I am going to suggest a couple of things that could easily be taken as offensive, though it is not my intent.
First of all, there has been this one thought over the past few years, that all of my friends with LGBTQIA+ children are from church.
That includes gay kids and some transgender and non-binary children.
It has kind of made me wonder if these children are being sent to us to force us to get right on the issue.
I can see how that would seem kind of cruel, but fortunately, these have all been supportive parents. Part of that support often leads to them no longer attending church. I cannot blame them for that, but I believe there is a better way. If we start asking the right questions and really opening our hearts we can get there.
I mention that thought because if I had never had it, I don't think the other one would have come to me.
It also comes because I know of someone who recently moved to Texas to be near her first grandchild. I imagine there is a hope for other grandchildren.
Personally, between Cruz and Abbott, the only state I could possibly have less desire to move to is Florida, maybe, but a lot of members like getting away from liberal Oregon.
I also know of someone who recently got a new grandchild, but there were complications in the pregnancy, where there was some danger.
Are we paying attention to how much danger anti-abortion laws cause for difficult pregnancies? Are we rooting for the things that could kill our daughters and daughters-in-law?
One difficulty with political discourse lately is that a lot of people seem to end up fully divorced from reality. One really unpleasant person around here (whom I do not personally know, but we have mutual acquaintances) posts pretty frequently about how Democrats delight in abortion. Trump voters will echo claims of post-birth abortion, which, yes, would be murder, but also doesn't happen.
I don't know where to begin to connect such a person back to reality.
I am not saying that God will smite us with dangerous pregnancies to teach us the error of our ways. I just know that if you reinforce enough cruelty, that cruelty spreads everywhere.
If you lie to yourself about the cruelty, you can spread it further and faster.
If you truly love babies and want to protect them, there are great starting places. We could look at extending prenatal and neonatal care, expanding WIC, making childcare more affordable, and also sex education just so that everyone is clear on where babies come from.
Naturally access to birth control would be important, but no, women should not have sex if they don't want babies, even if they already have babies, and let's get rid of the exceptions for abortion and incest, and any programs that might help a woman escape abuse and build up some independence, because that's what it's really about, control, but somehow without laws affecting men.
For an example, let's go back to Texas:
https://www.tiktok.com/@the.texas.amanda/video/7401199934600482078
Amanda Zurawski and her husband wanted their child, but their child was dying in the womb. There was nothing that could be done about that.
Amanda's doctors were afraid to help her because of the law. There could be fines, imprisonment, and the loss of their medical licenses. They needed her to be sick enough that her life was in danger, which has in more than one case already meant going into sepsis.
Sepsis is really dangerous. It destroys and kills. Amanda lived, but with permanent damage. Now she cannot conceive or carry a child.
Republicans are coming for IVF too, which could effectively eliminate surrogacy.
Is traditional conception along with adoption enough? I think that's the wrong question.
The right question would probably be something about how to help families and protect children.
It would have an answer that was more about helping than control.
It would be the appropriate answer for followers of Christ, but somehow missed by many who claim to follow him.
Related posts:
https://preparedspork.blogspot.com/2023/12/truly-being-pro-life.html
https://preparedspork.blogspot.com/2023/12/two-plans.html
https://preparedspork.blogspot.com/2023/11/patriarchy-and-moral-issues.html
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