The Fundamental Question

What? You’re going to write about abortion?

If you flee this article or take a pass I’ll understand. What’s to write? Everyone has already heard everything that has been said about the issue. Maybe everything that can be said.

If anyone hears a new argument from either side about abortion that they have never heard before, please let me know. No worries about the length of this missive, the question is fundamental and short even if the issue seems complicated and long.

I have tried my best to avoid writing about the abortion battle. But when I see so much haze and so little light I feel compelled to turn on the fan. When the room clears you can ponder the question if you want to, or dare to.

I’m not the first and won’t be the last to raise this question. Almost everyone knows the question already.

It’s merely this: When does life begin?

When asked that question, a past President of the US once infamously answered “That’s above my pay grade.” A non answer. He didn’t bother to tell us what he thought about it even though he had certainly thought about it many times. That alone would put almost anything important “above his pay grade.”

I’ll tell you what my opinion is even if he wouldn’t. But it’s my opinion about the question, not the answer to the question.

If an unborn child is only a glob of tissue, part of the mother, then I couldn’t give a fig if you cut it out. Although I don’t recommend it, you can cut off your finger or toe and throw it away. Or throw it at the Supreme Court Building if you want. Those actions don’t violate anyone’s rights, much less mine.

So the question, “When does life begin?” is the only one that matters. The only one. All the rest is haze. I leave you to discover the answer. If you haven’t already I urge you to think long and hard about it. Not about what you want the answer to be, but what your real conclusion is.

Any other considerations come after that is answered. Solomon-esque decisions about choosing between two different lives will have to be addressed after the answer to the first question is answered.

The issue is complicated in many ways and it’s two hundred years old. (1821, Connecticut) But the question is fundamental and nothing else matters until it is answered.

That’s my opinion. Others may differ.