Monday is the 34th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Since the matter of abortion touches upon a variety of issues, it is not too surprising that I had a long fascination with the subject. Item: I wrote a report on the case in high school. The 'net has just allowed me one more locale to write about it, now with the benefits of clarity (my handwriting sucks) and spell check. See, for instance, this discussion on the right to privacy. And, it is best to focus on the true breadth of the issue. To wit:
The benevolence, charity, capacity and industry which exerted in private life, would make a family, a parish or a town happy, employed upon a large scale, in support of the great principles of virtue and freedom of political regulations might secure whole nations and generations from misery, want and contempt.
-- John Adams
For various reasons, including promotion of education, religion, and republican values (e.g., the whole concept of "republican motherhood"), protecting the privacy of family life has always been a fundamental liberty in our nation. Therefore, one aspect of the right of choice is privacy over family affairs, including when to start or add to the number of children in one's family.
The religious component of this choice is clear as referenced by the number of Catholic sacraments that deal with family life as well as the number of religious rules and obligations with a family flavor to them. But, apparently, the state should be allowed to pick and choose among competing views on the subject. Also, we are supposed to believe that ABORTION is a freestanding entity, not part of an interwoven number of matters that is at stake here.
As to the religious freedom matter, one also need not stop at Roe. One can harken back to Madison:
In a free government, the security for civil rights must be the same as that for religious rights; it consists in the one case in the multiplicity of interests, and in the other in the multiplicity of sects.
To use a religious reference, even Mary chose when the Angel Gabriel came to her. It was not given as a fait accompli. Choice is fundamental to the Christian faith actually. One more aspect of "privacy" rights.
Ah, but abortion is different. Destruction of human life etc. Even if we take this issue as a constitutional demand -- and traditionally prenatal life was not considered human persons, surely not in a whole sense (or sense necessary to trump fully formed humans) -- bans tend to be counterproductive. And, constitutional rights sometimes leads to harms. Liberty is not cost-free. Think of the burden of proof rule -- some guilty people escape, right?
In my view, the importance of Roe is not its uniqueness, but how it fits into a broader story. That might be the best way to honor its memory.