Roe v. Wade, 37 Years and Counting

Yesterday was the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the monumental Supreme court decision which legalized abortion. While pro-choice proponents generally do not acknowledge the day, barring a few “Honk and Wave” events outside Planned Parenthood clinics.

Anti-abortion groups tend to acknowledge it with more regularity. They tend to mark the day with a remembrance of some sort, a candlelight vigil, a few extra nut-jobs outside the local woman’s clinic, prayer services for those who were aborted, that sort of thing.

Roe v. Wade, which was passed on January 21, 1973, has been in effect for thirty seven (37) years now. The legislation states that a woman may have an abortion

for any reason up until the “point at which the fetus becomes ‘viable,’” defining viability as the potential "to live outside the mother's womb, albeit with artificial aid."

Anti-abortion activists are becoming more and more prevalent in our society, partially due to the inflammatory rantings of several right wing pundits, as well as their savior, Sarah “I Quit to Save Alaska” Palin. I am hesitant to call these groups “Pro-Life”, as the only life they seem to hold dear is that of the unborn. They seem to think it’s fine and dandy to murder the already living in bombings, shootings, war, capital punishment, etc...But let just one of them think about the possible abortion of a cluster of cells and they’re off and running for their C-4 and shotguns.

Since I have explained my views on the “Pro-Life” contingent, I should do the same for the “Pro-Choice” proponents. Let me say this loud and abundantly clear. People who support a woman’s right to an extremely personal, and yes, difficult decision, are in no way “Pro-Abortion”. No one on the planet is “Pro-Abortion”. If there were any other option, that should be explored, including adoption, but that is not always a viable option either. What Pro-Choice believers believe is, in a nut shell, is that the decision to have an abortion is a personal one. Not one you, I or anyone else has the right to make. The choice to abort or not should be the inaliable right of the woman who is pregnant, no one else. Not her parents, her church, her partner, or a bunch of screaming morons standing outside a clinic.

I have yet to meet a “Pro-Lifer” who has in fact adopted an unwanted child, or taken in a pregnant woman to give her the support and attention she could not get elsewhere.

A 2009 Gallup poll indicates that 51 percent of Americans consider themselves Pro-Life. while 42 percent consider themselves Pro-choice, according to Gallup's May 2009 survey. When Gallup first began asking the abortion question in 1995, only 33 percent called themselves Pro-life.