Pain capability: not just for the unborn

The whole Catholic internet wants to talk about abortion again.

This time, you see, the politicians decided to put up a bill which they knew wouldn't pass. Why would they do that? I make a terrible cynic, being hopelessly optimistic and naive, as I'm told. But I don't think this one is confusing. I think the powers that be are perfectly aware that the CLE people, the New Wave Feminists, etc., are moving and shaking. You don't have to be a republican to oppose abortion. You don't have to vote Republican if you are Republican. Decades of lies and impotence. Can you? Will you? Can you? Will you? Can you? Will you? The Republicans have control. They've thrown a few tokens to the anti-abortion base, but they haven't made it a priority. In fact, the Planned Parenthood thing? They have not tried even once to defund. That was such a loud issue in these circles! Where are they now? How many times has it come to vote?

They need to make sure that all these dependable voters stay in the boat. Even seeing that the captain is crazy and there are storms ahead. How do you keep them in? Abortion. A little louder: PAIN CAPABLE LATE TERM ABORTION. Ha. Try to wiggle out now!

Let's talk about what we're talking about, not the politics of it. Late term abortion is easier to despise. People who are uncomfortable pitting female autonomy against that mulberry-looking thing which you can't see at all without a microscope? People who can't bring themselves to value the life of an unidentifiable blob, not yet capable of sentience, never mind pain? Those people might well oppose the unnecessary extraction and death of a fragile but very clearly human child. With reflexes- like the newborn thing where they grab your finger? Flinching? Responding to music. Recognizing voices. Somewhere along the line the mulberry becomes a baby. Everyone thinks so. The difficulty is trying to decide when.

Those of us who oppose all abortion are pretty sure there is no magic line. The beginning is the beginning. Development happens with all kinds of exciting milestones, but we insist that a person's value is not in any of these milestones. Moving? Thinking? Dancing? Being cute? All fascinating. None imbue essential value. The value is in the person, unique and ever changing. Race. Ability. Gender. Age. All important, but the value is in the person. Right from the beginning. And the beginning is conception.

But this other view, it's not hard to grasp, right? Somewhere along the line, a lump of cells with enormous potential is realized in actuality. And while we can't easily point to a precise moment, we can get a pretty good picture. Like calculus? Converging infinity to a limit? Is that a useful image or just a distraction?

The point is this: Late term abortion, though only a very small percentage of abortions, finds vast sympathetic opposition where abortion generally cannot. That makes it very powerful political weaponry.

Who could possibly oppose banning pain-capable abortion? Why wouldn't the thing pass?

Eugenics. That has to be on the list. The simple fact is that some people think that babies who are other than "perfect" (don't get me started) shouldn't be born. I've got nothing to say for them. No defense. I've tried. They should shut up. Or, better, say what they mean and be denounced for their ableism.

Is that it? I read four articles on the subject yesterday. Two from each perspective. I followed the links to what actual people were saying, not just the reporting.

Some very reasonable people were concerned about exemptions. What if the mother's life was on the line? Shouldn't that choice be hers? What if the baby could not survive outside the womb? They said that the bill did not have sufficient exemptions.

Some read stories from women explaining their choice. These are heart-rending, if you've never read them.

Some rejected the basis. Abortion being the hot political topic that it is, there's a good deal of conflicted science. If you're not a scientist or doctor, who do you believe and how to you evaluate? According to pro-choice doctors, the neural network required to experience pain simply doesn't exist yet. That is, this pain capable ban? It's banning abortion far too early for pain capability.

Some pointed to numbers. Did you know, for instance, that restrictions in Texas caused clinics to close and wait times to increase. Your average anti-abortion activist might cheer for that, but wait! There's more! Because of the wait times, late term abortion went up. I'd have to look to know if abortion overall went down, but this harder, scarier, riskier, and less socially acceptable procedure? It went up.

I'm troubled by the primary focus on political solutions here. Abortion opponents, among whom I count myself, stand to do a lot of harm. Right now there are, popularly circulating, lists of senators who voted the ban down. Catholics are calling for Catholic senators named to be refused communion. Bishops who won't issue blanket condemnation are receiving accusations of weakness and much worse.

Worse, every time this comes up, there's this delightful rhetoric. Murderers. Mothers of dead babies- spoken with spite not sympathy. Doctor death. Etc..

We're talking about a very small percentage. I don't recall the numbers, but it isn't huge. That makes anecdote powerful. Did you read the story about the woman who wanted a baby and thrilled when she found she was pregnant? She did everything right. The early testing showed some abnormalities, but she didn't care. She was not going to love her child less for having disabilities. Now, monitored more closely, the doctors got more concerned. When the organs developed they saw: this wasn't something surgery could fix. This child was going to die and the only question was how much pain? Heartbroken, the mother decided that termination was the right thing. She said that carrying the child to term just so she could have a clear conscience would be putting herself ahead of her child. Disagree, if you like, but hear her. She, like every good mother, put her child ahead of herself. Her abortion would have been banned by this law, had it passed. She named her baby. She was devasted. Now, she is called a murderer. Did you hear about her? I guarantee the senators did. And all the pro-choice advocates did.

I think, more than nuance, I'm disgusted by the lack of empathy. Who is having these late term abortions? Why? Let's work harder to see people. Hear them. Empathize and help. More love. Less judgement. Maybe those senators voted down the ban because they secretly love abortion. But maybe it's more likely that they believe what they are saying. That they find the ban to be political gamesmanship which will hurt more than it helps.

I promise, you can oppose abortion without name-calling, demonization, and lies.