Organizing for America | Isabel Acevedo's Blog: On abortion

On abortion

By Isabel - Oct 10th, 2008 at 11:23 am EDT

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On one side we have Obama and he is pro-choice. I don't think choice is an option when it comes to deciding who lives or who doesn't. I wouldn't abort a child because he or she has a brith defect. I don't think abortion is right, even in cases of rape, which is where McCain stands. To me abortion is out of the question, and this belief is rooted in my catholic upbringing. I believe life is a gift from God. From a moral standpoint I don't completely agree with either candidate's stand on the issue. So my only option is to reason through the issue and make some type of moral compromise.

When it comes to Roe v. Wade, I agree with McCain. The decision made is a misinterpretation of our constitution and one of the biggest mistakes our Supreme Court has made. I agree it should be overturned. But I disagree that what happens next should be the state's decision. That's the easiest way out for federal government. The feds wash their hands like Pontius Pilot did and leave to the state the task to take a stand in tough moral decisions. True, states may have a better scope of the beliefs and traditions among its population. When it comes to Roe v. Wade, I agree with McCain. The decision made is a misinterpretation of our constitution and one of the biggest mistakes our Supreme Court has made. I agree it should be overturned. But I disagree that what happens next should be the state's decision. That's the easiest way out for federal government. The feds wash their hands like Pontius Pilot did and leave to the state the task to take a stand in tough moral decisions. True, states may have a better scope of the beliefs and traditions among its population. But we've already seen that giving the states the power to decide on the abortion issue creates a whole new set of problems: it sets the battlefield grounds for anti-abortion and pro-abortion activists, facilitates corruption (in the form of lobbying), creates resentment between states that have disagreeing policies, and provokes people to cross state-lines and go to places where abortion is more accessible. We need to realize that life is our one inherent right. Without life you can't have the right to choice or privacy.

McCain's proposal does not make abortion illegal. He has made this very clear himself. His proposal leaves it up to the states to make a decision. And doing also rises a whole new set of moral questions. Let's say he gets Roe. vs. Wade overturned. Now the states have the final word and they decide it is okay to have an abortion only in cases of rape. Now the state government is left with the task to define rape. And everyone has a different interpretation of that. But let's say they are able to define rape. Now they need to come up with a way to confirm if rape indeed happen or not without invading our privacy. But let's say they have that in paper, and a woman comes in saying she was raped and is now pregnant. Now they need to be able to confirm the rape in less than 6 months after the alleged rape so she can go get her legal abortion. Two things will happen, either women will lie about being raped to get a legal abortion and by the time the government finds out they were lying the abortion would have had happened, or women will start going to underground clinics with poor sanitary conditions and put themselves at risk to have illegal abortions. This is where McCain's abortion plan is flawed.

Despite my strong personal stand ..ion, I am not in a position to judge those who take that route. No matter what their reason is. That's up to them and their conscience and their God. I am realistic. And abortions, legal or illegal, will continue to happen unless we find a viable solution to unwanted pregnancies and remove the stigmas on human sexuality. And to me the candidate with the better platform to remove these stigmas and to prevent unwanted pregnancies is Barak Obama. As a catholic, I believe abstinence should be taught as a value, but in practicality abstinence is an unimplementable policy. I believe abstinence only education is imposing a personal moral value. This is why I think that it is very important to teach all forms of birth control and for teachers and parents to be comfortable to talk to children about sex at an appropriate age. Obama strives for more comprehensive sexual education so this is where I made my compromise on the abortion issue. Maybe this outlook is based on my experience in undeveloped countries. Here in the US, our population and AIDS are more or less under control. Change the scope to the entire world, go to places like Guatemala and Africa, where overpopulation and AIDS are their crude reality, the topic of contraception gets a completely different moral dimension.

My one struggle with contraceptives would be with the morning after pill. The debate here is uncertain. There's so much we don't know about what happens between the moment the sperm meets the ovule to the moment it gets implanted. And then starts the debate on how do we define the beginning of life, answers that we cannot explain with certainty from a scientific standpoint, so they are left to personal moral interpretations. I've taken an "I won't consider it abortion unless I'm proven the contrary." And right now, moral and scientific opinion is mixed. Am I wrong by taking that stand? I don't know. It's a tough topic.

Call me pessimistic, but opening the pandora box of either legalizing or banning abortion is not a priority for the candidates in this election. Not because it is unimportant, but because our county is right now facing one of the toughest economic, energy, and security crises in history. We need to get those issues solved, or at least under control, and return a sense of stability to our country. And then we need a president who is brave enough to address controversial issues like abortion and tolerate all the public attack and controversy that will come along with it. Until that happens, Roe v. Wade will prevail. And the same goes with other moral issues like gay rights. No matter how much they talk, the reality is that the president only has 4 years to do stuff and they need to make a priority list. Still, half of that time will be spent on on-job socialization, learning the rules of the game. And then if they decide to run again, the other half of the time will be spent in running a campaign. And then there is a senate that has to approve every decision he makes.

I still think all the issues are intertwined. While Roe v. Wade defends our constitutional right to privacy, the Patriot Act gives the federals the right to invade our privacy without even notifying the FISC. A pro-life advocate may argue that it is wrong to terminate a human life through abortion but supports capital punishment. Everyday our government interprets our rights according to what is convenient and end up contradicting themselves. I don't blame them. They are human! And it is important for us to realize that so we can demand consistency from our candidates. The paradox is that consistency does not always win the popular vote.

So here we are, also humans, trying to decide who will be our next president. It is beautifully democratic. But it is a full time job to get informed and to read every platform, and to listen to every word of both sides of the story. The media doesn't help by sensationalizing everything and deciding their top story will be who designs Palin's glasses. The result, more than half of the population go out and vote uninformed or, perhaps even worse, with inaccurate information.

This doesn't mean that we have to quit our jobs so we can keep track of every detail. It means it we talk about it. It means we demand our press to ask the important questions. It means we question our own party. We don't have to agree with every position in the platform before we go and cast our votes. The fact is that, with only two men, running for president, there is no way we will agree with everything in either platform. And that has been one of my biggest struggles: making moral compromises and figuring out what are the most important issues for this country right now. I am not an expert on any of this. That's why I think it is important to have this type of conversation.

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