Sad and Frustrated

I'm a little under the weather today but it has nothing on reading this post from one of my all-time favorite bloggers. I've read Heather's site since 2003 and have reasoned through countless posts on religion (she's ex-Mormon, maybe agnostic?) and politics (very left-wing, but conscientious to her small right-wing readership) and I've always chalked up those posts to a learning experience, knowing hers is now most likely a majority perspective.

I'm really burned out from all the political posting I've read lately but I really felt angry when I read that earlier today. It's not that I believe John McCain is our nation's savior or that I think Obama is evil and out to demolish the United States' religious heritage. But for me the issue of abortion will always be a core factor in how I vote. And even more so having just recently given birth to the miracle who is hollering at the other end of the house.

I don't get it. Seriously. And I'm not going to get it. What blows my mind is that other women, surely loving mothers themselves (as I know Heather is) sincerely see abortion as a "right" that women should still have. More than anything, it is their vehemence towards the pro-life political view that continues to shock me. I can understand their despair about health care for unwanted babies (the assumption being that abortions are only performed on women who are simply too poor, too isolated from any agency that would help, damned to face possibly even death by delivering a baby!), but to peg John McCain as "pandering" and full of "contempt" because he continues to want to support the right to life - it seems twisted on their parts.

I want to be clear: I am not condemning anyone who has ever had an abortion. I have many wonderful, loving, kind-hearted friends who have gone through the act of abortion. I don't say any of this now to undermine their characters or their decisions. I do believe most of them would say the decision was one made under great duress and one that came with an unbelievable cost: grief. The one aspect from "Alexa at Flotsam" that I did understand was that abortion, for many women, is not the easy way out.

But if it were not lawful...I dunno. Someone will hate me for even saying this but if it were not lawful, perhaps millions of lives of unborn children (I believe life begins at conception) would be saved as would millions of hearts of women out there. Some people might read that as cheesy. I firmly believe there are women suffering mentally and spiritually because they have been unable to work through their grief over an abortion...sometimes due to this country's cavalier beliefs about life, about choice, and about redemption.

So, this isn't necessarily a pro-McCain post. It's merely saying out loud how tired I am of hearing many beloved women (Anne Lamott, another favorite) are pissed about McCain's stance on abortion. I just want to say something in support of that stance. No matter how liberal I might be on other subjects, this will never be one of them. And I say that as a mother of a female, who I would continue to love unconditionally should she ever choose to have an abortion.

Ugh. The only real answer for someone like me is to more fully support pro-life causes. (Financially & with time)
Pregnancy Lifeline is a clinic in Ft. Worth committed to helping women with unwanted pregnancies.
Pro-Life Action League is a non-violent protest group that aims to also educate people about abortion and the right to choose life.

And I just noticed that I've done back to back Republican posts. The cat's out, I guess.