Abortion is a tough issue to take personally, considering the fact that if you're reading this you haven't been aborted and are in no danger of facing such a prospect. Abortion is the ultimate "it only affects other people" debate, since the only victims are unborn children. Because of this distance, the idea of abortion is repugnant to far more people that would be willing to ban it. Consider Australia:
Peter Costello said Monday laws governing abortions should be determined by state and territory governments, and tried to calm the waters by asking politicians speaking on the issue of abortion to do so with "care and understanding."Yeah, you know, it'd sure be nice if we could somehow reduce the number of babies murdered. No hurry though; it's not really an urgent matter since it doesn't affect us.The issue arose recently when the federal health minister, deputy prime minister and other senior coalition members of parliament called for a reduction in the number of abortions, particularly late terminations.
The Australian Broadcasting Corp., said even the governor general made a rare political statement during the weekend, saying too many abortions are carried out in Australia and he would like to see the number reduced to zero.
You know I take abortion personally. My parents tell the story of me sitting in front of the TV when they announced Roe v Wade and turning to them and saying "If that was the law when I was born, I wouldn't be here."
I'm adopted, born in in 1965.
Ron makes a good point. The issue will become more personal as those born after Roe grow as a percentage of adults. It's much more personal if you could have been legally killed---and even more personal, of course, if you were born in circumstances where the Planned Parenthood types would have urged an abortion.
Every father who worries that his girlfriend, fiancee, or wife will decide to abort takes it very personally.