Back to the play - American Goddesses:

I was especially attracted to Margaret Sanger's speech. Tacitus said, "The more corrupt the state, the more it legislates." I agree. The more free a society, the more whole that society can become. But freedom has a price. Freedom is the ability to discipline yourself so that no one else has to. (I know that is poor sentence structure). Those who fail to exercise self-discipline include those in prison and the child on "time out."

But the question is, "On what basis do I exercise self-discipline?" Is it on the basis of wants, or likes, or convenience? If so, then lying, stealing, cheating, and even murder are mere items in the tool-box of life. But every time we cry out, "That's not fair!" we appeal to a greater source of authority than personal preference, for "fairness" appeals to an accepted norm outside of ourselves. Which brings me back to Margaret Sanger. I understand she fought for legalization of the birth control pill.

I agree with her thinking that women should:

a) Have control over their own bodies.

b) That medical care should be equal without regard to gender.

c) That government is incapable of deciding what is best for us, individually or collectively.

Therefore, I am pro-choice in these areas.

I disagree that a child's most basic right is the right to be wanted. That is not true for any human being including the unborn. My grandfather had 10 children and said he never wanted any. His children all suffered because of that, but they went on and created there own lives and families in spite of his meanness. Being wanted is dependent upon relationship. I dare say every person experiences unwantedness at various times in life (remember being 13 years old). Even our founding fathers understood that the basic inalienable (God given) rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Therefore, I am pro-life.

Since I choose both pro-choice and pro-life, I am not very appreciated by the polarized extremes of this debate. Here is why I choose both.

God created and gives life. It is sacred. In the story of our first parents, God charges them with being fruitful (productive), to multiply (procreate), and replenish (care for) the earth. The fruitful aspect includes all the discovers in the sciences and the applications to the human condition. How we use these applications either advances or diminishes us as humans, made in the image of God. For example, the same science and technology that is used to eradicate some forms of cancer through radiation likewise creates atomic weapons. The technology is neither good nor bad. The application, the choices, the freedom of self-discipline determine the consequences.

The medical procedure we call abortion is neutral. In our application it can save a woman's life, it can be an act of mercy especially where rape or incest are present, and it can be a selfish decision made because of other selfish decisions made without a thought of the impact upon others - in other words, without self-discipline.

Isn't it ironic that the very freedom to choose, the right to exercise self-discipline, the empowerment that God gave to humans to be the caretakers of this world is also used to destroy creation, pollute the environment, and to terminate the gift of life in the most helpless and voiceless. And all of these choices make us individually and collectively less human, less free, and less self-disciplined.

I applaud Margaret Sanger for her voice for freedom. She (and each of us) have the God-given right to choose to use the medical and technological advances of medicine and the other fields of science as we see fit. But we best be careful of choosing without self-discipline. The consequences can be deadly. Still, God gives us the choice - who am I to take it away?