I Wouldn't Read This Is If You're Devoutly Religious And/Or Easily Offended...

So, there's a hash-tag trending on Twitter today which has caught my attention and kind of got me confused. not because of the subject matter, but because of why it's coming up again now randomly.

The hashtag is #PraytoEndAbortion and it kicks up the old argument between "Pro-Life", those who think it shouldn't be a woman's choice to abort on religious grounds or "Pro-Choice", the people that, well actually that one speaks for itself.

I know whatever I say here is not going to go down well which is why I'm refraining from giving my own opinions. I just wanted to share two of the arguments I'm seeing on Twitter and attempt to dissect them and say why they both have merit and may not be completely accurate.

The first one comes from @lindseyyyyy16 who says:

"so you people that disagree with this #PraytoEndAbortion hashtag would rather murder a child that is harmless than put it up for adoption?"

This has some merit because, well, unless you're not quite right in the head, you wouldn't want to kill a child. That's just common sense. And anyone who does is, well, a danger to society. And, yes, the foetus in question is completely harmless and cannot defend itself. I have no issue with that. But, with this tweet in particular (and I do no necessarily agree or disagree with it) I do have a few qualms.

Firstly, it's all very well and good saying "put it up for adoption", but the adoption system in the Western world (specifically America I'm presuming, feel free to correct me if otherwise) isn't quick or easy. It takes a long time for a someone to adopt a child and, in the meantime, you may still be responsible for it in the meantime.

Secondly, the reasons that Abortion are legal in certain places are in place to "protect" women. We covered abortion in great detail in my RE GCSE and I have seen many of the arguments for and against abortion but the one that always resonated with me for some reason, which I'll explain now, it the possible scenario of the child in question being a product of a rape.

As I find this topic hard to talk about generally I shan't delve too much into it, but if a woman had indeed been raped and fallen pregnant because of it, she could carry the baby to term and give it up for adoption, sure. But I can't even begin to imagine the psychological damage that could cause. Waking up and being reminded every day for 9 months. I'm not sure I could do that. Then again I'm a man and will never have to but all the same.

Moving swiftly away from that, there is an argument that suggests that abortion could be necessary if the child has a learning disorder or a physical disability. This I'm also not comfortable with. But that's a whole other blog.

But of course, while I may go into reasons why abortion is legal in some places, I should include some of the reasons as to why many think it shouldn't be legal. My observation is that many of those opposed to abortion tend to be from a religious standpoint. Or have religious views. I'm not judging anyone by saying that, I'm just stating my observation. And, thanks again to my GCSE, I can explain some of these reasons too.

Psalm 139 is a popular choice for Pro-Lifers. (Nearly got that the wrong way round). There is a certain section of Psalm 139 that goes something along the lines of this:

13 For thou hast possessed my reins:

thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.

14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made:

marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

15 My substance was not hid from thee

when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect;

and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.*

This passage suggests that God** created each individual before conception and before birth. Meaning that God knows the plan for every single person on Planet Earth from cradle to grave. Some people take this literally and suggest that to kill a fetus in the womb is to abort a product of God. It was obvious that God had plans for this baby and now there's one less person in the world to complete God's plan. (At least, that's how I understand it)

The other viewpoint comes from @ActuallyBrig who says:

"This #PraytoEndAbortion hashtag that's trending sickens me. More like #PrayToEndIgnorance. No uterus, no opinion".

Again, valid. There is an argument that suggests that men should not give any opinion on abortion as they do have the equipment to conceive and carry a child. (Making this whole blog post void but hey. Sorry Brig). Because it does seem to be men that dominate the abortion discussion. Priests, bishops and politicians all seem to comment and a vast majority of them are men. It's fair to suggest that men do dominate the circles in which this debate thrives.

But this also does derive from the religious context and explain some of the arguments of the pro-choice movement. This could be more construed as a less aggressive opinion but both sides have many opinions more radical than this.

I'm still not going to tell you what I believe and nor will I judge you for what you believe. But there is an underlying motive to this blog post that I didn't mention before. And that's the fact that this argument has appeared on Twitter. The inspiration for this blog post was the fact that this was trending on Twitter. And I find this more strange than the arguments themselves.

Social media is a good tool to get a certain message across, (Just look at the Kony campaign last year), but it's also a great breeding ground for people who will attempt to piss you off for fun. I think the fact that this has trended is incredible in itself but I also think that maybe it's a brave endeavor to have something so controversial high on the social media agenda. Then again, maybe because it's trending there's a safety in numbers?

As I was trawling through the tweets (of which there were thousands!) I seemed to get the impression that there were more pro-lifers than pro-choicers. (If you excuse the turns of phrase!) Which intrigued me as I thought there'd be more pro-choicers. It seems that maybe religion isn't as dead as people seem to think!

Anyway, hope this has somewhat informed you as to what's happening in the world. I didn't write this to cause an argument, I only write stuff like this on here to share with people in case they haven't yet come across it. So please don't judge me for writing about or for expressing my own personal opinions on the matter. I won't judge you for your opinions.

Until next time.

See ya!

* Can someone please tell me how the hell you reference the Bible?! 

** I appreciate and understand that every religion has an approach to Abortion. And I've only concentrated on the Christian standpoint because most of the tweets I came across seemed to come from Christian countries. Also I only learned the Christian angle in GCSE...If you are reading this and you follow a different religion, please comment what you believe! I love learning about new things!