Letter: Reality and abortion

There have been many editorials on abortion since the leak at the Supreme Court. Central to abortion is the fact that human beings are embodied.

Our bodies bring certain realities. We may think we are masters of our destinies and that we can be whomever we want to be, but our mastery over our lives is limited by reality.

If you are a man, i.e. have an X and a Y chromosome, and have intercourse with a woman of childbearing age, i.e., someone who has two X chromosomes, even if you use contraception, you could become a father and the woman could become a mother. To have intercourse is to choose to take the chance that another human being, who also has a body, comes into existence, a human being who can love and touch the lives of countless other human beings.

This is the miracle of life. The baby being in the mother's womb does not make it less of a human being and certainly doesn't make it disposable. The reality of the woman's body is that it is designed to conceive and nurture that newly created human being until and even after birth.

This is how we human beings begin our lives. Becoming a parent is a huge responsibility but also one of the greatest endeavors of life. This is only one reason why sex should be taken seriously.

Many people find themselves in a position where they don't think they can take on this responsibility. Fortunately, there are also many who desire to adopt a baby so the baby may live. Adoption is a difficult choice, but it is also a loving choice. We all chafe at the constraints of reality, especially when it imposes itself on our dreams, but reality is nothing if not real.

Mark Bodett

Wheaton