Friday, January 24, 1986
Daily Nebraskan
Page 5
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MEMOffiL
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in
nts-abortion arqurnenfs abound
sv Rogers' neighborhoo
It's so easy for some people to pass
off their ideas as self-righteous.
This is exactly what Jim Rogers did
in his Jan. 22 editorial column and I
stress editorial. Rogers took it upon
himself to tell people who believe dif
ferently that their views are morally
and logically wrong.
Not everyone will decide to have an
abortion. For many women it is a trau
matic event, not morally wrong, to ter
minate their pregnancy. They have
trouble coping with it. Others will have
no grievance after an abortion. Last,
but not least, are those people who find
abortion morally wrong.
Guest opinion
Everything considered, I think it's
cool that so many people have varying
opinions. This is America! Living in the
United States means that you have a
constitutional right to believe as you
want, i.e. freedom of speech and free
dom of the press. These freedoms have
been violated too many times. If we
don't speak up, our rights may be gone
and it would be too late to retrieve
them.
Rogers based his reasonings for his
last six arguments on his first argu
ment, where he states his personal
opposition to abortion. Let us look at
his seven arguments.
1. There are about as many views on
when the fetus becomes life as there
are on the morality of abortion.
Some people consider the time of
conception as life. Others believe that
life occurs when the embryo plants
itself inside the womb, for without the
menstrual lining, the embryo could not
exist. Then there are those who believe
that life begins after the first term
(three months). Including all beliefs,
some believe life begins when human
characteristics take form (last quar
ter). Some people believe that when a
baby is born, a soul enters it and life
begins.
Let's say we made abortions illegal.
But common sense tells us that, given
the magnitude of error if we were in
fact wrong (namely about 40 to 50 mil
lion estimated constitutional rights
would be violated), then we should
leave it up to personal choice, not force
one's ideas upon others.
2. The choice of whether to have an
abortion is a woman's constitutional
right. If you are for or against abortion
in No. 1, you are still going to believe
the same in No. 2.
3. No, it isn't a fact that unwanted
fetuses have to become unwanted kids.
This is just a reality. There will always
be people who don't want, don't want
to love or can't afford a baby. Again, it
is unfair to use murdering a wife as an
example if one does not believe abor
tion is murder. See No. 1.
4. Laws restricting abortion do not
violate the principle of separation of
church and state. There just shouldn't
be any such laws. They violate our con
stitutional rights.
5. There is no majority of people who
are anti-choice. So to impose one's
morality at this point just isn't logical
and will come back to haunt us.
6. This argument that people will
"just break the law" is just plain
redundant, since there should be no
anti-abortion laws.
7. Although there was a lot of exag
gerating to get the 1973 court ruling,
most of it was true and happened fre
quently to those wishing to end their
pregnancy. Today, if a woman wants to
end her pregnancy, she can have it
done safely and legally. She doesn't
have to hurt herself or hide like a thief.
The 40 percent that weren't sure
could have been part of the 58 percent
that supported a ban on all abortions,
in a Gallup Poll that is hardly accurate.
You can make numbers say whatever
you want.
It's easy for someone else to say
"give the baby up for adoption." A
woman who doesn't want the baby has
to go through a lot of pain that I
wouldn't wish on myself, even if I fell
down a flight of stairs. Let's get the
words right. It shouldn't be pro-lifeanti-life.
It should be pro-choice
anti-choice.
We should respect others' beliefs
and stand up for our rights. Isn't it nice
that we all don't live in Mr. Rogers'
neighborhood?
Marcus Aurelius Rexilius
freshman
journalism
I'm not them,
so I'll be quiet
I was considering replying to the
recent columns concerning the abor
tion issue, but since I am not a woman,
I guess I won't. I suppose that since
Abraham Lincoln wasn't a slave owner,
he should have minded his own busi
ness, too.
And since many of the allied fighting
forces weren t Jews, they shouldn t
have bothered with Hitler. Since I am
not living in South Africa, I won't com
ment on apartheid either.
Since I don't have any reason to nave
a voice in any issue, I won't waste my
time.
I'd hate to put my nose in something
that isn't my business.
Robert Swanson
sophomore
philosophy
Letters
Rogers politicizes gospel
Just who does Jim Rogers think he
is, and what right does he have to quote
scripture to me to back up a national
anti-choice campaign (Daily Nebras
kan, Jan. 22)? Every time I see the
gospel twisted and politicized like it
was in his column, my stomach does
somersaults.
As a Christian, my duty is to imitate
the God I claim to serve. I know that if
Jesus Christ were to walk on this earth
today, he wouldn't be concerned about
Roe vs. Wade, national legislation or
even Rogers' somewhat verbose opin
ion. He wouldn't march around carry
ing silly signs, bomb clinics, circulate
petitions or sit behind an editorial
desk engaging in semantic games.
No, Christ would be with that woman
who is agonizing over a choice that will
affect the rest of her life. Standing by
her side he would say, "There is no
need for you to worry, I'll take care of
the child." And with that simple state
ment there would be no need for
another beautiful child to die.
Christ is screaming in anguish, as I
am also, every time another baby is
destroyed. But he cries in exactly the
same way whenever anyone makes the
conscious' choice not to follow him,
because he wishes that everyone could
be with him. He has the power to force
us all to do his will, but he won't. That
would remove our choice and we would
be nothing more than robots. Without
choice, humans become mere animals.
With it, we can become like God.
Our goal must not be to remove our
choices, for that limits not only who we
are, but who we can become. Our goal
must be the same as Christs': to remove
the desire that leads to the wrong cho
ice. We could at least try to be like
Christ, but who would believe us? We
have already proven that we are incap
able of taking care of living, breathing
and talking children, so how can we
possibly convince anybody that we care
about the unborn?
So don't preach to me about God's
position on abortion, because, ulti
mately, God is always pro-choice. He
just wants us to make the right one.
Every year at this time interest is
raised in this topic. For a couple of
weeks, or even months, people walk the
streets, carry signs and scream and
shout at each other. Then they go home
and forget about it.
It's easy to do that. It satisfies the
twinge in the conscience. They can go
home feeling that they've done their
part for the world's children, both the
living and the dead.
You see, Christ's alternative is a 365-days-a-year,
24-hours-a-day job that not
many people choose to do. It's not that
they can't, it's just too easy to sit
behind a desk and write a self-righteous
editorial, so they do that instead. Or
they rally. Or they march. And Christ
cries.
Van W. Kloempken
senior
political science
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JANUARY 25-26 or FEBRUARY 1-2 ( Alternate date)
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