Abortion = Murder?

If you've been reading my regular profile recently, you know a lot has been going on (two job offers accepted, cool prank accomplished, Ninja Burger), but I'd like to use this space tonight to describe the March for Women's Lives that I participated in last Sunday and my thoughts on the touchy topic of abortion. And, yes, it is a Friday night, and I'm not out anywhere; sue me.

I was at the major rally (the current estimate of people who attended is over a million) in Washington, DC this past weekend; it was covered in most of the mass media but basically it was a show of support for the principle that abortion should be an option for women and not illegal. While I did (and do) support this principle, I was mainly there because I had never participated in such a rally and wanted to experience it for myself, not just watch it on TV as many others did. During the ride back from the rally, I knew I had made the right decision.

My description of the rally probably won't do justice to the grandeur of it, but I do have pictures which I will upload to my webspace as soon as I get them developed. Everyone in the march (and I'm not exaggerating when I say everyone) had a sign or two, some with radical slogans like "Abort Bush" and others with more benign ones such as "It's your choice... not theirs" and "Keep abortion legal." A couple of people had paper-maché caricatures of Bush, and some had buckets and drums of various sorts to beat on during the march, one couple even striking up a military march rhythm to really make it sound like this was a war. The speakers were generally eloquent and convincing (at least to those like me who were already fairly convinced) in their expressions of why abortion should be kept legal. Often, the speakers also took the opportunity to bash the Bush administration, something which, while I mostly agreed with their allegations against the administration, I didn't appreciate because I felt it took the focus off the central issue of abortion and turned it into a partisan rally, which it wasn't meant to be.

The march itself was, in a word, surreal, as many of the momentous occasions in one's life are. Cheers and chants coalesced into a sweeping aural current. However, anti-abortionists were on the sidelines, quoting Bible passages, conveying apocalyptic warnings of fire and brimstone, holding up signs with pictures of aborted fetuses or mutilated infants and the singular word "Murder" emblazoned on them, or ones telling us to use adoption instead of abortion.

I only have limited space remaining, so I'm going to briefly address the most important charge of murder, as it's the basis for the moral and religious objections to abortion. Are abortions a form of murder? No, because murders have several characteristics which an abortion doesn't: murders are brutal, normally done remorselessly (if the testimonials I've heard serve as any indicator, abortions are taken very seriously and regretted by most mothers who choose it), morally unjustifiable, and committed for selfish reasons (except when abortion is irresponsibly used as another form of birth control, it is normally for either the health of the mother or to prevent the suffering a child would have to go through in life if it were to be born). In my belief, those who abuse abortions will suffer at least in this life, and there are too many scenarios where I could see a legitimate reason for an abortion that I can't deny women that option, especially since I'm of the position that the government shouldn't impose morals except for those necessary to maintain order and to ensure one's full potential in life. Who among us is worthy to determine the proper course of action for one's private moral decisions? Thus, I leave that responsibility to the individual. IM me if you want to discuss my experience at the march or this complex issue even further; I'm out of room.

Oh, and exams start for me next week. Eep!