This week I am wading into dangerous waters, so here goes nothing. The argument about life and death continues to wage around us in the country as it relates to babies. On Tuesday I wrote what, for me, is the foundational issue about the debate about abortion. In the 1970s, maybe 1960s, our country took a turn that most nations never took in the ongoing debate about how different rights should be balanced when we decided that in this one arena, the right of life would move to second place behind the right of an individual’s ability to choose decisions for themselves.
However, in our current debate, at least two or three inconsistencies have popped up that I wanted to address on this day. This will be briefer, so let’s dive in.
First, let’s start with just a quick, somewhat quippy, logical fallacy on the point of the supporters of Planned Parenthood. Much of the argument, as I demonstrated yesterday, centers around the idea that no baby is actually being killed. I do think privately most abortion supporters will quietly admit it is a baby, but in the heat of the argument, most won’t. No, they say, it’s at best only cells and at worse a fetus. To that, I simply ask that if what is in the womb of the woman is not a baby, then why would anyone want the various organs?
Secondly, there is the much ignored fact of the history of Margaret Sanger. While Planned Parenthood, to its credit, has decried Sanger’s racism and wish to use abortion (or even birth control) to reduce or even eliminate the AFrican-Amerian race, the fact remains that such was part of her reasoning for the usage. Today, abortions still occur at a much higher rate among African-Americans. And yet, many in the African-American community, especially among leaders in the NAACP continue to stand in support of abortion in general, Planned Parenthood in specific. It would seem that if someone where strongly pro-X race, it would seem that they would NEVER want to see any babies of that race killed. And yet, many of those strong proponents are also pro-abortion.
The same holds true about the issue being solely about the rights of women. Just on base statistics alone, about half of the children aborted through the years are female. If we really were fighting to protect the rights of women, then at the very least groups like NOW would be marching AGAINST killing any female baby.
Lastly is the argument that somehow Planned Parenthood is mostly focused on other health issues, so we shouldn’t talk about abortion or about removing funding for them. The argument is often made that to remove Planned Parenthood would be to remove medical opportunity for women or for poor people. This would be a great argument in defense of Planned Parenthood were it true that they alone were the only, or even the main, location for medical aid for women or poor people. According to Planned Parenthood’s website, there are roughly 700 health centers around the nation. However, our tax dollars already fund health care centers—“Community Health Centers — also known as Federally Qualified Health Centers, or FQHCs — provide care regardless of your insurance status or ability to pay.” And there are 8000 of them…far more than the 700 Planned Parenthood sites.
And this set of facts doesn’t even touch on the impact of the new Health Care laws that provide access to health care nationally. Thus, if someone wants to have health care so that they can go to any doctor in their plan, they can. No one makes me have a doctor of course, but I have health care so that if I have a health issue, or there’s one for my daughters, the women in my house, I am not only beholden to Planned Parenthood or the Community Health Centers. I can go anywhere that my new health care that I got via the new health care law provides.
Having enough places for health care for all people, including poorer people, is super. If we need 8,700 places, then fine. But the argument that we need Planned Parenthood sites for general women’s health issues…that if we didn’t have them women would suffer is a false idea. The Community Health Centers do all of the same services, including those for women, as Planned Parenthood….except for giving abortions. I called both types of centers here in Central Florida and asked about services. If anything, the Community Health Centers offered more services in the health field.
Again, the point is not that Planned Parenthood doesn’t do some good. I am sure they do. From breast examinations to pap smears and yes, to helping women get on birth control, those are good things done in the name of good health. However, that good cannot hide the aspect of the death that occurs at those centers too. I mean, if Planned Parenthood would cease all abortions and then wanted to keep serving the poor and women, I would be happy to support them. Yet, about 1/3rd of all abortions (based on statistics of overall abortions and Planned Parenthood’s reporting of abortion services they performed) happen at Planned Parenthood. They are the single largest supplier of the service. I don’t want any abortions performed, but at the very least, my tax dollars should not be used for such an activity.
Well, these three logical inconsistencies won’t change most people’s minds. I’ve perhaps not even presented them as well as I wished. As I wrote on Tuesday, the issue is really a deeper philosophical one. Rather than actually admit a baby is being killed and that we, as a culture, have a problem with a culture of death, many (including good friends of mine, who are good, nice people) want to talk only about defending a philosophical right. This desire is so strong that when the logic of these issues emerge, they banish it in order to protect the thing they wish to protect more. It is all very sad, to be frank.
It’s like a madness has taken over the minds of many to the point where they simply can’t see it. Hmm…sounds a lot like what God said in Romans 1….that if pressed, He would give them over to their desires and as such their minds would lose logical ability. Up becomes down, left becomes right….”their thinking became futile.”