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The abortion dance
JW VanDijken
Saturday, November 07, 2009
In the Saddleback Forum of the 2008 US presidential election, candidate Barack Obama was asked to answer the question of when a baby should get human rights. Obama chose to dodge the question, stating, "I think that whether you're looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with any kind of specificity is above my pay grade." Obama then went on to discuss how the depth of wrestling experienced by women in making their decisions ultimately is what drives him to be pro-choice.
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| JW VanDijken |
Obama's answer to this question represents what occurs in most debates on the abortion issue. The proponent of life presents arguments and biological facts to support their argument that life begins at conception; the advocate of abortion, on the other hand, will reflexively sidestep this issue, choosing to argue the matter almost entirely from the vantage point of the practical considerations of the mother. Obama's discomfort with this fundamental question not only typifies what occurs in most debates over abortion, however, but also what is experienced by millions of post-abortive people throughout the world. One wonders how millions can be called upon to answer this question with any measure of clarity when a prominent Harvard-educated presidential candidate, among many other pro-abortion apologists, has been unable to do so. In Obama's failure to provide a reassuring answer, the post-abortive person is left to engage in Obama's awkward dance around the question, rarely confronting it fully, yet never escaping it.
Obama's argument that his position is supported by the extent of the wrestling experienced by women provides little comfort also. Prior to most abortions, there are a considerable number of practical considerations that would seem to make the abortion decision the most prudent option. One could almost expect the abortion decision to be relatively easy, in light of the extent of all of these considerations. Pressures deriving from or relating to parental, romantic, and familial relationships, substance abuse, housing, infidelity, domestic violence, religion, relational instability, child behaviour issues, child care, child support, finances, physical and mental health, teen parenting, single parenting, legality, pre-natal disability, social and racial prejudice, career, and education bring themselves to bear on the decision-making process, leaving millions with no seeming alternative to abortion. Relative ease in the decision-making process cannot be found, however, as both abortion and pro-life advocates agree that a woman wants an abortion as much as an animal caught in a trap wants to chew off its own leg.
The depth of the wrestling and stress associated with the abortion decision prior to the pregnancy's termination can only be expected to continue following the abortion itself. Because of the abrupt and decisive nature of abortion, many of the practical considerations that led up to the abortion are often markedly absent following the abortion, leaving the individual in silence. Whereas once the post-abortive person had the overwhelming pressures deriving from those considerations to justify the abortion, they now only have the memories. Obama's dance in response to the question of foetal personhood becomes a perpetual dance of their own, and it is only the intensity of the post-abortive person's dance movements, becoming more fervid on occasions when the question becomes less avoidable, that can keep this question at bay.
In America, the movements of this dance can be observed when the topic of abortion rises to light in public settings. Heads drop; an awkward silence falls over the room as people gather their thoughts, wondering what will happen next. Superficial and evasive comments follow; some make an effort to change the subject. The subject remains a difficult one, even when common convictions on abortion are present. No clarity will emerge that will leave those present with a sense of closure, certainty, and completeness; instead, all are left with a sense of sadness and emptiness.
However cultivated Obama makes his dance, it cannot provide the respite that millions of people seek. In Japan and Taiwan, the void left by abortion will add a new dimension to the religious life of many common people, as they are often led to worship aborted foetal ghosts. In her book Forbidden Grief, Theresa Burke points to no fewer than 12 studies that have shown strong correlations between substance abuse and past abortions. It is no surprise, given the turmoil associated with the abortion experience, that some can only participate in Obama's dance by using substances to blunt key aspects of their being associated with memory, awareness, pain, and cognition. Forced to face the life-ending reality of abortion, all who have been party to an abortion decision are left with an unending question that will follow them for the rest of their lives: when does human life begin? The truth, with all of its attendant consequences, is profoundly difficult to bear, and no dance by the most sophisticated of politicians can undo it.
JW VanDijken is a doctorate student and a counsellor intern in the USA.
vandijken.jw@gmail.com
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