Now it makes sense...

So, I've been commenting lately on how remarkably conservative I've found SOCAL to be. The war and immigration being the biggest issues I hear about daily. But on one other topic, abortion, I'm perpetually amazed at how MATTER OF FACTly conservative California appears to be. That is to say, the consensus is for Pro-Life. I have no problem with one being pro-life. Personally, my stance would be Pro-Life if at all possible, but hell if I or the courts have the right to say so definitively.

I learned a long time ago, coming from a family of women, that my voice is pretty irrelevant on such matters. I remember one time, my sisters, mother, aunts, talking about breast feeding pros and cons. I cavalierly offered up this gem: "When I get married, I don't think I'll insist that my wife breast feed." They uniformally stopped me in my tracks and said (with their eyes), "Your DAMN right you won't insist on much of anything!" Once I'd scraped myself off the floor, I took to heart the fact that, to paraphrase a New York expression, my opinion on women's rights and $1.50 will get you on the subway.

Anyway, as a Libra, I've always been able to see both sides of things. On this topic especially, how could you not? I certainly understand why someone could see it as "killing," to a degree (albeit, it seems ludicrous to me in the first two tri-mesters), but I also certainly can see how sometimes in life, it's probably best that it's done, either because of health risks, or economic realities. So given that, I've been stunned at how staunch the pro-lifers are out here. And the other day, it finally hit me. It's a melding of a lot of the things I've been talking about out here.

Since I've been here, I haven't seen anything REMOTELY close to say, North Newark, or Camden, though I'm sure some version exists somewhere. Here, I've seen skateboard parks, little league fields, and clean schools. I see two-parent households, WITH nannies to boot. I see crossing guards. I see afterschool activities. I DON'T see drug pushers. I don't see unemployment. I don't see welfare moms. OF COURSE everyone wants these kids to live. Why wouldn't they? Life is eden out here for a child. Conversely, elsewhere in the world, where HARSH realities exist, it's not so easy sometimes. There are economic realities that I think Californians can fail to comprehend because they're generally conceptual to them, more than actual. I guarantee you, the same Californians on the soapbox about pro-life would invoke the same venom they have towards the immigrants, were abortion to be outlawed, and there was an influx of welfare mothers and their kids. "Why are my tax dollars going towards these un-wed mothers and their babies?!?! Haven't they heard of contraception?!?" You get the idea. It's that underlying hypocrisy that chafes me above all else about the pro-lifers. Their agenda should be amended to, "Pro-life so long as I'M not bothered."