Justin Goetz

On abortion, everyone beyond the talking heads knows that the left and the right are both trying to achieve the same ends-making abortion as rare as possible. It is how we get there where we fundamentally differ.

First, those of us who know women who have had abortions know that no law can stop it from happening. Why? Look back at the precedent that spawned Roe v. Wade and abortion’s legalization in much of America throughout the 18th and 19th century-our lawgivers knew we could not stop a decision that was plainly made in the bedroom.

Look at HB 1215-it targets the doctors making the procedure safe, and not the women who make the choice. This selectivity stems from society’s inability to practically intervene-unless government monitors all our bedrooms. Laws can’t stop it. The world, instead, has the answer-lowest abortion rates are in Western Europe (not the U.S.) where legalized abortion and the best education/greatest availability of contraceptives can be had; highest abortion rates are found predominantly in Africa and Latin America, where many countries have draconically banned the practice, and education for both men and women is low and sectarian-biased. Realizing this, the left advocates for open sex education-abstinence as the safest bet, but other forms of contraception as well-so that both men and women know of the consequences and know to be responsible.

For some of us who love life, we know that as complex as it is, one cannot be a proponent of it in such shallow terms as using the “pro-life” moniker for political gain, especially in balancing the life interests of mother and fetus. Sure, it’s morally easy. But, life is all-encompassing. Which is why-on the death penalty, the poor, health care, preemptive war and abortion-I believe the left is truly pro-life.

#1.884029:1661942133.jpg:Goetz, Justin.jpg:Justin Goetz, From the Left: