no pun intended, because it's not a very funny one.) But I have no experience with this sort of situation, so will talk on it no further.

I think that it's useful to keep life as sacred, above (almost?) all things. Without that sanctity, you (and Mao and Mr. Massacre) can rationalize much (and I'm not saying this is bad, but if you do this, Jack Bauer will seek you out and dead you. Oh, Peter, here's another: If Jack Bauer's gun jams, it's because he wants to beat you with it). Logically, if one holds Truth as more important than life, one can justify killing those who oppose one's Truth or hinder one's transmission of it. It's one thing to die for your beliefs (I personally find it a bit retarded if it can be avoided. Dying is actually a rather easy way out. It's much easier to die for something than it is to really, truly live for something), but to kill for them is pragmatic at best (and I'm not really much a fan of Machiavelli.)

Fact of the matter is, even if abortion were illegal, they'd still happen, and probably in less sterile environments. And far as I can tell, pro-life means being super awesome at life, and infected vaginas have no place there.