Repuke at Greek Festival

[Delarage]

So I was standing in line at the Holy Trinity Greek Festival in Wilmington, waiting patiently for some spanakopita. Governor Carney (D) walks in and the Repuke couple behind me start talking about how they'll never support a Democrat because of abortion. The husband was particularly adamant about it, while the wife was just saying stuff like "Well, now things are a lot better."

I wanted to vomit and launch into a tirade, but all I could muster was an enthusiastic greeting for the Governor when he passed by us and a "Keep up the good work!"

I realize this is an extremely volatile issue, but I wish there could be some middle ground instead of the extremes (better sex education, better access to birth control, more adoption, etc.). I don't have the answer, but both extremes are more extreme than me on this one.
There's not enough ouzo in the world to get me through that argument.

[MrsCoffee]

1. Can you elaborate on "both extremes" please.

There really is no middle ground on a woman's absolute right to control her own body.

[Delarage]

10. I'll do the best I can

One extreme: Abortion is murder, plain and simple.

Another extreme: A fetus is part of a woman's body that she has complete control over, like having a wart removed, and men should voice no opinion about the issue (even though they are would-be parents, too).

A middle area (maybe): Since "we" (society) cannot agree on either, why don't we all agree to make it rare by promoting better sex education, better access to birth control, promoting adoption more (for cases where the parents didn't feel financially able to care for a child), etc. If it was something very rare, maybe it would not be a single-issue driver for Repukes.

I don't want to start a big argument....I was just pointing out that the people behind me (and many others) are single-issue on this issue and I wish there was a way to sway them. And I don't think it's just a religious thing---even non-religious folks are generally opposed to "murder" in the classic sense and some of the Repuke variety equate abortion to that.

Now that I type that, I guess most Repukes DO claim to be more holy than progressives, so maybe the way to win the morality issue--if that's what it is--is to overwhelm them with the immorality of all of their other policies (helping the super-rich become mega-rich, not being good stewards of the earth, etc.). That's generally what I try. But they always come back to "murder."

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

2. Extremely volatile

bc christian folk can't mind their own business...bc their bored to tears. If they don't want an abortion...don't have one. Sounds like somebodies mom (theirs) missed a chance.

[wasupaloopa]

3. My brother is a Catholic priest. Last month I

was at a reataurant with him and his Deacon.

They started in with some shit about their tax money going to pay for abortions.

That is one topic I don’t discuss with him. There are others too.

[Hugin]

4. It all boils down to... "If you don't approve of abortions, don't have one."

That's really all there is to discuss.

[oberliner]

5. That's not going to work on them

To their ears, it's like saying, "If you don't approve of murder, don't murder anyone.'

You have to understand that they believe abortion is the equivalent of murdering a baby.

You aren't really going to be able to move someone off of that belief that way.

[Hugin]

8. I'm way past trying to change the mind of hypocrites.

However, if you are so inclined to rationalize with the irrational... This piece is very valuable.

"The abortion debate is presented as a conflict between the rights of foetuses and the rights of women. Enhance one, both sides sometimes appear to agree, and you suppress the other. But once you grasp the fact that legalising women’s reproductive rights does not raise the incidence of abortions, only one issue remains to be debated: should they be legal and safe or illegal and dangerous? Hmm … tough question."

"There might be no causal relationship between reproductive choice and the incidence of abortion, but there is a strong correlation: an inverse one. As the Lancet’s most recent survey of global rates and trends notes: 'The abortion rate was lower ... where more women live under liberal abortion laws.'"

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/13/whos-driving-high-abortion-rates-religious-right

[oberliner]

9. Yeah, I think that's the way to go

A potentially persuasive point there - for the 1 in 100 who are open to persuasion.

[YessirAtsaFact]

6. My take on abortion - if you aren't pregnant and no one in your close family is pregnant

It's none of your stinking business.

[2naSalit]

12. Indeed.

[Tipperary]

7. Good for you for standing up for Dems...oh wait.

Never mind.

[Delarage]

11. Wasn't really the place for an all-out war.

I wasn't going to turn around and get in on their conversation. If they had said to me, "Yuck, I can't believe he's here--that filthy abortionist" I would have said something.

I'm quite active for progressive issues and have been for many, many years. You're statement made me laugh and reminisce on all my protests, rallies, arguments at work, money donated, etc.....

Standing with elderly people in line, in a church, did not feel like a good place or time to get into it. Sorry.