Not your call to make

With all of the hoopla over Planned Parenthood these past few weeks, I thought I might share my thoughts on this controversial subject. If I were a candidate, here's what I would say when it comes to abortion:

No one from the most liberal senator in the country to the most scared teenager in the heartland is FOR ABORTION. Women choose this option as a very last resort and I'd be willing to guess that few are happy when they feel it's the most appropriate option or choice for them.

Then I would either play the video like above or read one of the "It's so personal" essays collected on Andrew Sullivan's blog during a discussion about the moral challenges and justifications concerning the vilified "late-term" abortions and the D&X procedure (where the baby's head is severed before removing the fetus from the uterus). But for now, I will reference the above video.

(ahem, speech):

Now, if Danielle and Robb had been able to induce labor or perform an abortion, I don't know if Danielle and Robb would burn in hell for their sin. And some people have every religious right to identify that as sin.

I don't know if God would look down at their decision with shame or sadness.

Personally, I don't believe so, and personally I believe that God knows what is in their hearts if they had to make that terrible decision.

Abortion was essentially illegal where they lived, and if they had been able to get one I don't know whether they really would have committed a crime worth penalizing them for. I would feel that they have been through enough pain already.

But here's what I do know.

I know that this decision is NOT MINE TO MAKE.

I know that this decision is NOT MITT's (Romney)'s to make.

In many ways, it's really not CONGRESS's decision to make.

And frankly America, it's not YOUR DECISION TO MAKE.

The ONLY people who should be making this decision and are capable of making this decision are Danielle, Robb, and their doctor. As President Clinton once said, "Abortion should be safe, legal, and rare." And I wholeheartedly agree that it should be rare, and we should encourage young women when it's appropriate to look into adoption services as there are many families in America who would love to take care of and raise a child. But the choice is not OURS to make, it's theirs. And I'll fight to ensure it stays that way.

Republicans Are Not Serious About the Deficit

News outlets are noting that budget negotiators are "inches away" from a deal to avert a government shutdown, but that the one item holding a full deal back is the Republican's policy rider for fully de-funding Planned Parenthood, under the auspices that no tax dollars should go to fund abortions.

Unfortunately, there's just one small hitch. It is already federal law that no federal dollars go to funding abortion services; it's called the Hyde Amendment. And in fact abortion services makeup only 2% 3% of the services Planned Parenthood provides. So what does Planned Parenthood do, you ask? They largely provide basic health services for low-income women. Things such as mammograms and standard GBYN health exams and drum roll please...birth control! Perish the thought!

Most economists have called the funding of Planned Parenthood a deficit reducer. Why?

What do you think costs more? The $10-15 subsidy a month so a low income young woman can buy birth control? OR... The cost of the Child Income Tax Credit for 18 years? Let's also assume that this young woman is a single mother who has to stay home from high school and will probably never end up paying a tax dollar in her life. Hmmmmm... I wonder.

Methinks the birth control pills are cheaper for the government to help pay for.

Now, you might say maybe teens shouldn't be having sex at all! But your problem is not with Planned Parenthood, but with the man upstairs. It is His PERFECT design (right?) to make teens hornballs with larger and more active amygdalas and less active frontal lobes during this crucial timeframe. Too bad he designed humans so poorly to have intercourse when they were most fertile and physically healthy.

So Republicans, take the deal. We can argue (again) about abortion in 2012. And if you're serious about reducing the deficit, buy the damn birth control. Isn't having fewer poor people walking around the U.S. your favorite thing ever, anyway?