There are few issues as politicized as the debate over whether abortion should be legal or whether women should only be able to give birth to and keep their babies or give them up for adoption.

To be fair, it is important for a country such as ours to debate issues such as these because these are moral issues. If our Constitution does not expressly lay out a moral foundation for our law, it can be interpreted to suggest one. As such, it is important to discuss the moral issues that will make our country great or make it a poor place to live.

Ultimately, however, it becomes too easy to lose a group of people in the course of these debates: the women who are at the center of them.

For every spirited invective launched against the Roe vs. Wade decision on television, there is a woman who actually had an abortion who might feel tremendous guilt or tremendous pride over what she did. For every person who says that adoption is the only moral choice, there is another woman who can’t quite forget the child she gave up to a family she has never met. For every time someone says that keeping the baby is the only moral thing to do, there is a single mother struggling with that very decision, trying to make ends meet and working three jobs to do so, wondering if she will ever get to see her kids.

If we are to be strong, moral Americans, we must not forget these individuals. If we are to say that we do not want abortion in our country, we must make adoptions easier and figure out new ways to support single parents. If we are to say that abortion must be kept legal, we must realize that there are women who struggle every day with their decision to have an abortion and we must find ways of caring for them that do not belittle or condemn them.

Again, few things in our country are more polarizing than these subjects. No one relishes the decisions these women have to make.

Therefore, we propose that we stop overly politicizing these issues and remember that there are people at the center of them. If we cannot treat them with dignity and love, then we have lost our way.

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