I grew up with the understanding that abortion was just another option people had when a condom broke or the pill didn’t work, without really putting any though to it.  I now firmly believe ANY abortion after 20ish weeks is murdering an unborn child.  Viability at 25+ weeks is now so good that terminating a pregnancy voluntarily removes the life from an infant that could be delivered and cared for by adoptive parents. 

 

My personal view is even after 10-12 weeks an abortion is a hard sell.  Enough of the brain, heart and other systems have formed to make it an ambiguous argument as to a sentient life being formed. 

 

The problem with the whole abortion issue is the way the parties are defining the only two viable positions.  Pro-life or pro-choice.  Where pro-life means ZERO abortions and pro-choice means any where, any time for any reason.  This forces candidates in the middle to align into basically 50/50 split on the subject.  You get stances like “I’m pro-choice” or “I support the woman’s right to choose” or “I support the law as written” BUT!!!! I personally oppose abortion.

 

I think the break down really 3 positions.  To the first two (typically religiously held zero abortion and typically liberal anytime anywhere) and a third (most of moderate/realistic America) that is: Abortions should be legal up to X point in time and then illegal.  While people can debate exactly what the X point in time should be, it centers around what is going on inside the womb.  Some would argue brain and heart (week 10-12 first trimester).  Some would argue any chance of viability (currently week 21.4).  Some would argue reasonable viability (week 24-26 second trimester). 

 

In looking ahead, I see a day where third trimester abortions are illegal in all but the most rare circumstances.  The standard political clap trap of “except for rape, incest or life of the mother” just doesn’t pass the smell test anymore. 

 

Rape:  If you have carried a fetus to 27 weeks already after a rape and haven’t made the decision to end the pregnancy, its just plain wrong.  Carry to term, induce or have a c-section and let a loving family have the child.

 

Incest:  Ditto above.  Even in incest, pregnancies the rate of defect aren’t prohibitively high and vary in degree.  Baring an actual diagnosis of serious genetic issues, an abortion based on chance for defect alone should be decided far sooner.

 

Life of Mother:  While a nice platitude, has been perverted to health of mother and any thing from a potentially fatal clot to a diagnosis of depression can be used as reason to end a child’s life. 

 

Roe vs. Wade:  Bad law.  Should be overturned.  States should regulate and/or the congress and senate should write a law based on the acceptability of the people they represent.  I dare say it would look a lot closer to my views of available, but limited.

I was born in Minnesota in 1968.  My mother is slightly right of center and my father is exceeding far left.  Both my sisters are right of center.  My younger only slightly so, but my older is near on evangelical.  I broke away from my fathers religions mold.  He spent some time in the seminary and continues to be a church deacon.  I’m an agnostic.  I remain so due to a mix of all the common hypocrisies and logical inconsistencies in religion.  I understand the draw of community, traditional and social aspects of formal religion, but don’t accept much of the dogma. 

 

I spent 4.5 years in the Army as a 98G (radio intercept linguist) after graduating from high school.  This included training for 18 months of Arabic language school in Monterey, 4 months in Texas and 2 months in Massachusetts.  I deployed with the 101^st Airborne to Saudi Arabia in ’90 and was on the first flight that established FOB Eagle in Iraq during desert storm.

 

My father had some serious issues with George HW Bush.  He entered into a lawsuit on my behalf having to do with the involuntary extension.  (re: Cindy Sheehan)  I got a special ride out of Iraq back to Saudi to talk to the JAG.  They asked me about my father and I got to respond something along the lines of:  “I’m not pleased about the extension, but when Congress declared the state of emergency on Jan 12 everything was much clearer as per the contract I signed like everyone else.  I was not a party to my father’s activities.  I was then put back on a chopper to FOB Eagle.

 

Once out of the service, I got my BS in Comp Sci and started working for Intel Corp.  I’ve held positions like Sr. Automation Software/Systems Developer/Engineer (mix and match) for 12 years.

 

I’ve always been interested in Political Science and even took a few electives in college.  I don’t really think I woke up to how things worked until maybe 2002.  In the 5 years since, I’ve shifted more to the “right”.  I had always been a small government/fiscal conservative, but my social leanings were more moderate if not left of center.

 

Here is a look at my voting record.  Bush, Clinton, Clinton, Gore (can I get a do-over?!), Bush.  The only Dem I can reasonably see even considering this time around is Bill Richardson.  The Republicans that I prefer are Mitt and Rudy.  While I like Newt and Fred in the game from an ideas aspect, I don’t see them as having the resume for the job.  I don’t think Rudy makes sense as a VP for Mitt, if he’d even take the job.  Of the crop of 2^nd tier candidates, Duncan Hunter appears to have the best package to round out a prime ticket.

I've been pondering this pair for a couple weeks now.

I've been a Romney man since Dec '04.  I like Guliani but I don't think he has the same level of management experience as Mitt.  McCain has been a non-starter.  It was bad enough holding my nose while voting for him for Senate.  I don't see presidential material in any of the other announced candidates.  Fred is so much hype.  The man has ZERO executive experience.  His tenure in the Senate was unremarkable. 

The more I see of Duncan Hunter the more I like.  Of all the people in the running, Duncan offers the most to the ticket.  He is going to be seen as an independently strong candidate, but without enough national recognition to win the game himself. 

http://powerlineblog.com/archives/017839.php