A Close CAll?

The new anti-abortion law in South Dakota is getting a lot of press and the speculation about a run to have the Roe vs. Wade decision of 1973 overturned...

Wait a minute... 1973? It dawns on me tonight that my very existence is more closely tied to this thing than I have yet realized. Somewhere in February of 1971 a woman was having a baby boy somewhere in Deleware. This happened prior to the Roe vs. Wade decision that made abortions legal in the U.S. For whatever reasons, this woman (and the father, I like to imagine) had decided to give up her baby... for adoption. About an hour away another young couple, unable to have children of their own, were beginning to look into adoption.

This portion of my life, is understandably blurry... or perhaps lost. I was born, moved to a couple of foster homes and in April my soon-to-be-parents were notified that I was in need of a loving family. My dad tells me that the notice of my arrival was short. There was a general scramble to prepare for me. But I managed to arrive safe and sound and the rest is history. Within two years of my birth, my biological parents "options" would be broadened considerably. I have elected to learn nothing about those two people so, I do not know under what circumstances I was "given up." It is very likely that, had the option existed a few years earlier, I would not be sitting here typing this post as my beautiful baby boy sleeps soundly in the next room.

Its an odd sensation. A few minutes ago, I simply assumed with some amount of abstract pride that my biological parents possessed an honorable respect for innocent, human life and a sense of responsibility for their actions. Two things I have tried to cultivate in myself based on the example that I believed gave me life. I'm not saying that I no longer believe this... My mind is simply set spinning by the realization that my precarious existence pre-dates legalized abortion. There was no choice. This adds a deep new wrinkle to my feelings about abortion and its legality.

Abortion is a "hot-button" issue in the U.S. People have strong opinions about it. Usually, their opinions are pretty one dimensional. It comes down to a woman's right to control her body or whether murdering babies ought to be legal. This kind of thinking is pretty pathetic. The abortion issue is not a black or white decision. Many of my friends like to assert their belief that abortion should be 100% legal and there is no other option that is morally acceptable in a free society.

To those of you who like to think you are taking the enlightened path with that, try to remember how close Kell came to being aborted... long before Kell would be able to defend Kell's right to exist like this... Maybe these arguments aren't as black and white as the activists like to pretend?