Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Way to go Susan G. Komen *Update*

Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.” Luke 1:39-45


Life, according to dictionary.com, is the condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms, being manifested by growth through metabolism, reproduction, and the power of adaptation to environment through changes originating internally. It would seem, that according to that definition, that a newly formed baby, in its mother's uterus, would qualify as life. I think it is life from the moment sperm and egg meet. I do understand that not everyone agrees with me. 

I often think back to the scripture that I shared, Luke 1:39-45. Many times I have heard the argument that the fetus is just a fetus and that it isn't really who it is meant to be until it is born. But the passage in Luke shows me that that's not true. John the Baptist leapt in his mother's womb when he heard Mary's voice. He had been hearing other voices but it wasn't until he heard the voice of the one who also carried Jesus in her womb that he leapt. John the Baptist was who he was meant to be even as a 6-month-old fetus. And Jesus was who He was meant to be as an even younger fetus. They were alive, they were human, they were babies, they were Jesus and John, even from the very beginning.

But I cannot stomach the thought of all the babies that have to die every year because so many people disagree with me. It makes me sad that people think life is expendable. 
So often I hear, "I would never have an abortion, but it's not my place to tell someone else they can't have one." But we do that, every day. We have laws that make it a crime to kill people, even unintentionally. If you are driving one day and you look away for a moment and then hit someone and kill them, you are charged with a crime, vehicular homicide.
Involuntary manslaughter is also a crime. Students who participate in hazing rituals can be charged with manslaughter if the person they are hazing accidentally dies. 
No one ever thinks it is wrong to punish people who perpetrate these crimes. Why? Because it is a commonly held belief that to end another person's life is wrong.

I don't see the difference when it comes to abortion. If left alone, pregnancies will continue and a baby will eventually be born. There are some that end in miscarriage, but there are people who die natural causes every day, too. 


I was very pleased to read that the Susan G. Komen foundation had decided to stop sending money to Planned Parenthood. SGK is stating it was not for political reasons, and I have no reason to doubt that, but it doesn't matter to me either way. The bottom line is that they will not be sending more money to PP. Planned Parenthood claims to be in the healthcare business. While I do believe they provide many services to many women, especially women who have no (or little) insurance, I believe their main business is making money. And the number one way they make money is by providing abortions. I do not believe that any money that comes from taxpayers should go to a business that provides abortions. I wish that the government thought that way as well, but for now, it doesn't. 
But, I am all for a private company deciding on their own to stop funding PP.  So my hat's off to Susan G. Komen.
  

I do want to add one thing that I am furious over. I have seen a lot of people that have blasted SGK and are saying they will never again support the foundation. I saw this statement on Facebook, "I am so furious about this. PP is the only access to healthcare many underserved women have. I wrote to them this morning. So disgusting." And many comments were made that said that this will hurt women. 

And it's so preposterous! I did some research. I only picked a few states, but I checked on how many PPs there were in these states and I checked on how many health clinics (funded by the governement) there were and found that it doesn't even come close. PP/HC for these states: Alabama 2/154, Arizona 13/131, Arkansas 2/76, California 116/1022, North Carolina 9/171, Pennsylvania 41/234, New York 68/442, Hawaii 3/76, Wisconsin 27/86.
Wow! I just don't see that women will not have access to healthcare if PP doesn't get funding. Now, of course, I don't know if any of these clinics get funding from SGK. I am making an assumption that SGK will still be funding breast cancer screenings and mammograms at all kinds of clinics around the country, just not PP. So even if PP were to have to shut all its doors (which it doesn't, it still gets funding from other sources and makes a profit), women would still have access to healthcare. 

It's not an issue of healthcare, it's about abortion. No matter how everyone tries to package it, it still comes back to abortion. PP is in the business of providing abortions and they make money doing so. Therefore PP wants to make sure that everyone who is pro-choice supports their business. So they use the strawman argument. If they can get people to believe that they are the #1 provider of women's healthcare, and that if they are defunded women don't get healthcare, then they win. But it's not true.
Women will still have access to healthcare even if every PP shut down. I would prefer the government (and everyone who gives money to PP) take all monies going to PP and shift them to the health clinics. I want uninsured women to be able to be treated. I just prefer they be treated in a place that doesn't also perform abortions.

*Update*
It sounds as if SGK is bending to the pro-choice pressure they have gotten since they made the announcement to defunded PP. I am not thrilled by it, but they caved to the pressure in the first place to defund, so I am not surprised they have caved again. That said, I was never a supporter anyway just because I don't have much $$ to give and when I do give, it goes to my church and missionaries. However, I will not boycott SGK because I don't boycott. I think this is a classic example of why it doesn't work. This country has become so divided on most issues that there is almost a 50-50 split on any given issue. So you'll get pressure from either side. As a business, you just need to know what your values are and stick to them no matter what. No good comes of flip-flopping.
I will watch this and see how it turns out. No matter what, I will always be opposed to abortion, always. And I will always support the funding of clinics that provide healthcare for the uninsured, as long as they do not perform abortions.