04 November 1999
Abortion - THE COMMENTARY
By Joseph Planta
I happen to be a Catholic. I’m not a hard-core Christian where I live and accept everything that’s crammed down my throat, by the powers that be. In the Catholic faith there are a number of rites of passage, where one has to go through to be considered a “full Catholic”, a “full Christian”. I have wrestled with the fact of whether to go through with the last step, and I’ve stalled. For me, confirmation has not been in the cards. A while ago it was mainly for other reasons, but in the last couple of years it’s been my decision. I’m challenged by the fact that the Christian faith is so much more interested in building and playing with guilt to achieve faithful followers.
One of the issues that the church seems to get all caught up in is abortion. The church is against that practice, saying it kills unborn children. The church then goes on to flaunt it’s beliefs publicly.
I have nothing against the church, I go to mass every week, and if I had something against them I wouldn’t dare go. Firstly, with the fact they are killing “unborn children”, they may. I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on television, so I wouldn’t be able to tell you if the aborted fetuses are technically children. I have nothing against the church protesting against abortion. They, like myself are entitled to do whatever the hell we want to do. But, I have a little problem when these pro-lifers tend to get out of hand and start shooting abortion doctors.
I also have a problem with the fact that some of these psychologists saying abortion lowers the crime rate. Nothing sounds more silly or preposterous. That’s a piece of utter hogwash that stinks, frankly.
So here in this column, I will state my position on this delicate matter. Abortion, should be made available, by all means to everyone especially those who run the risk of risking their own lives, go ahead. I also think to everyone else, abortion should be available in society. From teen moms, to the discretionary missteps of adults, abortion should be an availible choice in society. To have the choice is most democratic. And for democracy, am I.
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