Earlier this month, one of America’s most powerful men passed into eternity. William Rehnquist’s death leaves a vacant seat in the Supreme Court and an open door for the issue of abortion to come roaring through.

Pro-life advocate groups look to President Bush to nominate a justice who believes that the killing of fetuses is wrong. Pro-choice advocates expect this, too. On Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee began confirmation hearings for John Roberts. Though the committee will not ask at point blank if he plans on overturning Roe V. Wade, the questions it does ask will be designed to give members some indication of what he might do if the opportunity would arise.

Like it or not, abortion is the main factor that will decide how much of a fight it’s going to take to get anyone approved for anything. Even thirty years after a decision was made, abortion still tears at our country.

Pro-choice advocates demand that no one forces his morality on them. What do they think they’re asking of everyone else? The choice to undergo an abortion is just as moral or immoral as choosing not to do it. Don’t confuse the absence of a religion as an absence of theology and morality or an unbiased state.

We live in a representative democracy. The people elect officials who share their particular world-view or morals. In turn, the government imposes a specific morality on its citizens. Don’t steal someone’s stuff, don’t lie, don’t cheat, don’t murder anyone, etc.

Pro-choicers give examples of incest and rape and the physical danger of young girls carrying a child to term. They cite examples of situations when an abortion is needed to save the mother’s life.

Only about seven percent of abortions are conducted for any of those reasons.

The hundreds of thousands of additional babies killed by abortion are done so for personal reasons. Social abortion is the decision to terminate a pregnancy for the convenience and comfort of the mother. She is in school and doesn’t want to raise a child. She has all the children she wants. She doesn’t want anyone to know she is pregnant. She doesn’t have the money to raise a baby. Sounds like murder to me.

While some of the hundreds of thousands of women having these abortions may be irresponsible avoiding repercussions of their actions, all too many tend to be young, poor and single.

The option of abortion is often the only choice these women believe they have. That’s not a real choice. It’s a short-term answer to life-long issues like poverty. Be pro-choice and pro-life – for everyone involved. Give women a full gamut of options and the child full opportunity to life.

Throwing money (or abortion services) at a problem won’t fix the hurting people underneath it all. Education, responsibility, respect and compassion for and from those who need it is the only way to begin to solve this social crisis America is in. In the meantime, just please stop killing those who cannot defend themselves.

Could this generation be the one that reminds Americans that some choices are wrong?

Leslie Arntz is a sophomore magazine journalism major and a point/counterpoint columnist for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact her at [email protected].