The Forgotten Child - The Making of Women into Men

The history of abortion is described usually in terms of the need of a woman to deal with an unwanted pregnancy through its termination. Prior to the late 20th century in which procedures  for terminating an abortion were developed to significantly reduce the risk to the woman of serious medical complications or death, the risk was great and we hear of "back alley abortions" where the person performing the abortion had little experience in performing such a surgery.

In the early part of the 20th century advocates for birth control arose because of the fear of over population. Hospitals were developing policies of general cleanliness and sterilization of instruments used in surgery. New medications to control diseases and infections were produced. The death rates of women giving birth and their babies were declining as a result.

Birth control, using contraceptives like the condom, the IUD, and the "pill", was widely preached to counter the rise in birth rates.   Since the use of contraceptives  many times resulted in a pregnancy in spite of their use, abortion was suggested to terminate unwanted pregnancies that were the result of contraceptive failure.

However, many states had laws against contraception and all states had laws against abortion. Supreme Court decisions declared all such laws unconstitutional.  Abortion became legal "on demand"

Concurrently with the growth of the legalization of abortion was the feminist movement which promoted equal rights for women that matched men in wages, jobs, education and just about anything a man did or had; in other words men and women were equal in every respect.

In terms of abortion, the ultimate in the feminist movement was to look upon abortion as the equalizer with men.  No longer could men say they could have any amount of sex without  having to worry about having a baby; now women could have as much sex as men without having a baby since the pill and abortion would take care of any "problems".  There are some women who have multiple abortions in their quest to be as free as men.

Thus today ardent feminists see abortion as the ultimate gift to womanhood in making men and women truly equal.  Thus women have been made into Men.  This is a feminist perspective that, fortunately, is not held by most women.  But this feminist ideal has made too many women take risks they otherwise would not take were this attitude not linger in their minds should they take risks.  It is surprising that many women become single moms rather than abort their child.

But there is a darker side to the evolution of abortion in America and this will be the next topic on The Forgotten Child.

The Forgotten Child - My perspective

Looking back on my life I cannot recall a single instance of not thinking of a human baby as anything but lovable; never have I felt that a human baby or child was in some way worthless and should be disposed of. Historical accounts of ancient Greeks disposing of an unwanted child by abandonment to the elements, the massacre of the holy innocents by Herod because he wanted to kill the Christ child, astound me that such little value is put on an innocent child. The massacre of so many little children at a school in Connecticut so recently, disturbs me and makes me wonder at the depravity of a person doing such a thing.

The tragedy of abortion was present in the United States even before the supreme court decision in Roe V Wade in 1973. But the number of these abortions were few in comparison with the number of abortions that followed this Supreme Court decision. It is sad that abortion is taken by many to be the only solution to the problem of a pregnancy that is undesirable for a host of reasons.  There has to be a better way of coping with this problem which can only be found with better understanding of the true value of womanhood and the gift of childhood.

The abuse and killing of animals causes many, including myself, to feel so sad and yet many of such people cannot bring themselves to understand that the killing of a child in the womb should likewise bring great sadness. Maybe my experience of attending Catholic schools where we were taught that human beings are created in the likeness and image of God Himself who is perfect love and loves all His creatures had the effect of my wanting to love all of God's creatures;  however many of my fellow Catholics have not had the same feeling.

In 1984 I was given the opportunity to lead an organization in my home in Hawaii, Hawaii Right To Life. This gave me an opportunity to speak out for the right to life of the unborn in speeches, interviews, and in testimony in the state legislature. We were not able to get bills through the legislature that would somehow minimize abortion so we counted on trying to educate people to honor the life of a child in or out of the womb and in this way we were able to do some good. We were more successful in defeating bills that were geared towards ending the life of people who were old and sick. We were able to stop issues  such as assisted suicide, which happens to be coming up again this session in the legislature.

My experience in the Right to Life movement has led me to realize that it is not enough to just embark on a legislative program to overturn laws and policy that allow abortion but to first understand what has made the Abortion Lobby so influential in convincing women to resort to abortion in the first place; and to change the approach to eliminating abortion by making abortion far less of a necessary choice for women than it now is.  Through education, alternative problem solving and caring about the lives of women who have a "problem pregnancy" must precede legislation whose purpose is to successfully eliminate policy and legislation allowing for unbridled "free choice".

Next I would like to address how to deal with the connection between abortion and feminism.

IS SARAH PALIN FINISHED?

Yesterday I encountered a post on Yahoo which addressed a separation with Fox News and Sarah Palin as a paid contributor. This post gave a rather bleak appraisal of Sarah Palin's future in contrast to the substantial contribution she has made to bring new conservative candidates into the Republican Party.

She had run as vice president with John McCain who had picked her, a very successful Alaska Governor who fought Democrats and Republicans alike who fostered schemes to increase their power and wealth rather than help the people of Alaska. She won her battles, making government work for the people; her favorable ratings near 90% testified to her popularity.

Unfortunately there were influential leaders in the Republican Party who did not give her their 100% support and clearly criticized her; these were the same kinds of politicians she battled in Alaska. She espoused a need to reform and even eliminate many of the institutions that were handing too much control to an ever increasing size and power of the Federal government.   There was too much money, taxpayer money, that was going to the EPA, the Education Department, the Energy Department and all kinds of bureaucratic agencies which increase the power of the government by diminishing the power given to ordinary citizens through the Constitution.

Unfortunately the 2008 election brought to the presidency Barack Obama who called for change but in his various speeches during the campaign did not really explain what he meant by change. It was clear to conservatives that he wanted to create what seemed to be a socialist state, a goal in total opposition to what Sarah Palin believed.

After the election she returned to Alaska and took up her job as governor. But politicians on the left feared her and hated her with a vengeance heretofore never seen in the history of American politics. She was not attacked on the basis of her political beliefs; because the left doesn't work that way. The left, through lies, distortions, and attacks on the personal character of the person can literally destroy their enemies; it is the method used by any tyrannical regime. It was a method used by the Communists, and the Nazis.

These leftists even assaulted her womanhood in the most vicious terms and even her family members were reviled in the same way. So thorough was this character assassination that even though many wanted Sarah to run for president in the 2012 election it was not possible. Even those same Republican leaders who attacked her in the 2008 election were there to make sure she didn't run for president in the 2012 election.

I was hoping to hear some good news that she was not quitting her fight against those who are trying to destroy America and sure enough, I spotted an article written by her for Breitbart News (link) declaring "We have not yet begun to fight" the famous quote of John Paul Jones:

On September 23, 1779, Jones fought one of the bloodiest engagements in naval history.(link) Jones struggled with the 44-gun Royal Navy frigate Serapis, and although his own vessel was burning and sinking, Jones would not accept the British demand for surrender, replying, “I have not yet begun to fight.” More than three hours later, Serapis surrendered and Jones took command.

This statement of Sarah Palin's could not be more appropriate. She, like Jones has been hammered mercilessly, unjustly to a point where, were she to give up, no one could blame her; but also like Jones she will not give up; she will do everything to save her nation, America, just as Jones fought tooth and nail even though his ship had been pummeled by Serapis and was near sinking - he eventually won against all odds!.

Go get 'em girl!

The Forgotten Child

Woman was made for love.   The first woman was created by God to be a helper for the first man God created. Through the ages one woman and one man would unite as one through the union created by God we now call marriage. The very being of a woman was to help her husband in accomplishing his tasks of providing a home, food and the necessary provisions for making their lives together fruitful. She accomplished this through a deep-seated love that is the very nature of a woman.  When a child was born to them, the woman nurtured and looked after their child with a special love that only a woman can provide. She would protect her child with every fiber of her being. The husband would provide the overall safety for his family with a devotion and commitment that is part of a man's nature.

Such a family as described above is in conformity with God's plan. But through time men and women demonstrated their frailties and always following God's plan became difficult. Such was the condition of weakness men and women inherited from the disobedience to God of their original parents. But with God's promised help and assistance through His grace many married couples were able to raise families that benefited from the wife and the husband carrying out their natural inclinations of love instilled by the Creator.

However, the history of mankind is replete with instances of disobedience of men and women refusing to adhere to the natural love instincts instilled in them. One of the most abhorrent failings in both men and women is to not provide the love that is needed to bring a child given them by God to full maturity and personhood. There are many reasons given for the very destruction of a child by a husband and wife through abortion or infanticide.

In ancient civilizations, if parents did not want a newborn child, particularly a female child,  the child would be left out in the open on some abandoned spot, with no clothing, no care and no sustenance, with the intention of allowing the child to die through exposure.  This kind of infanticide, by first allowing the child to come to full term in the womb of the mother, was chosen so that sex selection could be used to save or dispose of the child.  Terminating the life of the child in the womb, or abortion, was certainly used but was undoubtedly so crude that the risk to the life of the mother had to be considered.

In our modern times of the late 20th and early 21st centuries infanticide is rare in comparison to abortion because of the various techniques used to terminate the life of the child in the womb with little risk to the life of the mother.  So abortion, all over the world, is relatively common. In the last 40 years, more than 55 million abortions have taken place in the United States.

Abortion is evil because it terminates the life of a child within the womb any time during the 9 months of pregnancy of a woman.  Among evils in this world it stands as the number one evil because of the taking of the child's life through the absolute disregard for the natural inclination of a woman to love and nurture her child. The child becomes a forgotten child and the consequences to not only the woman, the abortionist and the man who fathered the child, but to the whole of society is grievous;  although these consequences are largely not recognized, acknowledged nor discussed.

It is my intention, in future posts, to endeavor to foster a discussion about this evil without judging those persons involved in the process of abortion.  There are many aspects of the abortion problem that need to be open to discussion before better understanding can lead to a remedy of this serious societal tragedy.

Some Thoughts on Martin Luther King Jr Day

Yesterday, January 21, 2013, was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday. At the same time it was also the day scheduled for the second inaugural of president Obama, the first black president. The inaugural overshadowed the celebration of the life and ideals of Martin Luther King Jr.  In spite of similarities professed at the inaugural between the goals of President Obama and those of Martin Luther King, there could not be a greater difference, not only in their goals, but also in the character and ideals of these two men.

Martin Luther King loved America and its Constitution. But in spite of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation one hundred years before, the former Negro slaves and their descendants had not been allowed full enjoyment of their rights guaranteed by the Constitution. King realized that his people needed to work hard to bring the black man into American society as a full citizen with all the rights and benefits guaranteed by the Constitution.  In addition King realized that black people must rise up and demand their rightful share in the blessings of America, but as he made clear in his famous “I have a dream” speech given in front of the Lincoln Memorial, August 1963, he did not advocate violence and he did not advocate the destruction of American institutions and Ideals.

President Barack Obama, on the other hand, made it very clear in his campaign of 2008 for the presidency that he intended to transform America into something different. Fundamental “change” of America was called for.  He had spent many years as an active member of a church whose pastor, Jeremiah Wright, had once stated during a sermon that he would not say “God bless America” but rather “God damn America”. This pastor preached that the problems of racial discrimination in America were the fault of its institutions and principles, so that racial inequality could only be brought about by fundamentally changing America.

These ideas influenced President Obama to believe in the necessity of fundamentally changing America. John Dickerson, CBS political director, wrote a scathing article yesterday encouraging president Obama to "go for the throat" and destroy the Republican Party as the only way to bring about the fundamental changes president Obama espouses. The president, in his second inaugural speech, failed to mention the need for job creation to put back to work millions of jobless. He has other things in mind. Many believe that it is his goal to change America into a socialist or Marxist state.

Take a look at the video below to see that Martin Luther King Jr. had ideals necessary to bring black people into American society, but in the 50 years following Martin Luther King's famous speech, the Democratic Party has prepared the way for president Obama to implement his plan to create an all powerful government in which no longer will the American people have God-given rights safeguarded by the Constitution; instead they will be given rights by an all-powerful government to ensure their compliance at the cost of individual freedom and opportunity.