May 14, 2007

The Difficult Issue of Abortion and Real American Citizenship

 

The Supreme Court recently handed down a ruling that puts it smack into the long-awaited and long-dreaded (depending on one’s point of view) judicial area of abortion rights. In addition to being one of the most contentious political issues of our time, it challenges a basic tenet of what it means to be an American.

 

The protagonists talk past each other to no avail. The so-called “pro-choice” side, which in the spirit of transparency I will admit I support, focuses on the rights of women over their bodies and keeping government away from what are seen as the most private and personal decisions. The so-called “pro-life” side focuses on the fetus as a human being, and consequently abortion as murder. These self-selected identifications themselves limit wiggle room on this contentious issue.

 

On the “pro-life” side, there appears little sensitivity for the plight of a pregnant woman without the means to care for a new baby - financial, emotional or social. I know, I know, she shouldn’t have gotten pregnant in the first place - perhaps true, but not a really helpful position in the real world.

 

Also, people of this position seem generally not to support programs for these small beings post-birth. We’ll fight to the death, perhaps to others’ deaths, for their right to be born, but from that day on, they’re on their own, in the true spirit of American individualism. Oh, and these pro-life folks often support the execution of some adults. Consistency is an over-valued commodity in any case.

 

On the “choice” side, there likewise seems an absence of understanding for people, who through their religious beliefs, see human life beginning early on in fetal development – well before birth, when laws involving persons traditionally take effect. When “pro-choice” arguments about respecting the political process are met with comparisons to times in our history when many accepted the lynching of Black people, pro-choicers respond with derision. How many of us could accept the killing of another human being simply because it is condoned by a majority? Many can’t.

 

This juxtaposition presents quite an impasse.

 

The immigration “discussion” has focused my attention more on what it means to be an American, especially a citizen – a person who, in a democracy, shares responsibility for a country and its well being. The United States is distinct from many other countries in its foundation on principles and processes, rather than a distinct national or ethnic group, like Turkey, France or Germany.

 

People in any organizations, including countries, require widely accepted ground rules or guidelines for dealing with differences. The United States of America as a large and complex organization has a ground rule that I believe is quite basic to being an American. It is the commitment to resolve differences according to accepted processes that can accommodate wide diversity, and in ways that makes most of our people feel taken into account.

 

Americans express and advocate a wide range of strong identities and opinions. There are protections for minorities against the ephemeral will of a majority in certain areas. And there are explicit and accepted processes for deciding differences of opinion, including a spirit of compromise and acceptance, over and above individual opinions and identities, even very strongly held, that make the process and country work. That’s what makes us different from Iraq and others, if we indeed are.

 

Genuine American patriotism must include a dedication to this ideal – a commitment to make any personal views, even strongly held, secondary to rules and processes that can accommodate the society as a whole. In the abortion debate and others, this patriotism requires agreements that can be accepted by a critical mass of people, including people of widely different views.

 

If I were Emperor, I would re-name the abortion positions something like “Abortion as a Last Resort” on one side, and “Looking for Any Other Option” on the other – both accepting abortion as failure, a belief I think consistent with a national consensus, and then work toward shared objectives that could replace rigid ideological positions.

 

Perhaps the “compromise” position will include an agreement about when a new being becomes legally protected, or a requirement to explore other possibilities before coming to this unfortunate decision, or perhaps something much more creative. I believe that really patriotic Americans will create the answers, on this and other issues – once they understand their importance to the country we love.