As the entire world probably knows by now, given the internets are aflame with it, one of the few late-term abortion providers in the US was shot to death in church yesterday.
It’s the wrong time of month for this sort of news to hit, so I am very angry. I would be angry anyway, but my rationality is jacked down several critical notches, to the point where I can, for a few seconds, wish for poetic justice on the sort of people who condone this kind of behavior, even in their heart of hearts. Unfortunately, since poetic justice in this case would necessarily involve discovering that a much anticipated pregnancy had resulted in a fetus with no brain or fatal conjoining or a beloved wife going into fatal kidney failure or one of the other rare and terrible things that can go wrong, which frankly nobody on earth deserves, wishing such things, even briefly, is quite horrible and a failure of compassion, and so I begin to feel guilty for it almost immediately.
I could rail, but plenty of people are railing. I will link, instead, to an agonizing but important article about late-term abortion by the only sort of person who can speak with authority on it–a woman who needed one. (I suggest reading this article if you think you’re against late-term abortion categorically, or have some deluded talk-show notion that women just are wandering into a clinic in the second trimester and go "Man, this pregnancy thing is crampin’ my style." The truth is a lot different, and a lot more painful. Bring a Kleenex.)
It would be nice, because I am angry, to dismiss Christians in general for this sort of thing, since the people doing this almost always claim to be Christians doing the Lord’s work. But that would also be wrong. There are plenty of Christians who are pro-choice, and plenty more who at least aren’t hypocrites and realize that killing in the name of life is absurd.
Plus, Kevin gets much more worked up about Christians doing this shit than I do, as one himself, so I’ll leave that sort of thing to him. All I can say is that a god who would inflict such suffering on a woman like the one in the article, and then turn around and condemn her for trying to prevent the horrific suffering her child would endure, is not a god worth worshipping. It’s not a god many of my Christian friends would recognize.
It’s probably no wonder that followers of a god like that are batshit insane and shoot people.
Well. Being angry only achieves so much. There’s a lot to be said for action. I think that the best tribute–and because I have PMS, also the thing most likely to infuriate the sort of people who secretly applaud the shooting of abortion doctors while claiming to be outraged–is to continue to support the fight.
Donate to Medical Students for Choice (I know a lot of people have reseverations about PP’s methodology, so let me suggest this as an alternative.)
ETA: Okay, gang, I hate to do this, but we’ve gotten entirely too vitriolic in the comments–I haven’t been checking in on the threads (shame on me) and it appears to have gotten waaaay outta hand. So I’m closing comments on this post, much as I hate to do it, because I don’t think there’s any chance of getting to a civil resolution any more. Thanks to everybody who’s commented and been courteous so far–you’re much appreciated.
