Abortion & Bankruptcy

Social conservatism got the GOP to where it is today, that is largely out of power, bereft of a meaningful future, and generally viewed as ignorant theocratic misogynistic douchebags. A political party that holds to an ethos of pre-enlightenment morality, collectivist notions of civil liberties, and callousness regarding human suffering cannot prevail in the world of tomorrow. There is, however, nuance in the field of abortion. While I support abortion being legal, I find some fundamental problems with how it is popularly viewed. To that end, I have come up with a useful analogy, which I will explain presently.

A few centuries ago, those with debts they could not pay ended up in debtor's prison. This was eventually concluded to be unjust, around the time of the American Revolution, if I recall the class I learned about this during. So the modern world still has bankruptcy. This does not mean that bankruptcy is not to be avoided by all means, that it is not a terrible highly personal event in the lives of those who seek it, or that it cannot be abused, the latter occurrence of which can and has meant regulation of it where appropriate. Similarly, when abortion was illegal, coat hangers and back alley abortionists did their damage, while those who got caught faced criminal correction. So Roe V. Wade's conclusion about medical privacy, while sound in its own right regarding medical privacy, did not actually address abortion per se. Therefore, it must be meaningfully addressed but can only be done so partially by legislation. Regulation of abortion is okay, just as regulation of bankruptcy is okay, and just as regulation of firearms is okay, despite a Constitutional Amendment. Whether Constitutional Amendment or Supreme Court decision, these freedoms are subject to appropriate regulation. What constitutes appropriate regulation, whether that be partial birth abortion or student loan exemption from bankruptcy, is always necessarily open to vigorous debate.

The final thing I think needs to change in the thought about abortion is that it must be thought of as bankruptcy. There is a certain shame and stigma about taking bankruptcy. It's not very strong or anything in law, but it is rather recognized as indicating one has screwed up. Some who enter bankruptcy cannot avoid it, and anything without consent would be analogous in abortion. In these cases there ought not be shame or stigma. Modern birth control technology means the vast majority of abortions need not have occurred. Within the grasp of modern civilization is the ability to eliminate the need for abortion almost entirely, yet we do not see this. We do not see this because one side is concerned with discouraging what they perceive as a moral evil and the other doesn't see abortion as a problem to begin with. However, morality has little to do with it and it is a problem. Let's view it as a problem to be solved and do so with contraception, education, and greater access to both for as many people, especially women, as possible. When complete control of their own reproduction is within the reach of every individual, both sides can down the signs, end the tiresome arguments, and recognize the beauty of every child being wanted and women everywhere, finally, being free of the demands of nature and government.

-Frank