Can You Be a Pro-Life Democrat?

[CozyMystery]

37. I have always been pro-choice

I was urged by my neonatologist to abort at least 1 of 3 fetuses when I was pregnant with triplets. There was a reason - both remaining babies had a higher chance of being born alive. There was also a 10% chance of a miscarriage after that procedure was done.

My husband and I replied "No!", as a spontaneous utterance, and that was that. Our triplets are in their early 20s now.

The difficulty, as I see it, lies in the determination of when an embryo develops into a full-fledged human being. See Wired, Why Science Can't Say When a Baby's Life Begins, https://www.wired.com/2015/10/science-cant-say-babys-life-begins/

I personally believe that when a fetus is viable outside the womb, it is a human being. At the same time, my triplets were born at 27.5 weeks. They weighed between 1 lb. 6 oz.and 1 lb. 15 oz. They were in incubators and on respirators. They were in the neonatal intensive care unit for 3 months, and one had to return to the NICU for several weeks.

So even viability brings up another question -- if a baby's life is dependent on machines, is it viable? Well yes, but what if the machines are not available? Then the answer is no. Two babies, differently situated.

This issue is like a tangled ball of yarn. The only way to resolve it is on a case by case basis, IMO, and that means give the choice to the woman and support her choice, no matter what it is.

I don't make the abortion issue the main factor in how I vote. It turns out that I am not for the policies of the pro-life crew and wouldn't vote for them anyway.