In reading this thread, the thread from Erin's blog posted here, and another more recent thread where the subject of abortion came up, I've realized that I view this subject so very differently from perhaps most people.
The embryo or fetus is a human life that has potential to become a viable life, yet I don't see the 'turning back' of that life as something sinful or reprehensible. Somehow I feel like if that soul wants to be born on earth, the soul will find another mother. I don't see a reason to feel guilty about making this decision. I do think there should be some reverence for the life, perhaps involving a sincere heartfelt apology to the potential baby for the decision.
Falkor, you don't go into detail about why you feel so guilty about this decision. Sometimes I read people expressing all this sadness about how the baby doesn't get to be born and do all this cool stuff on earth. That really has nothing whatsoever to do with the baby because if a life really is snuffed out forever, the baby doesn't have the slightest idea. In the Christian view, the baby would go straight to Heaven and get to be with Jesus, so I also don't even understand why some of the Christian factions are so aggressively anti-abortion.
I'm not sure where I came up with these ideas. I do remember the first time I ever heard about somebody I knew having an abortion. I was in junior high, and one of my girlfriends said her older sister was going to have one. This girl and her boyfriend had run off together right after high school and got married, and now a year or so later were getting divorced. Her parents were going to take her somewhere, which I thought was supportive of them, as it would have been at least a 50-mile drive to any city. I remember asking my friend why her sister didn't want to have the baby, but it never seemed to me some horrible decision or anything.
For some reason, all the angst in the world over abortion has left me completely mystified. It makes me feel bad that you feel so awful about this.
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