Now That's Entertainment . . . Volume 5, Issue # 8


	Volume 5 Issue # 8 April 5, 2004 "When does life begin? The issue of abortion" Pro-life Pro-choice? When does life officially begin? Is it at the moment of conception? After the first trimester? Second? Or not until the infant has left his/her mother’s womb for good? Or only when the physical connection is completely broken with the cutting of the umbilical cord?	Lifeline GAP at UBC
	Questions like these are at the core of the ever popular issue of abortion. In our day and age, the practice of (voluntary) abortion is becoming more and more prevalent, despite the fact that the practice is not completely safe by any means. But logistics and semantics aside, what is at the heart of the issue are the moral ramifications of such an act. For those of you that go to UBC, I’m sure during your time there, you have encountered (at least once) the Genocide Awareness Project (GAP) pictures outside of the Student Union Building. They are always accompanied by the pro-choice protesters who argue it is the woman’s (or perhaps more suitably, potential mother’s) choice as to whether or not she will have the baby.
Site Promotion	On the other side of the coin, the pro-life contingent argue she should have made that decision before she had unprotected sex, and now she does not have the right to end the life of the infant within her womb, just as a new mother does not have the right to drown her persistently distressing child in a bathtub to rid herself of the stresses associated with motherhood. Pro-life or pro-choice? Like a game of tag, the two sides taunt one another with rebuttals of the other side’s responses, only to have their own response refuted. Well, I’m sick and tired of it. After four years at UBC, I’m tired of seeing abortion being equated to the Holocaust. I’m tired of seeing stomach-turning graphic images of discarded fetuses. I’m tired of being pestered by the protesters who try to stop me and remind me that it should be the woman’s choice. I’m tired of it. When will they realize that they are not that dissimilar? Pro-life? Pro-choice? The fact of the matter is that both sides are BOTH pro-life AND pro-choice. Some of you may have heard this argument from others already, but just amuse me as I think out loud (or in this case, type out loud). The “pro-life” people argue that abortion is bad. Life is precious and we don’t have the right to end a life just because it may be inconvenient. But, at the same time, inherent in that argument is the fact that they are also pro-choice. They believe that the unborn child has a right to make his/her own choices in life, and in order to be able to make choices, he/she must first be born and live. The “pro-choice” people argue that the woman has a choice. She does not have to let one drunken one-night stand (or whatever the circumstances happen to be) dictate how she leads the rest of her life. Bringing a child into this world and raising him/her to maturity take a major commitment and investment on the part of the mother (and the father as well; at least that’s how it should be), and can choose not to head down that path at this point or ever, for that matter. At the same time, in this sense, they are also pro-life in that the woman has the choice as to how she will lead her life. Her life could be ‘ruined,’ as it were, with raising a child. She may need to drop out of school, for example, in order to raise the child, in which case perhaps, neither mom nor child has a particularly good shot at a good life. Granted there are successful single mothers out there, it is still clearly possible that the former rather than the latter will occur. So, where do I stand in all of this? Call me Switzerland, but laissez-faire. Just let them be. I am not particularly averse to either view, but I am pro-choice in that I think each person has their own choices to make. If you, in your heart of hearts, think that abortion is morally wrong and should not be done, good for you. Don’t do it. Have the child and raise him/her to the best of your ability, or even put the infant up for adoption if you want. If you, in your heart of hearts, think that it is in the best interest of both mother and child alike that this baby not be born, then go talk to your doctor about the possibility of abortion. Talk about the associated risks and long-term effects, and if you still think it’s the right thing to do, go ahead and do it. Pro-life? Pro-choice? You decide.

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