Pro-Life Vs. Pro Life

Your Captain is not one to back down from a fight, so as recent news reports have stirred up a controversy that is deeply emotional, over which people almost immediately begin screaming at one another, I jumped into the fray.

No, I’m not talking about Trump’s stupid wall this time!

Mateys, if you are one of them that is easily offended, you are not going to enjoy today’s post.

Perhaps you should take a little break and join us again next week.

Here we go!

After years of trying, New York’s new Democratic majority has finally passed an abortion law that, by some accounts, appears to open the door to unrestrained abortions.

Captain’s Note: The need to pass such a bill seems more urgent now that the U.S. Supreme Court has a conservative majority and might, one day soon, overturn Roe v. Wade.

Up until the recent law went into effect, New York did not allow for abortions after 24 weeks. It was written into the criminal codes there. Today, within limits, a woman may abort her child almost to the point of delivery.

Cruel, you say? Murder, you cry? Please keep reading.

The passage of this new law immediately drew fire from the so-called “pro-life” folks. Memes began appearing on social media showing precious newborns who might possibly have been legally aborted under this new law.

Still with the Hillary thing? SMH!

There were heart-rending stories of parents who, despite the counsel of their physicians, chose to deliver a child at the risk of losing the baby, the mother, or both.

True, many of those are fortunate to have survived. Not everyone has been so lucky.

Captain’s Note: Yes, mates, the medical community does not know everything. And in many cases, humanity tends to prevail despite the odds. The question is, are you willing to gamble with your life as the stakes?

Others regurgitated the age-old argument of what our world would be like if [insert name of famous person] had been aborted.

Your Captain has often wondered the same about some others…

Babies, children, and young adults die every day for a variety of reasons – some preventable, others not – but no one ever wonders how they could have changed the world.

Captain's Note: Now that I think about it, if you are reading this that means you are still alive! So how are you using that life to make a difference in the world today?

So I engaged with a few so-called “pro-lifers” on social media recently.

I immediately noticed that when taken to task about the moniker “pro-life” – because their views often don’t encompass the whole scope of life – one person screamed back, “Stop trying to confuse the issue! Everyone knows ‘pro-life’ just means anti-abortion!”

Hmmmm. That’s not what that word sounds like to me. It seems to me that someone who is PRO life would also be in favor of the ready availability of quality medical care and affordable health insurance – for everyone - from the cradle to the grave! Someone who is PRO life would encourage healthy patterns of living and work toward a clean environment. Someone who is PRO life would be opposed to unbridled gun ownership and even capital punishment.

I could go on…

Another commenter began quoting passages from the Christian Bible related to punishments for the death of a child. None of the texts cited actually addressed abortion. I commented that all of these were taken out of context, which enraged my foe.

“So you think God thinks it’s okay to kill little babies?”

For her sake, I took a couple other verses out of context and encouraged her to consider what is also contained in her holy book: where the Israelites were commanded [by their God] to stone to death their disobedient children, and that horrible verse about “dash the children’s heads against a rock”.

No response to that one.

Go figure.

But that same commenter started another stream about how one can’t be “pro-life” and “pro-vaccination”…

“Because God didn’t make a mistake when he created our immune systems.”

Your Captain queried, “How is that ‘pro-life’? So your god thinks it is okay for a child to die from one of these preventable diseases?”

Another commenter jumped in arguing that there weren’t “that many” deaths prior to the introduction of vaccines, but since then there has been a huge increase in autism diagnoses.

I sent her to a page at the Center for Disease Control, where the word “thousands” is used repetitively.

Another anti-vaxxer argued, “I have not vaccinated my children and they are still alive!”

But then there is also this:

Oy! My head hurts!

Then the first pro-life / anti-vaxxer came back with “There’s aborted fetus tissue in today’s vaccines. Does God want us to shoot up our children with aborted fetus tissue?”

I confessed I could not speak for her god – and quietly wished she would stop trying to – but I assured her there is not aborted fetus tissue in today’s vaccines.

Because your Captain did his research.

Yes, in the 1960s, as researchers were looking for cures to these horrible childhood diseases, a cell line was taken from two legally-aborted fetuses. 

Only two! 

Ever!

Vaccines are cultured in these cell lines, which are now so far removed from the original tissue that even the Roman Catholic Church has approved the use of the vaccines.

Captain’s Note: Sadly, other vaccines that have been cultured in cell-lines from animals have been decried by anti-vaxxers as “dirty’. 

We just can't win...

Again, how can you say your god cares so much about us having babies only to let them die of curable diseases?

But I digress… as did that online conversation.

No one – except may those extremists on social media – really believes that now that abortions are legal in New York after 24 weeks everyone is going to run right out to have one!

Imagine, thousands of women – probably Hillary Democrats, am I right? – intentionally getting pregnant just so they can have a late-term abortion and kill a viable fetus!

I don’t think so.

Statistics show that less than 10% of legal abortions occur after 14 weeks, and less than one percent occur after 21 weeks.

So such a scenario would be extremely unlikely.

But that’s not really my point here.

If abortion was to be ruled completely illegal – with no exceptions, as some would prefer it – women would be forced to give birth to the child of their rapist; and then what...? Mothers would have to carry non-viable fetuses to term, only to endure the additional pain of delivering a dead infant. Fetuses discovered to be severely deformed would be born; those that survive the birth trauma would have to be cared for the rest of their lives… however long or short that may be.

So you better have good health insurance! Just sayin'...

“But every child is precious,” you say. Yes, but children have been born without limbs, without eyes, even without brains. Would you inflict such a life upon your child?

Captain’s Note: In the case of a child born without a brain, the existing brain stem allows the heart and lungs to function. Most infants born with this tragic condition are not expected to live but a few weeks; however, a child in England survived for twelve years.

No one should have to live in such a state.

Perhaps the Captain is just a heartless bastard.

Okay, I’ll own that.

I prefer to think of myself as PRO life... in favor of and encouraging a quality life!

 

As a young powder-monkey in middle school, your Captain looked into the issue of abortion for a speech class debate. After researching and reading numerous articles about the era when abortions were illegal, which detailed how desperate women would seek illegal abortions in back alleys and unsanitary settings, even resorting to self-aborting by drinking a poisonous concoction or using a coat-hanger which left them bleeding and, often, dead, I decided then – and still believe – that in a civilized society, safe abortions must always be available.

Regrettable, but necessary.

Because there are desperate people in desperate situations who will do desperate things.

Here’s the Captain’s final word on this: If you are one of those “pro-life” people who believes abortion is a mortal sin, then don’t have one. I will support your decision.

However, please don’t legislate your morality so that others do not have access to the proper medical care they – and you – may one day need!

Never say never, my friend.

The Elephant

The story is told of a group of blind men who had heard many great things about elephants, but, alas, had never seen one. They argued about this continuously until finally someone took them to the palace to encounter a real elephant.

When the blind men reached the palace, they were greeted by an old friend from their village who worked as a gardener on the palace grounds. Their friend led them to the courtyard. There stood an elephant. The blind men stepped forward to touch the creature that was the subject of so many arguments.

The first blind man reached out and touched the side of the huge animal. "An elephant is smooth and solid like a wall!" he declared. "It must be very powerful."

The second blind man put his hand on the elephant's limber trunk. "An elephant is like a giant snake," he announced.

The third blind man felt the elephant's pointed tusk. "I was right," he decided. "This creature is as sharp and deadly as a spear."

The fourth blind man touched one of the elephant's four legs. "What we have here," he said, "is an extremely large cow."

The fifth blind man felt the elephant's giant ear. "I believe an elephant is like a huge fan or maybe a magic carpet that can fly over mountains and treetops," he said.

The sixth blind man gave a tug on the elephant's coarse tail. "Why, this is nothing more than a piece of old rope. Dangerous, indeed," he scoffed.

This did not settle the matter and the argument continued.

"Stop shouting!" called a very angry voice.

It was the Rajah, awakened from his nap by the noisy argument.

"How can each of you be so certain you are right?" asked the ruler.

The six blind men considered the question. And then, knowing the Rajah to be a very wise man, they decided to say nothing at all.

"The elephant is a very large animal," said the Rajah kindly. "Each man touched only one part. Perhaps if you put the parts together, you will see the truth. Now, let me finish my nap in peace."

When their friend returned to the garden with the cool water, the six men rested quietly in the shade, thinking about the Rajah's advice.

"He is right," said the first blind man. "To learn the truth, we must put all the parts together. Let's discuss this on the journey home."

Captain’s Note: The above story was excerpted from the Peace Corps website, a site which is currently idle due to the ongoing government shutdown.

This weekend was filled with turmoil as images of a smirking, Maga-hat wearing boy faced off with a Native American drummer, who was later identified as a Vietnam Vet.

Arguments quickly ensued.

Each side insisted they knew the TRUE story.

But as with the blind men and the elephant, the Captain suspects that each faction only “knows” part of the story.

Your Captain has spend countless hours searching for the truth. In all things. And here is what I have found:

Fact: A group of boys from a private Catholic high school in Covington, KY was bussed to Washington D.C. to participate in a Right to Life rally.

Fact: Many of the boys were wearing MAGA hats, possibly souvenirs from their trip.

Fact: As they waited as a group for their bus to pick them up, a group of protesting “Black Israelites” began shouting derogatory things at the boys.

Fact: One of the boys asked a chaperone if they could respond with some school “Spirit Chants”. Permission was apparently granted.

Unfortunate Fact: The “Spirit Chant” recorded on video was a Haka, a ceremonial dance of the Maori culture. (Cultural appropriation.) One boy, apparently the leader of the chant, even stripped down to his underwear and wiggled his fanny in the direction of the protesters.

Fact: This did NOT diffuse the situation.

Fact: A group of Native American drummers entered the scene, having finished a protest of their own.

Captain’s Note: What is it with all the protests anyway!

Fact: The drummers moved between the group of boys and the “Black Israelites”. The lead drummer claims they were trying to diffuse the situation.

Fact: This did NOT diffuse the situation.

Fact: The boys started mocking the Native Americans - oh yes they did! - dancing and throwing tomahawk chops. One boy attempted to stare down the lead drummer, the video clip of which went viral.

Fact: Since then, people on social media have fired off angry threats toward the boys. One wanted to slap the shit-eating grin off the so-named “MAGA-Hat Boy”. Others wanted to kick him in the nuts. Sadly, another went so far as to say, “He should have been aborted!”

Captain’s Note: Mates, I’ll say right now – that shit’s out-of-bounds! I don’t care who you are!

What happened that unfortunate day in D.C.? No one will really know. It seems they grabbed the elephant in a different place.

And so much of it seems to be related to motives and misunderstandings. Having seen the videos and hearing from the “MAGA Hat Boy”, do we really know the truth yet?

Captain’s Note: a little multicultural sensitivity would have gone a long way… for everyone involved!

One More Fact: Everyone today seems so intent on twisting an event to fit their agenda that they don’t bother with the facts.

But if you have to lie to prove your point, then you don’t really have a point after all, now do you?