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Becoming attached to the life inside brings abortion views into question
Filed under: Your Pregnancy, Medical Conditions, Media
When
Lamelle Ryman was a teenager, she was a pro-choice fanatic. Her impassioned statement to a neighbor didn't skip a beat:
"I can’t believe those pro-lifers. It’s not even a baby! It’s a blob of tissue that is totally
dependent on the woman’s body." But her neighbor, who'd had a miscarriage, let her know her words had
created unintended consequences.
It wasn't until 10 years later, when she herself had an early miscarriage, that she was able to put her words into their proper context. And she learned that "my own initial reluctance to talk about my experience stemmed from my discomfort with the words I was choosing to describe it. I found myself reclaiming words that I had previously labeled as part of the pro-life lexicon. Was the "life" that had been growing inside me a "baby?" Could I have really become so attached so quickly?"
When her aunt told her that she was "sorry about the baby," she was terrically comforted, and she began to think about the debate in her new role as a mom-to-be, and as a Jew. Her exploration of why "Jews... have cause for ambivalence when it comes to elective abortion" is thoughtful and worth a review. As she says (and this could be true of a lot of faiths and cultures), "We who celebrate pregnancy and the beginning of life with so much joy cannot hold that it is trivial to end a pregnancy." As someone who's suffered her own pregnancy loss and is quite religious, it's certainly a topic that I struggle with, never quite arriving at an answer that satisfies me.
Evidently, a lot of people are thinking about abortion today. Dutch wrote about his own views on the debate earlier today, and then, this afternoon, Christy sent us this link, which is actually from a few years ago. Thanks to Dutch, Christy, and Samuel Alito, for making us think!
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
1-12-2006 @ 4:07PM
christy said...I want it to be clear that Lamelle is still pro-choice, but she takes a look at some of the hard questions about being pro-choice and still valuing life and pregnancy. What's interesting about her article is her examination of the terminology of being pro-choice and the ability to value an unborn child, while still being pro-choice. It's a very interesting perspective for someone like me who is pro-choice, but very definitely would be heartbroken had I suffered a miscarriage. Anyway, I am rambling now, but I wanted to let everyone know that it isn't one of those stories of someone who was pro-choice until they had babies.
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1-12-2006 @ 4:33PM
anon said...Being pro-choice does not mean we don't value life, pregnancy or the loss of pregnancy. An unborn child is precious. Those who experience loss of pregnancy, both intentionally and unforseen, grieve for that loss. Abortion is not something that is taken lightly by people who are pro-choice. Often, pro-choice people would never intentionally end a pregnancy. However, what pro-choice people believe is that it is the woman's decision to make. Anyone who claims that it is an easy decision is misguided. But we should never make that decision for someone else through legislation.
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1-13-2006 @ 7:31AM
Ann Adams said...Amen #2 - I already said it all on the other post.
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