I. Am. Appalled.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you. ‘Ah, Lord God!’ I said, ‘I know not how to speak; I am too young.’ But the Lord answered me, say not, ‘I am too young.’ To whomever I send you, you shall go; whatever I command you, you shall speak. Have no fear before them, because I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.” (Jeremiah 1:5-8)

Nope. Not another blog post, article, or commentary, either for or against, the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade. Doubtless, you’ve already read enough of them to last you three lifetimes. Nor do I intend to argue when does life start. Doubtless, you’ve already made up your mind about that one, too.

It’s neither the headlines nor the emotional responses to them that appall me. This is a hot button topic. I expect emotional responses…as do our politicians. But that’s neither here nor there.

What appalls me is the direction of those emotional responses.

Babies are hated in today’s society. Truly hated.

I *get* having a medical condition that might necessitate having a pregnancy terminated. I *get* a rape victim not wanting to carry a child that she conceived in the most traumatic way. I *get* failed birth control. I *get* economic hardship. I *get* not wanting a living tie to a partnership that may have ended badly, or even a one night stand. And I *get* how that spark, that lump of cells, or however else society may refer to the start of human pregnancy, may have come at an inconvenient time. I also *get* that, for many, the decision is not an easy one and may lead to a lifetime of regret later on.

What I don’t *get*, what I haven’t been able to wrap my mind around completely, is how so many others seem to sneer with the attitude that that “spark” got what was coming to it. How dare you invade my body with the expectation of life? As if, with the exception of rape, or incest, it’s inconceivable (no pun intended) that they had anything to do with how that spark got there in the first place.

Are we not teaching sex education in our schools anymore? Are we misrepresenting the possible fallacies of birth control as our schools dispense it to both children and young adults indiscriminately? (Yeah, I *get* that, too…)

Misguided blame. Somehow, the unborn is to blame for the predicament of pregnancy rather than the intimacy that came before.

Again, not arguing for or against the recent SCOTUS ruling.

I. Am. Appalled…by the venom being lobbed at the unborn, regardless of where one stands on this issue. Again, I *get* the heightened emotions. But, if that spark is not yet a human being worthy of any rights based upon his or her inability to survive on their own outside of a womb, how are they capable of blame in the first place? Their moment of conception might have felt magical to the participants at the time but, that spark, that lump of cells, that we can probably agree has no voice one way or the other, didn’t magically come into being by waving a magic wand in unformed hands, and crying, “Abracadabra!”. That spark of being isn’t growing in your womb to spite you.

Nor is it a malignant tumor, a cancer, as I have heard and read as an analogy all week long.

That’s what’s appalling.

Regardless of where we stand on this issue, where is the compassion? Has it been eclipsed by society’s campaign to equate that spark as a *thing* rather than, perhaps, a seed that, if not cut down by either miscarriage or abortion, *will* grow into a tiny human? Where also is the compassion for the young woman unable to conceive, even via in-vitro, or the young man who knows he’s sterile and will never father a child, who hears these comparisons and would give anything to be so “maligned”? On the other side of the debate, where is the compassion for the woman who makes the ultimate decision to terminate a pregnancy, is grieving the loss, and hears her sacrifice dismissed so nonchalantly, as though it was no sacrifice at all?

I blame technology for this lack of compassion. We can’t see the hurt in someone’s eyes, the crumpled face, the tears they shed. All we see is a screen, blank and expressionless.

I blame the erosion of family and a society that believes every child *deserves* to make the team…instead of teaching them how to deal with rejection, disappointment, and most importantly, how to take responsibility for their actions. I blame society, too, for the sense of entitlement everyone feels that says they get to do what they want without consequence, and not only heap vitriol onto those who disagree with us, but also seek to end another’s livelihood for not doing things *my* way or the highway.

And, yes, I blame the erosion of a belief in something, a faith in *Someone* greater than ourselves. Whether you call that *Someone* Allah, Ganesh, Buddha, Krishna, Goddess, Kokopelli, or Jesus Christ, or the doubtless many omissions I’ve made here, is irrelevant. That *Someone* calls us to that compassion for others; there’s not a single holy text, or religion, that speaks otherwise…even when we disagree with each other.

And, even if religion, or faith, is not your *thing*, please stop pointing the finger of blame at the lump of cells for the inconvenience on your life. I think it’s called adulting today…

May God (or whatever name you place upon that *Someone*) bless you & keep you!