(47) Abortion

I watched part of a program by Aljazeera on the issue of abortion in America.

Personally I need not think much about abortion in my country. After all, abortion is illegal in this place where the majority of the citizens are Muslims. It is also clear cut that if I am serious about following Christ, aborting an unwanted foetus is actually murder.

However, the people around me are not Christians. My mother has aborted a few times after I was born. Of course I cannot judge her, until today she held on firm to her Taoist upbringing. To her, souls are reborn. Whether a person lives to be ninety nine or was aborted before birth, he or she would undergo endless cycles of lives. I used to think that she could not keep those unborn siblings due to economic pressure. But after she explained I realized she did not want to be house bound anymore after I was five, when my father could finally afford to take her back to his hometown for a week long visit after about ten years of marriage. You may find this funny, but I understand it well as she is still a timid woman who dare not travel out of town alone. It is just as well that I take after my dad who was adventurous. To me, it would be no hardship to pack my bags and travel to any part of the world alone.                        

I have two other close friends who have aborted more than once during their married years. Mary has three girls, she has aborted twice, once after the birth of her first girl. She works full time in a demanding job and her mother was not willing to look after two babies at one time as both would be under the age of two. After the birth of her third girl, she became pregnant again unexpectedly. Looking at their  expenses with three girls, her husband and her decided to abort and to ligate at the same time.

Jane has two girls. When she was married barely a year, she was pregnant despite every precaution. Not only she and her husband was financially unprepared, emotionally they felt overwhelmed by the unwanted pregnancy. The second abortion occurred after her first girl was born. Interestingly neither of my girl friends regret nor look back sadly. Both are happy in their marriages and have healthy and intelligent children. It was simply logical to abort due to particular sets of circumstances.

For me, I am glad that I am no longer in USA and be torn in between pro-life or pro-choice. I take the stand that I should "judge not lest I myself be judged". I have chosen not to abort myself. I feel such choices are up to the individuals concerned. Should they have certain religious conviction, then such decisions would be between them and God.