I get it. Abortion is a terrible choice to make. In a perfect world no woman would ever have to choose to terminate her pregnancy. But the world we live in is far from perfect. Supporting life is a long term commitment, as those of us who have children know. Once that child is born the next 18+ years of our lives are devoted to putting that life ahead of our own every hour of every day. It's not easy to do, but we do it.
So - as you are a self-appointed defender of the 1.2 million fetus' that never make it into our world - I expect you to make the same commitment to those children. I expect that you will do everything possible to make sure that those lives are protected and defended into adulthood. As such, here is a list of what it would take for you to make that promise with sincerity.
1. Make sure every woman has access to pre-natal health care.
2. Make sure that every woman has access to maternity care.
3. Provide adequate maternity leave for both parents.
4. Provide programs that educate parents on child rearing, including nutrition, discipline, nurturance, etc.
5. Provide childcare assistance when the mother has to return to work.
6. Provide reliable pre-K and after-school programs for the child so that the mother can continue to work.
7. Provide financial support for the family when un-employment or under-employment do not allow for adequate and healthy conditions for the child.
8. Remove the time limits from the SNAP program.
9. Ensure that our education system is strong enough to support the success of each and every child.
10. Ensure that parents have adequate sick leave to care for children when they are ill, as well as to care for themselves when they are sick.
Now, since we assume that the optimal situation would be for there to be no need for abortions to begin with, and we assume that we all live in the real world where sex happens regardless of whether or not we think its a good idea and we know that even married couples struggle with an extra mouth to feed, you will also need to:
1. Provide accurate, age appropriate information in sex education classes and health classes.
2. Make sure that everyone has access to birth control without stigma.
3. Provide a safe and compassionate foster care system.
4. establish a consistent system of laws for adoption making it easier and safer for childless couples to adopt a child.
5. De-stigmatize "giving up a child for adoption".
6. Make adoption arrangements more flexible for the well-being of the child, adoptive parents and biological parents.
Finally, given that 1.2 million more people per year will be entering our country as helpless infants:
1. Make sure that our infrastructure can handle the population expansion which will, of course, increase as those babies begin having babies of their own.
Once all of that is in place, we can again have the discussion about your devotion to the life of each and every child conceived here in the U.S. and across the globe. Once all of that is in place, then you will have the moral foundation to expound on your passionate belief in the sanctity of life.
Until then,
Wishing you the best,
Cindy
(a defender of people without umbilical cords)