see the pain

ah the danger of the self-righteous blind

who look at the issues

through the lens of ideology posing as spirituality

fear posing as faith

hate posing as love

 

ah the danger of those who side with God

without truly understanding

that God doesn’t take sides

 

we see, them declaring with great passion

that they are for life

because they are for abortion bans

(which by the way, don’t actually stop abortions,

 they just drive them underground and make them unsafe)

 

they are sure in their own minds

that they are imposing God’s will

sure, so sure

 

that they are “saving babies”

 

but too many times this is not as much about those “babies”

as it is about them

about them earning merit with a wrathful God

about them imposing their belief system on others

and hence

it is about their own sense of righteousness

 

While they militantly “save” the unborn

they do not see the real people their blind righteousness ignores

they don’t see the raped woman

the child-woman who is the victim of incest

the woman struggling with poverty

and already living children who will be profoundly hurt by another child born

they do not see the women with difficult pregnancies that endanger their

health, and even their lives

they do not see the already born children who do not have enough to eat

do not have a home

do not have good health care

do not have dental care

do not have access to the best education

who are born into addiction

and conflict

they do not see

 

there are those who are against abortion

and who walk the walk consistently –

those who are against abortion but for taking care of women and children

and against the death penalty and against war

 

but too many do not see their own failure

they do not see that they have their own covenant with death

as they embrace war and idolize the military

and support the death penalty

as they double down on gun rights

and ignore the plight of the planet

and support politicians who are into power and money

and politicians who refuse to create the kind of nation

into which a child can be born

and be supported

and nurtured

 

they do not see that they are failing to address the very issues

that move people toward abortion as a choice

hunger

housing

living wages

health care

education

access to birth control

parental leave

and more

 

they force children to be born

but have created a nation in which too many mothers (and fathers) and children suffer

and where too many children are shot and killed before they get out of grade school.

 

there is a reason America’s mothers die from childbirth at a rate higher than other

“rich nations”

there is a reason our children die at a rate almost double of similar countries

it is because of those same politicians who are dancing

over the death of Roe vs Wade

 

it is because of the blind rigidity of those same people

who gush over clusters of cells

but ignore those already alive

 

I am a person who takes the choice of abortion seriously

It should not be (and I believe it never actually is) done casually

 

But I am tired of the self-righteous myths

About late-term abortions being common (that is a lie)

About women casually aborting babies (it is almost always a painful thing done after much thought and with much anguish)

 

I am tired of women being put at risk

And women being ignored

And women being controlled

And women being demonized

Because people with the blind righteousness of religious fanaticism

and narrow fundamentalism

want to feel better about themselves

 

Those who support radical abortion bans

Are failing to do the one thing

Jesus taught us God does

See people

All people

And their pain

 

And they are in a real way failing to do the one thing Jesus taught us to do

above all other things

love