Abortion
Virtually impossible to discuss with anyone in a productive manner due to the impossible line confirming when life begins.
One of the most notorious victims of perceiving humans as abstract.
An excellent proxy issue and the single most confounding human issue ever conceived. We typically employ highly specific frameworks and reductionist thinking in order to resolve such matters, but the fallout of such approaches when it comes to abortion cannot be ignored, that is, unless we are merely pretending to be serious about complicated matters.
The implications of abortion in human life are tethered to so many deeply philosophical questions that we have succumbed to the temptation of avoiding discussing it entirely in any thorough manner in public spaces. On the rare occasions when it is discussed, you can very quickly determine people’s priorities based on their selected standard of acceptance or disavowal.
Most people are moderates in most things, and so the complexity of abortion does not tend to inhabit the margins of human conceptualization. The complexity of abortion emerges amidst the tension of moderate sensibilities when the reality of such decisions plays out in the real world. Moderate views, despite being commonplace, are not inherently equipped to adjudicate the particulars of such confounding concerns. It is those who inhabit the margins that have typically examined the issue to a degree beyond normal expectations who weigh in on the matter so enthusiastically and with a refreshing degree of accuracy.
This poses a problem however, because we only tend to adopt marginal views in resolving issues on a broad scale when we have neither time nor alternatives at our disposal. In wealthier developed nations, there are plenty of both time and alternatives when it comes to individual circumstances and the broader social contexts of abortion. Why then, are we at such odds with one another on a matter of universal significance? Perhaps it is precisely because it is of universal significance that we harbour such strong feelings about it; it is literally a matter of life and death.
Convincing arguments exist on both extremes and many in between, and it is likely the case that issues of universal human significance cannot be solved, they can only be managed on a case-by-case basis. This may be an unpopular view, and for very compelling reasons, but unfortunately, the reality of human outcomes that we are confronted with every day remain unconcerned with the popularity of a view. Every situation is different, and they may be encouraged or condemned equally by interested parties, but applying a sterile and standardized approach to those decisions that weigh so heavily on the human heart is generally a bad idea.
The inference is not that individual cases should be adjudicated by a third party to determine their legitimacy. Rather, it is imperative that discussions about the realities of human sexuality, love, and abortion are discussed in an honest and mature fashion so that when we are presented with such a decision, we can make it as clearly as possible while acknowledging the significance of our choices.
We have developed formalized techniques to terminate potential births and it is not likely that they are going anywhere. That being said, it can be contemplated in a far more honest manner than it currently is, especially by politicians, who prefer to inhale the intoxicating aroma of public relations.
Treating a fetus like a disposable tissue does not do the circumstance justice, and it is in some ways psychopathic. On the contrary, many situations can be referenced that appear to justify abortion, and as a rule, absolutism does not tend to benefit us in the long run.
We may never be certain about when abortion is appropriate, but we could do far more, well in advance of when we may be forced to consider such things, in order to prepare ourselves for the convolution of these life-altering events. Perhaps, just so we may temper the feelings of guilt and obligation that drive us towards one outcome or another.
Regardless of what we believe, or what we choose, someone will condemn us, and unfortunately for us, they all have a point.
Human life is messy.
Revised: 20 Feb 2022
