Tuesday, December 7, 2010

What is the issue?

An issue is a question. When you have an argument, it is simply an answer to an issue. When you think about politics, you need to make sure you know what the issue is. You need to make sure that everyone is addressing the same issue. You need to make sure everyone is addressing the right issue.

Abortion provides a perfect illustration of where things can get messy. What is the issue? Here is what it's not. The issue in abortion is not when does life begin. Abortion is taking a life. Anyone who denies it is out of their mind. Clearly a fetus is alive. Now, the issue is also not whether or not we can take a life. That one has a pretty clear answer: yes. Sometimes it is OK to take a life, be it plant or animal (including human animals). The circumstances in which a life can be taken are far from agreed upon, and that is where the issue of abortion fits in. The main issue with abortion is whether, when balanced against the rights of a woman and the realities of the child to be's life, abortion should be allowed as an option for women who are pregnant.

Of course, there isn't just one abortion related issue. One that is not talked about enough, is why do people have abortions? If we are interested in preventing abortions, that is an important issue. Another neglected issue is how do we assist people after they decide not to have an abortion? Do we only care whether they stay alive until birth. How can we make abortions more difficult to procure is not an important issue. Abortions are not like tobacco. People don't want to have abortions. It's not addictive.

The bottom line is that we have to know what the question is before we can answer it. If we are really interested in answering questions and in solving problems, then we need to spend a little time and energy agreeing on the issues.

No comments:

Post a Comment