Babies Should Not be Put in Parentheses

Let me first start by saying that I am Catholic. I know that what I am about to say might offend some people, particularly some of the Catholics I know, but I feel compelled to share my opinion about Amendment 1, which will be up for vote on election day, November 4, here in TN. In case you didn’t know, amendment 1 is an amendment to the state constitution that would allow legislators to regulate abortion. These regulations could either make it extremely difficult to get an abortion or make abortion illegal altogether, even in cases of rape and incest. If you want to know more about the details of what the consequences might be if Amendment 1 passes, click here. Before I get more into why I oppose amendment 1, I want to explain a few things. I understand why the Catholic Church is pro-life. In an ideal world, every baby who comes into the world would be born into a loving family, with parents who genuinely wanted that child. Also, in an ideal world, people would wait until they got married and were in a position where they could take care of a child. While this philosophy will work for some, it might not work for everyone. If the bishops want to defend the pro-life position, you would think that they would support contraception. If life is to be taken so seriously, at least logically, a woman should have the right to take precautions to prevent pregnancy if she doesn’t want to have a child. Besides this, what about rape and incest victims who end up getting pregnant? What about teen moms? What about situations where the life of the baby and the mother-to-be are at risk? What happens to those babies if abortion isn’t at least an option? Adoption would be a possible option for pregnant teenagers, but what about the other two cases? If a woman’s doctor determines that she is at risk of dying if she doesn’t terminate the pregnancy, should she have to settle for death? Personally, I think a woman should have the right to do what she feels is right, whether that be abortion, adoption, or keeping the child. Legislators should not get involved in it to the point where she cannot do what she feels is right, based on her circumstances. When I think of how legislators could get that involved in this issue, a few examples come to mind. Earlier this year, in Texas, a pregnant woman passed out because she had a blood clot in her lungs. When she was taken to the hospital, they put her on life support, and the doctors determined that she would be dependent on life support for the long term because her brain was permanently damaged. The family had to fight with the hospital to take her off life support because her fetus was considered to be viable, and taking her off of life support would have been considered a form of abortion, which was illegal. They eventually were able to take the hospital to court to resolve the issue, and the judge ruled that it was okay to take her off of life support because it was determined that the baby would have been born with a lot of birth defects. Can you imagine being in that position? It’s hard enough to grieve the loss of someone you love. Grieving families should not have to fight so hard just so that their loved ones can rest in peace. This could be a possible scenario if Amendment 1 passes. I just want to go on record that I will not be voting for amendment 1; I will be voting against it. I am not trying to be mean or disrespectful about it; I’m just sharing my opinion on it. I will not stand behind something that will make it impossible for a woman to make the decision that she feels is right for herself and her family, and I will not stand behind something that could potentially put babies in parentheses. I may be pro-choice, but even if I was pro-life, I don’t think I would be okay with this amendment passing and seeing an increase in babies being born to rape and incest victims or teenagers who would have gotten an abortion otherwise. Babies should not be put in parentheses because of decisions made in the legislature. This is just something to think about when deciding whether or not to vote for Amendment 1.