Abortion and the Government

It is time to tackle this incredibly divisive issue seeing as it is playing an increasing role in forming a budget for our government and the inability to truly reconcile any issues with it.  Let me start by saying that I am a Catholic and as such do not believe in abortion and am wholeheartedly against abortion.  As such any references to religion will be from the stance of a Catholic merely because I do not know that stance on abortion from another religion's perspective.  Let me also state that I believe that our government should be minimally intrusive in the personal lives of individuals and its current size should be reduced greatly.  Abortion, whether you believe that people should have the choice or not, is not one that should be decided by the goverenment and here is why; there has been no clear agreement amongst scientists or individuals as to when a fetus becomes human and whether it should be considered in essence the killing of human life.  In the case of murder of an individual, the law is distinctly clear.  Until there is a decision reached from outside the government that the moment of conception is the point when human life begins (which I agree with) or that human life begins sometime after that, the government should not stick its medlesome hand into the decision of individuals. 

That being said, the government should afford no money either for or against abortions based upon the fact that there is no clear distinction or agreement to be had.  Even if a decision is reached, funding should not occur simply because not everyone agrees with it and the money being used, taxpayer dollars, comes from everyone.   At this point, as it stands in the law, people should have the right to choose whether or not to have an abortion.  In the end, if you are religious, God will decide after you die whether you made the correct decision or not.  Who are we to play the hand of God?  If people wish to kill their unborn child, let them, its their decision and they will have to live with it, but why should my taxpayer dollars go to help them with that decision?  How can I hold this view as a Catholic?  Because in the end it boils down to free will.  As humans, I believe that we have the ability to choose between two options, good or evil, correct or incorrect.  Once an institution begins to dictate what we can or can not choose between, our free will begins to be eaten away.   Every person has the right to choose to kill someone else as long as they are prepared to face the consequences.   The same holds true for abortions.  Everyone should have the right to choose as long as they are willing to face the consequences.  Should there be consequences?  In my mind, yes, but not according to a number of other people.  The government to my knowledge does not fund bomb-making schools or terrorist cells or gun distribution centers as they should not.  So why is there even discussion about funding abortions?  Yes, I know that currently there is no law against abortions, but that does not make it morally right for them to use my money to fund something I don't agree with.  Will they do it anyway, of course.

In 95% of cases, abortions are not a medical necessity, it is merely the choice of an individual to not deal with the consequences of their actions.   If you are walking down the street staring at your phone and trip over a root sticking up out of the sidewalk, fall and crack your head, are you responsible?  Yes, even though in this sue happy society, someone will attempt to place blame on someone else.   So should the government fund the surgery you need after tripping and falling over a tree root?  No.  Granted these are two widely different issues, but in essence it comes down to personal responsibility when it comes to dealing with the consequences of your actions.  The government should play no role in funding anything that deals with the consequences of personal actions, period.  The government, in mind should be minimalist.  It should uphold and maintain the laws of the land as agreed upon by all and ensure the safety and security of the population.   Of late, it seems the government needs to stick their hand into everyone's business and have a say in how everything is run.  Increasingly, they seek to strip away our free will a little bit at a time by dictating what we can or can not do.   The fact that our government's budget couldn't be passed for 6 months over discussing how intrusive they wanted to be is testament to this.  On top of that, this whole abortion issue was one that seemed to be one of the top discussion points that almost shut down our government.  To fund abortion or not to fund.  I say lets fire our senators and congressmen who increasingly act like pre-schoolers and start with a new bunch.  The fact that not a day goes by where they don't attempt to pass the blame to each other and bicker over such inconsequential issues shows that they do not have the true spirit of our country in mind. 

Our founding fathers created this country to have a small government, with limited ability to intrude on the lives of the population.  We have strayed far from this original plan of theirs and it is time to re-make our country in their vision.   Unfortunately, we can not fire our senators or congressmen and must now wait till their terms are up to get them out.  I still maintain that we get rid of the whole bunch and start with fresh blood, not this tea-party crap that is in essence a super conservative republican bunch.  Lets get some people under thirty in there, up-end this beurocratic B.S., eliminate special interest groups and lobyists, and get back to the basics.  

So I guess I have strayed slightly from the issue of abortion, but it is in there and it is an issue that needs to be dealt with.   Perhaps the overall issue we really need to deal with is dealing with the consequences of our actions.  Should there be a law that punishes someone who has an abortion?  Personally, I believe there should be (again it is my opinion and anyone is free to disagree with me).   Regardless of whether a law is ever passed that supports my decision, there should never be any funding for any abortion.  I don't care if someone is poor and they can't afford an abortion, they should have considered the possibility of pregnancy when they had sex.   Lets fight to keep government smaller and less intrusive because that is the overwhelming issue at hand.  If government was kept as small as it was intended to be by our founding fathers, we wouldn't be dealing with this issue now.  But alas, that is a mighty task to undertake and it doesn't seem likely that it will happen anytime soon.  For today at least, enjoy the fact that you are alive and your mother didn't have an abortion because you wouldn't be reading this today if she did.