Just another example...

[Wilma]

Diane, does that include miscarriage, stillbirth and the beautiful darling little five year old great granddaughter that I lost?

[Diane Amberg]

I think the little ones who were miscarried, aborted, (naturally or artificially) are reassigned to another life. But the ones who are fully born alive, with heartbeat, lungs working and brain function, even for a short time, go straight to heaven to be with God. Then it would be decided whether they would stay or be reassigned. I think if the kids are old enough to be aware of God, they would stay there. So threes, fours, fives and beyond would probably stay, but I really don't have a strong feeling on that. I'm so sorry you lost a granddaughter. I would expect she would have stayed with her relatives who were already there, and would wait for her family to come later.

[Varmit]

Wilma and Diane, I think that it is the young ones who are most aware of God.  After all, He was the first one to hold them.

[Wilma]

Diane, she is with her relatives in heaven.  I saw it in a dream.

[Diane Amberg]

Aw, that's so sweet.

[Warph]

Abortion.  That word.... If our nation fights another Civil War, it will probably be about this.  And I would remind you that this all from my perspective, the male perspective, a one-step-removed perspective, because I will obviously never have to decide on whether or not I should have an abortion.  And by the way, my belief is that if men were the ones getting pregnant, abortions would be easier to get than food poisoning in Moscow.  Having men or the Courts or Congress or Obama decide the fate of a woman's reproductive system makes about as much sense as asking me to run for governor of Kansas.  Who's this Mark Parkinson clown anyway?  He and Spector need to get together and reminisce about the good/bad times they had in the ol' GOP.  I have a feeling they are going to miss it.

Anyway, there's no doubt that passions run high on both sides of the abortion issue.  Pro-life activists attempt to paint anyone pro-choice as having no morals.  On the other side of the ledger, pro-choicers are tagging pro-lifers as crazed and backward bible-thumpers bent on running the lives of the people who disagree with them.  The truth, as always, is, the case of human endeavors lies somewhere in between.  As much as the advance scouts on either side of this issue might not want to admit it, good people do get abortions and other good people are pained by their decision to get one.

Where do I stand?  Well, I'm like most of you, I presume, I think there are far too many abortions performed in this country.  And I also believe that at the end of the day, as much as I might disapprove, none of them are really any of my business.  Look, there are always going to be arguments on this issue.  The debate will rage until the end of time no matter what the whim of the Papal infallibility or the politics of the decade.  But the simple truth is, that such a passionate and personal decision dictates that the choice be left to the individual.  And you know, that's really all we can do, because we're just human beings, stumbling around in the dark, trying to get to the bathroom and kicking the crap out of our shins on the way there..... whatever that means.

Now there's some things all right-minded human beings should agree on.  We should all agree that abortions should be legal in the case of rape, incest and when the mother's life is at risk -- that's just common sense.  But excluding that obvious assumption, everything else in the abortion arena is "in play."  There are many quagmires complicating this issue. Religion.  Now it seems that religion is most often the backboard for every bank shot put up by someone making it their business to get into your business.  Roman Catholic doctrine forbids abortion.  Fine.  Take that into consideration when you make your your decision.  Right-to-life proponents contend that abortion is immoral.  Fine.  Take that into consideration when you make your decision.  Another pothole on the road to a sensible resolution to abortion is "when does life begin?"  At conception?  When a heartbeat is detected?  At the first drawn breath?  You know, for me it wasn't until last Tuesday.  Until then I was just a sperm with an accountant!

Okay, so those are the variables, and there are obviously millions more variables that make each individual case unique.  But the more you think about it, and the more it makes your head spin, and the more confused you get trying to figure out someone else's life for them, it becomes increasingly apparent that it has to be the call of the individual who is pregnant, because the collective, one way or another, won't have to suffer the consequences of that most personal of all decisions.

I dunno..... but I think it is time to suck it up.  Look deep into your immortal soul.... if you believe you have one.... and do the right thing.  Have the courage and strength to live your own life, by your own standards, and stop trying to call the shots for everyone else.  We all live with glaring inconsistencies, and sometimes, when you see something going on right in front of you that offends you to the very core of your being, sometimes the best thing you can do is just walk away, because you know that's exactly what you would want them to do for you. 

There's only one judge on all this and that's God. And you don't get to meet him until you go backstage after the play is over.  And believe me, you do not want to get a "thumbs down" from the guy who created thumbs, all right?  In the interim, everybody has got to tend their own garden vis-a-vis abortion.  And remember, when it comes to your body, only you wear the robes, and only you carry the gavel.  That's the way I look at it, anyway.   

[indygal]

I never dreamed I'd be typing these words, but....

Warph, I agree with you 100 percent on this issue. Yours was a thoughtfully and compassionately written post about a very sensitive topic.

Whew. That just about took it out of me. Time for a refill on coffee.

[flo]

Warph, it took you a lot more words to say it than it would me, but you said it just like it should be.  I totally agree with you.  You run for Governor of Kansas?  Maybe you should, you definately have the gift of going the long way around to get to what you are saying. (I mean that in a good way).

[larryJ]

Good one, Warph, I totally agree with you and if you run for anything, you got my vote. 

I have been asked over the years if I am pro-life or pro-choice or just how I feel about this subject.  My answer is that I am pro-if it doesn't involve me or my family, it is none of my business.  Obviously, if there is a danger to the mothers life or in the case of rape, then it is the womans choice.  But, other than that I think it is none of my business.

Larryj

[Jo McDonald]

WOW  Warph, they have you running --- hope you don't have to run for cover.    
I do not believe what one does with their own body is of anyone's business but their own.  To have an abortion ***That decision would be very difficult to make, but for anyone to tell me what I could or could not do, in such a case, would be like lighting a fire under me -
  The people in power (?)  have never made the rapist get a vasectomy,  have they?? And incest is the one act that just makes me livid!!!   Now, in that case,  Fred says they should be castrated and them hung upside down in the courtyard for everyone to view their worthless hides.  Maybe we should turn Fred loose on some of those bad boys.  lol
Jo