I agree with a lot that you have said doughgirl.
I do believe that more pastors and ministers should speak out in condemnation of the abortion. I attend a United Pentecostal Church and trust me, our Pastor frequently and passionately condemns the sin of abortion. I agree with you that we must stand up and preach against the sin of abortion.
We believe in both groups that the key is education. Education about gestational development and what medical science has to say about fetal development.
I believe that education is very important but I wouldn't call it the key and invest all my energies into it. Here's why, people in our generation know more about gestational development than any other generation in history. I believe when it comes to sexual education our generation is the most educated also. Yet this most educated generation still sees frightened women seeking abortions. I believe education in this area is important but actually seeking to meet the needs and assist desperate women with solid national policies that are in their favor are more important.
Those who value life, all life, must work together to end abortion. To blame one party over the other is wrong.
I disagree. If there are measures that can be taken to protect unborn life and the "Pro-Life" party refuses to impliment those measures the blood is on their hands, and perhaps even more so because they are supposed to be "Pro-Life".
Why did the majority vote for partial birth abortion? Vote to illiminate parental consent?
I think that is a disingenuous statement. I know very few who would vote "for" partial birth abortion. I do know many who opposed a particular peice of legislation that would have banned partial birth abortion. Some opposed it because they are the old school Democrats. They do not want government bureaucrats politicizing the most intimate and sometimes painful situations women face, so they want government out of it all together. I know other Democrats who opposed the bill because it lacked a significant health clause that the courts would require in the bill. Since this clause was not designed to meet the court's requirements the bill was voted against. Why pass a trash bill that will just be overruled by the courts? The Republicans purposefully neglected to meet the court's specified health clause requirements by offering their own version of a health clause. Why? Because the Republicans wanted the bill to be overruled to keep partial birth abortion a living campaign issue. The Republicans were exploiting women, Pro-Life voters, and the very lives of the unborn with the partial birth abortion bill they presented.
In regards to parental consent. I support parental consent laws. However I believe there should be provisions to protect minors from abusive parents. If a young girl becomes pregnant because her father is abusing her and she wants an abortion, notifying her father may bring serious harm to her. Often fathers will beat their daughters for becoming pregnant and then will drive them to the abortion clinics. A parental consent bill should provide some way of protecting a young girl from abusive parents.
In addition the Guttmacher Institute explains that parental consent laws do little to prevent abortion. The average age of women seeking abortion is 24, but 19%, or nearly 250,000 abortions a year, are performed on teen agers. Family Planning Perspectives, Vol. 24, 5, September-October of 1992, p. 196+ explains that according to their findings upon learning of their daughter's pregnancies, parents favored abortion over childbirth by a 4 to 1 ratio.
Parental consent laws are important but they should provide provisions that protect abused girls. And from a Pro-Life perspective it must be remembered that such laws are largely token gestures and legislation to keep Pro-Lifer's happy and Republican.
It is sad that you would think that this issue is a game.
We are both Christians, that means we should be honest with one another. Above you're misrepresenting what I said in a very disingenuous way. Here's my actual statement for the sake of our readers:
"Republicans have done NOTHING to reduce the abortion rate. As a matter of fact the Republicans have purposely left out health clauses in abortion legislation for the sole intent of having the courts overrule it. Why? So they can smack blind loyalst around and get them agry enough at the courts to vote Republican again. It's a terrible game the Republicans are playing and people are DYING while they play this game.
The game is over. The Democrats are drafting Pro-Life policy to reduce abortion in our country even while Roe still stands." - ChristopherHall
To clarify I was not saying that I see this as a game. I was stating that the game the Republicans have been playing is over.
Let's try our best to be honest here or the dialogue will become unfruitful. Besides, it is written:
20"'And you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." - Deuteronomy 5:20 (English Standard Version)
I am neither a Republican or a Democrat. But I would add that because of the Democratic platform on abortion I could never vote for anyone who was a Democrat.
I used to believe like you do. I was a GOP Team Leader for some time. I began to realize that I was focusing on what was on paper instead of results. While yes the Republicans have Pro-Life language in their platform, the number of up and coming Pro-Choice Republicans is growing. On the other side the Democrats may have Pro-Choice language in their platform but the number of up and coming Pro-Life Democrats is growing. For me the issue isn't what is in the "platform" but rather who's policies actually will reduce the abortion rate and save lives. As I have said before, most Republicans merely want to ban abortion and throw people in jail. Republicans do not have concrete policies that offer assistance or incentives to women facing unwanted or crisis pregnancies so that most of their fears are relieved and they can choose life.
Here's an interesting story. I have a friend who lives in Canada. She is very poor and is single. Well, she got pregnant. (I agree that she shouldn't have and that it was a sin, but life is what it is.) She has health insurance, is going to receive subsidized childcare when she returns to work, and is given a monthly alotment to pay for pregnancy and preparation expenses. She told me point blank that if she lived in America she couldn't afford medical insurance. Not having medical insurance, being too poor to pay for childcare, and not having the money to pay for the expenses of pregnancy she said she would choose abortion. It's really sad but it is a fact of life, but the reality is women choose abortion when they are poor, desperate, and scared. The Republicans haven't offered any leadership in this area. As a matter of fact more women have lost health insurance under President George Bush, reversing the trend under President Clinton where more and more women had needed healthcoverage. Also more and more women have been found below the poverty line. Again reversing previous trends. Some studies have indicated that the abortion rate may actually be rising as more and more women are faced with poverty and lack of health insurance.
The Democrats on the other hand have drafted a plan. While yes for the most part they are still "Pro-Choice", they are actually going to push for policies that will save lives. Here are the suggested policies the Democrats have started pushing for:
-Federal Funding for Toll-Free Number/National Public Awareness Program
-Conduct a National Study & Update Abortion Data
-Federal Funding for Pregnancy Prevention Education
-Federal Funding for Abortion Counseling and Daycare on University Campuses
-Provide Accurate Information to Patients Receiving a Positive Result from an Alpha-Fetoprotein Test tests.
-Make Adoption Tax Credits Permanent
-Ban Pregnancy as a “Pre-Existing Condition” in the Health Care Industry
-Require Adoption Referral Information
-Women's Right to Know (Any women's health center or clinic that provides pregnancy counseling or abortion services must provide accurate information on abortion and the adverse side effects to a woman's health. Patients do not have to accept the materials if they do not want them.)
-Provide Ultrasound Equipment
-Increase Funding for Domestic Violence Programs (Offer additional federal funding for programs that have received grants by the Department of Justice for providing counseling and shelter for women and children in crisis pregnancies. The leading cause of death against pregnant women is murder.
Protect our Children
-Fully Fund Federal WIC Program
-Parental Notification
-Provide Grants to States to Help in the Promotion and Implementation of Safe Haven Laws
-Require Counseling in Maternity Group Homes (Adoption counseling in federally funded maternity group homes and teaching of parenting skills.)
-Require SCHIP to cover pregnant women
Remember, nearly two thirds of all women to seek abortions live below the poverty level. That means that abortion is directly connected to poverty or the lack of sustainable income. Address the needs and issues women face when confronted with an unplanned or crisis pregnancy and they will not feel so scared and alone.
Such measures have worked in other countries. For example Belgium has the lowest abortion rate in the world (8 out of ever 1,000 pregnancies). Yet it is a Pro-Choice country. It has measures similar to these to help women with unplanned pregnancies.
What do you think matters most to God...lives saved or clauses on paper?
(I'll respond to the rest of your post in another post because this is getting too long. Please stay tuned.)