Like most frugal RVers, I spend a great deal of time in
various Wal-Mart stores. Standing in a
long checkout line is an easy way of observing people, especially families.
Too often, a tired-looking parent is trying to shop while
keeping at least three children in line. The children may be hitting each
other, sobbing, or begging for candy. (Even worse, they may be unnaturally
quiet, as if they have been abused.) The parent is badly dressed.
In contrast, some times I see a happy, healthy child or two with
a mom and dad who don’t seem overwhelmed financially or otherwise by being
parents. The entire family is decently dressed in inexpensive clothing. (There
may be wealthy people who bring their kids to shop in Wal-Marts, but I haven’t
seen them.) Why can’t more families be like them?
As in many aspects of life, timing is almost everything. If
a woman conceives when she is very young, she may be unmarried, still in school,
or just beginning a career. She is unlikely to afford to raise a child.
Bringing a baby into her life at that point may be a disaster, but in a few years
it can be a joyous event. Simply postponing pregnancy can give both her and her
children a much better chance of a good life
Nobody is in favor of abortions, except as a last resort. We
pro-choice advocates don’t want death; we want life. The best way to prevent
abortion is to provide accessible and affordable contraception to any woman who
wants it.
Today the so-called pro-life movement fights contraception
as well as abortion. Planned Parenthood clinics are under attack everywhere,
and federal funding is endangered. As a result, desperate women will simply
resort to using coat hangers or dangerous drugs to induce abortions themselves.
They will endanger their lives rather than continue a pregnancy they find unbearable.
Many of those who are forced or persuaded to carry their babies to term will
give birth to children they can’t afford. Much as they may love those babies
and try to make a good life for them, they are greatly handicapped in doing so.
How much better it would be if they could wait a few years!
In some cases, babies whose mothers are unable to care for
them end up in abusive situations, perhaps in bad foster homes. There are
simply not enough good homes available to take care of these children;
certainly the self-righteous pro-life advocates are doing little to provide help. Further, in the current
punitive political climate it is likely that Planned Parenthood and Medicaid
funds will be cut, increasing the burden on parents and on society.
Society and individuals have much to gain from helping women
plan their pregnancies, instead of implicitly blaming them for having sex. Sex
is a normal part of life for most women, not something evil to be punished. If
they become pregnant, giving birth at an appropriate time benefits everyone.
In the words of the Planned Parenthood founders,
we need to make every child a wanted
child. We need to choose life.
