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May 29, 2006 There has been a fair amount of clamor stemming from the election-year social issue stink that all politicians feel they must raise about the issue of abortion. Radicals speak the loudest, but the moderates - measured people like Bob Casey, who is set to unseat Sen. Rick Santorum in Pennsylvania, often have the most interesting things to say. Many people have made careers out of the fight over whether the Constitution protects a woman s right to have an abortion. It has become the focus of elections, incited domestic terrorism and driven some to abhorrent extremes of hate and bigotry. For the remainder of this column, let's ignore everything that has been said before. We're going to try and make the rubber band extend. The most pro-life thing any American could want doesn t end at the battle for the unborn. A political atmosphere as we have now, regardless of the arbitrary labels of life or choice, hardly inspires a Culture of Life, the new buzzword in the political lexicon. How can politicians who cut education spending - especially state governors who hack-and-slash kindergarten funding and job training programs for those with college not in their future - propose to support this Culture of Life? Once a child has been brought into this world, is it not the antithesis of being pro-life to cut the educational feet out from under that child? Does denying American children the skills they need to compete in an international marketplace give them any benefit in life? If Americans really want to promote a Culture of Life, there is a way that allows both pro-choice and pro-life advocates to come together: making sure every life counts. This means more than extolling the virtues of whatever position sits well in the polls; it takes a concerted effort to make the commitment to the Culture of Life. If governments both state and national begin funding low-income education and job-training programs at a fair level, we can work together to reduce the amount of unwanted pregnancies in the economic bracket most at risk: the poor. As so many studies have shown, the more education a person has, the less likely they are to be faced with unwanted pregnancies. Not only that, they will have options greater than ever before: better employment, college, the pursuit of happiness unhindered by the shackles of poverty or lack of education. At the same time we are lowering the chances of unwanted births, we can be providing a second chance to the most unfortunate Americans, and allowing them the chance to become productive, contributing members of society. More than all of that, we are providing an essential that seems to have been lost in this partisan system: Hope. Both sides can work together to lower unwanted pregnancy rates significantly without demonizing the opposing side and putting innocent, suffering women in the crossfire. If a woman at risk for an unwanted pregnancy has a job and an education instead of a life weighed down by the cycle of poverty, perhaps she can contribute something to America that might otherwise have been overlooked. Whether pro-choice or pro-life, it must be seen that the abortion is neither the beginning nor the end of the problem. Someone had to get pregnant for the abortion to be performed. If we focus on treating the problem, rising unwanted pregnancy rates, instead of the end result, abortions, we might be able to make some serious progress towards a day when it doesn t matter whether an abortion is legal or not: no one will need them. It may seem overly idealistic, but perhaps that is just what America needs back in its fat-and-happy politicians on both sides of the aisle. Perhaps this apathy towards ideas can be remedied with a little bit of idealism and a new definition of what it means to support a Culture of Life that is not decided by political affiliation. That is what this debate should be about: Aiming for the day when no one needs an abortion anymore. ------------ About the author: Max Burns is a 19-year-old moderate Democrat from Indianapolis. He has been moved from the Hoosier Heartland to the moral void that is Washington D.C. to study Government & International Politics at George Mason University. He is also the author of the fantasy novel Alcardia. Email: mburns6@gmu.edu Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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