Jumping Out of the Boat....I'm not a Boat Potato!

I'm not sure how many people read my blog, but any who do, please feel free to comment. I have decided to vote for John McCain; although, I don't think he is the best choice, as far as his ability to run this country at this time in history. I like him and respect him as a person,I respect his military and political service to our country, and I will respect him if he miraculously becomes President. I think Obama has a better financial plan, and I agree with his plan to exit our troops from Iraq as soon as possible. But I cannot vote for a candidate that is pro-choice, because I believe abortion is WRONG! I listened carefully during the debates to Obama's stand on abortion. He said, "I am against partial birth abortion, as long as there is a clause that allows for it in order to protect the health of the mother." Even before Roe vs. Wade, babies could be delivered early when the pregnancy was a threat to the health of the mother! And, why is no one asking this question: What in the world does it have to do with the health of the mother to KILL the baby after he/she is partially BORN? With my first son I had pre ecclampsia and was close to dying after 21 hours of labor. My son was past due, and they did an emergency C section to save both my life and the life of our son. Okay...there was never a question that my baby being born ALIVE would affect my health negatively! Of course we desperately WANTED our baby!
Partial birth abortions are performed during the last trimester, when, with our advanced technology, a near term baby can be viable. Why, why why KILL the baby after he/she is partially born....in the guise of protecting the health of the mother?? The baby would still be OUT if they didn't kill him or her!!! The only thing that protects the life of the mother in this circumstance is getting the baby OUT! Why NOT allow this precious CHILD....a life that God considered important enough that He knitted him or her together in her mother's womb...why not allow that child the chance to live? If the mother doesn't want the baby, someone out there will!
It is not ours to say when life begins. As a mother of four, I knew there was life inside me early on. There was a relationship between me and my unborn children.
I do not pass judgement on anyone--God alone knows a person's heart. But I do question the logic here. I definitely disagree with the morality of protecting a mother, who actually has many choices to prevent an unwanted pregnancy by sacrificing a life that God created from the union of two people. I have had a couple of friends who had abortions when they were young. They were emotionally scarred because of the experience--and I have compassion on young women who make the choice to abort their babies, because it takes a toll on them, and sometimes they realize too late that society is not always right. But I cannot think of even one argument that could stand honest scrutiny in support of partial birth abortion. Take the baby, if you must, to save the mother, but give the baby a chance to live....and give someone else the chance to parent him or her! There are many people out there who can't have babies who would give everything to give love to an unwanted BABY!
I have heard the argument, "Well, what about the lives that are being lost in Iraq?" I hate war. My father was completely traumatized for his entire life because of fighting as a Marine in WW2 and by being the only survivor from his division who fought in the Korean War...and he nearly didn't make it because he was shot in the stomach. I love soldiers, and I hate war...even necessary wars. But any good soldier would risk his own life to run into a battle and drag away the body of a fallen comrad. That's the way they are trained. My dad was a Marine. I know about the horrors of war. But the Marines are a volunteer branch of the service, as are all of the branches of service during our times. Men and women VOLUNTEER to go into battle. They are trained. They know where they are headed. They have choices.
An unborn child is at the mercy of the vessel that carries him or her. And even then, sometimes aborted babies live a few minutes after being cast from their mothers. Those little babies have no choice. Who knows who they may have become?
They have no voice of their own. Only people with voices and choices can speak for them! We are outraged when we see the genocide that occurs around the world. We cry out for redemption...not nearly enough...but we do...when atrocities happen around the world. But we have for almost two generations stood by while generations of our OWN children have been massacred in the name of "pro-choice". What about the choice of our babies? I would love to see a change in our country, but I don't think it is going to come from our President alone. The change has to happen in our hearts! I do not hold to the dogma that there is only one political choice for Christians. I always vote for the man. I will not have anyone telling me for whom I must cast my vote. My dad used to take me to the polls when he voted. He considered voting his patriotic duty and right. He always told me that who I voted for was my business alone! I honor the duty, the right, and my father. If he was alive, he might vote differently than I will on November 4th...which is also my 54th birthday. But he did defend almost to his death before I was ever conceived, my right to cast that vote. Do I care about the lives that are being lost in Iraq? Yes! But I have to speak up for the lives that are being cast away every day in our own increasingly self absorbed society. A life is a life. I am thankful for mine.
And that brings up another question that is looming on the horizon. If we humans have the power to decide when life begins, then how far away is it in this perilous economy in which we live, before someone raises the question of: When does life END? I had a 16 year old friend in Texas who was thrown from a horse many years ago. She landed on her head and was in a coma for years. She woke up sometime around our senior year in high school. She was herself again...with a few minor glitches. Her parents got to finish raising her and she rode horses again. She had a life, even when she was in a coma. I have other friends who have passed on from cancer, most of them very young. Until they breathed their last breath, there were thousands of prayers being offered on their behalf, because their lives were precious...even though all they could do was lie in a bed and interact with those around them. I have to wonder how far we are from a society that considers the sick and the handicapped a drain on our economy and our precious "way of life" to the extent that we no longer consider the rights of those people. Even today, a person with no health insurance is not very likely to get adequate health care. And I know, the Democrats have a great plan for national health care. They also recognize our need to actually care for the poor, instead of making them wait for
money to fall out of the sky and land on them! AND my last point is this: Republicans have been standing on the pro life platform for many years, and I think several have been elected while proclaiming to be pro life. If they can't produce some meaningful legislation...take a real stand for life....then why should we keep voting for them? I'm getting a little sick and tired of talk. And I am really tired of hearing about our bulging pocketbooks here in America....when a whole segment of our population can't even conceive of having money to invest in the stock market, because they can barely live from day to day. AND even they are far richer than most of the world we live in. Anyway, I'm voting for McCain...and I'll see if he does anything about abortion.