The winter was long and cold, but now spring is here in the upper Midwest and it is beautiful! Yesterday, in the Sunday edition of the Star Tribune, there was an editorial written by Lori Sturdevant called "Medicine, religious freedom support abortion rights". Ms. Sturdevant had asked to interview me regarding my book and the concepts in it. Given the recent leaked draft Supreme Court document by Justice Alito, there has been so much discussion in the media regarding the abortion topic. But so many times, the concept of freedom of religion has not been connected to the abortion issue. Also both sides of the issue often demonize the other side. In my book, I emphasize the concept of "pro-choice/pro-life"- a term that I coined in order to explain what I believe and what I believe God wants us to promote. Certainly God wants us to respect all of life. But I do not believe that it means that God wants every woman to carry every pregnancy to term in every situation. The so-called "pro-life" movement has been so intent on making abortion illegal, but I do not see many efforts to promote contraception to reduce the chance of unintended pregnancy. In fact, many of the "religious right" seem to think that contraception is against God's will. The patient that I referred to in my book who thought I should not do vasectomies was, in his mind, a staunch Catholic. He believed that God decided in every case whether or not conception occurred in a given individual. Certainly many people do not believe that. If contraception were openly discussed in our society and widely promoted by all, there would be fewer unintended pregnancies. But no birth control is perfect, and the need for abortion will not be able to be eliminated.
I will continue to express my thoughts about the many aspects of the abortion issue in the time to come. I encourage all of you to read my book to get the facts and to consider what you believe as well as what others believe in our society. Our democracy depends upon our respecting different beliefs and respecting the Constitution as the guiding force for deciding legal issues in our society. Take care.
