Its interesting to see this comment, as at mass recently (I'm Catholic), a letter was read by our bishop calling for a day of voluntary fasting/abstaining from meat/other sacrifice to mark the the same, and the 50 million elective terminations since then (from his letter, I'm sure this info is on the internet)
I'm staunchly prolife, and in fact went to a "protest" once because my aunt and members of her church were going. Honestly, it was kind of a strange experience because I am a private person, but basically the group stuck to themselves and prayed. There was no hatred of the people providing abortions or of the people getting them (and I assure you, no intention to shame, embarrass, or harrass anyone). Only sympathy for all involved, and sadness. And if anything, a desire to be a visible reminder that abortion is a serious matter.
I work in healthcare - I'm in residency - and ethical issues are not uncommon for me. In the minority/disenfranchised population I serve, seeing parities of 3-4 by 18 or 20 is not a surprise, and as a med student the youngest delivery I can remember was 12 or 13. These women dont have support, don't speak English, and frankly don't have lives I can relate to in any way. So when I see similar patients with multiple terminated pregnancies, I the only feeling I have is the same empathy I have for any other patient (keeping in mind I have rough days where I'm sick of my patients) and thankfulness for my own circumstances. At the same time, I wish that we as a society had more to provide than abortion.
I'm writing this because I'm not a religious zealot, a redneck, or anything else. I'm a well informed individual who happens to be a doctor, be Catholic, has "lived vicariously" through my patients and sees a lot of suffering from a lot of different situations.
I feel my beliefs are firmly grounded, and my core belief is that there is an inherent dignity we possess by virtue of being human. I feel like I'm more pro-human than pro-life, because I'm opposed to war (the recent ones we've had), the death penalty, deportation of undocumented aliens, mistreatment of the poor/disabled/etc, and also opposed to abortion. I'm opposed to abortion as firmly as some people support it. Any person capable of rational thought, who hasn't taken a moment to ask "Am I on the right side" regarding abortion should take a moment to really challenge themselves to consider the stakes (terminating life, vs the harm done to patients who keep an unwanted child who is an addition to whatever resources are available, and other considerations). Whenever I interact with a pro-choice person I respect, I find myself challenging my beliefs again, because I want to do right by our society. I think this is a responsibility for any person with any opinion on any controversial subject.
pfizzy779 karma
Its interesting to see this comment, as at mass recently (I'm Catholic), a letter was read by our bishop calling for a day of voluntary fasting/abstaining from meat/other sacrifice to mark the the same, and the 50 million elective terminations since then (from his letter, I'm sure this info is on the internet)
I'm staunchly prolife, and in fact went to a "protest" once because my aunt and members of her church were going. Honestly, it was kind of a strange experience because I am a private person, but basically the group stuck to themselves and prayed. There was no hatred of the people providing abortions or of the people getting them (and I assure you, no intention to shame, embarrass, or harrass anyone). Only sympathy for all involved, and sadness. And if anything, a desire to be a visible reminder that abortion is a serious matter.
I work in healthcare - I'm in residency - and ethical issues are not uncommon for me. In the minority/disenfranchised population I serve, seeing parities of 3-4 by 18 or 20 is not a surprise, and as a med student the youngest delivery I can remember was 12 or 13. These women dont have support, don't speak English, and frankly don't have lives I can relate to in any way. So when I see similar patients with multiple terminated pregnancies, I the only feeling I have is the same empathy I have for any other patient (keeping in mind I have rough days where I'm sick of my patients) and thankfulness for my own circumstances. At the same time, I wish that we as a society had more to provide than abortion.
I'm writing this because I'm not a religious zealot, a redneck, or anything else. I'm a well informed individual who happens to be a doctor, be Catholic, has "lived vicariously" through my patients and sees a lot of suffering from a lot of different situations.
I feel my beliefs are firmly grounded, and my core belief is that there is an inherent dignity we possess by virtue of being human. I feel like I'm more pro-human than pro-life, because I'm opposed to war (the recent ones we've had), the death penalty, deportation of undocumented aliens, mistreatment of the poor/disabled/etc, and also opposed to abortion. I'm opposed to abortion as firmly as some people support it. Any person capable of rational thought, who hasn't taken a moment to ask "Am I on the right side" regarding abortion should take a moment to really challenge themselves to consider the stakes (terminating life, vs the harm done to patients who keep an unwanted child who is an addition to whatever resources are available, and other considerations). Whenever I interact with a pro-choice person I respect, I find myself challenging my beliefs again, because I want to do right by our society. I think this is a responsibility for any person with any opinion on any controversial subject.
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