The Abortion Debate Continues to Rage

In this area, there is nothing more important to voters than what are considered to be the "moral" issues. I'm not talking about what one would typically consider moral issues, such as feeding the poor or helping the needy. I am actually referring to issues such as the one I wish to address here, and that is abortion. Abortion still stirs surprisingly strong feelings in Virginia, and all of the Bible Belt. This would make more sense if the issue was a more transcendental respect for life, but it doesn't seem to be this at all. These same voters often approve of war, the death penalty, etc.

The negative response to abortion is understandable as life is terminated in the process. Some (such as myself) are concerned mainly about fetal pain, an issue of strong debate from both sides. It is said that before twenty weeks, the procedure causes no pain to the fetus due to its lack of spine/thalamus connection along with other factors. Others say that such pain is possible or even likely for various medical reasons that I am not particularly qualified to address. Medical opinion tends to lean toward the belief that pain is not experienced, but there is certainly room for doubt.

Others that stand against abortion (often terming themselves "pro-life") object on completely different grounds. The dominating belief for this group is that the termination of a defenseless "baby" (correctly medically termed "fetus") is sinful. One will often hear abortion equated to murder in these circles, as they view abortion as infanticide. While most are hardly as extreme as the hate groups that bomb clinics, opinions are still extremely heated. When discussing abortion rights, the conversation will often drift to God, and how abortion is a sin as they believe that all life is ordained by God. (They often cite a Biblical passage regarding God knowing individuals before birth.) However, this group is often cited as hypocritical by the opposing side, as this respect for life appears to only apply to the unborn, as referenced above.

Those that approve of abortion often do so on the grounds that the fetus is at a functionally unconscious state, so the termination of the fetus amounts to nothing more than advanced-stage birth control. They view the decision as the mother's, since the mother is ultimately the one required to raise the child. Such supporters of choice in abortion find the belief that a fetus is somehow the equivalent of a grown individual to be based in religion more than scientific fact. The argument is often related to the concept that religion should not influence the law; therefore the regulation of abortion would essentially be a legal caving to religion.

Others that support abortion rights call to attention an individual's right to privacy. Since this group does not find the act of abortion to be murder or even unethical, they believe that government interference in such a medical situation infringes on a citizen's right to privacy. In essence, these supporters of choice believe that the prohibition of abortion is actually illegal.

As can be seen, abortion is a topic that draws much heat from both sides, and in an area such as mine, it can often single-handedly sway votes. While this may be hard to comprehend to those that do not reside in a conservative religious area, it is a very unavoidable fact. Both candidates would do well not to forget this reality when forming their campaign strategies.