Some Guiding Principles: Life

“The infinite dignity and worth of every human being.”

The “abortion question” is one of the most divisive issues around, and that division is mostly unnecessary. The moral arguments of both sides need to be recognized, not simplified into “pro-choice” or “anti-abortion.” Here’s my stand: I support the infinite dignity and worth of every human being. In fact, I helped draft a public statement published in the Salina Journal using exactly those words, after one teen emptied his handgun into another in a public park in broad daylight just a few months ago. To help guard against such acts, we all carry a measure of responsibility to protect others.

In another example (and I write this in 100-plus degree heat), if we do not collectively take responsibility for our use of planetary resources and creation of renewable energy without carbon output, we will certainly lose our own viability as a species. A belief in the infinite dignity and worth of every human being means we must now begin to find solutions, including new technologies and conservation. What’s this got to do with abortion? Stay with me.

I come from a solid faith background. As a Methodist, I served as an officer in both the Methodist Youth Fellowship and the Methodist Student Movement. I studied a year for the ministry before starting a teaching career. I have served as an elder in the Presbyterian Church. The central sacredness of living creatures is essential to my upbringing and subsequent values base. That includes the center of Christ’s message and that of many world religions: compassion for the poor, the downtrodden, and the ignored. Every individual has infinite dignity and worth.

As a society, we bear a great obligation to care for children. Ditto for women. To insure the best life possible for children and their mothers or parents, I join with the national Democratic party in my strong support for a woman's decision to have a child by ensuring access to and availability of programs for pre- and post-natal health care, for programs like the Women Infants and Children program for healthy, nutritional meals for pregnant women, programs for parenting skills, for income support, and for caring adoption. The moral choice to have children deserves respect and support, not only for pre-born, but for ALL living children.

Do we have the stamina to stand behind this position? Poverty, and therefore, money, figure strongly in the answer. The rate of unintended pregnancies among poor women (below 100 percent of poverty) is nearly four times that of women above 200 percent of poverty. The abortion rate among women living below the federal poverty level is more than four times that of women above 300 percent of the poverty level. Three-fourths of women who have an abortion say a reason is that they cannot afford a child. Women who raise children deserve our support.

Planning is an important part, however, of making such women and families self-sufficient. Therefore, I support access to comprehensive affordable family planning services and age-appropriate sex education. Both empower people to make informed choices and live healthy lives. Let’s note that health care and education help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and thereby also reduce the need for abortions.

In any final analysis, I also feel women have the same rights as men, and their choices are to be respected. Therefore, I support a woman's right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and I oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right.

Each woman must, like any man, weigh her life options and choose for herself. When pregnant, this should include the guidance and support of her doctor and her loved ones. But her decisions are ultimately her own.

Most folks would agree the state has no place in our private lives. They are our own, not the government’s.

Simply put, I am for freedom, with responsibility. Kansas law offers opportunity for both, and as such, needs no change.