It has been a week and yet the dust has already begun to settle about the shooting that took place at a Colorado Planned Parenthood facility.Perhaps it is because of another high profile mass shooting that took place a few days later and national attention spans cannot handle more than one issue at a time. “No more baby parts.” That is what the Colorado shooter allegedly said to the investigators interrogating him after he turned himself in.
The shooting comes on the eve of the release of several undercover videos put out by the Center for Medical Progress showing associates of Planned Parenthood describing how they profit off of the sale of aborted fetal tissue.Even to the staunchest Planned Parenthood supporter that claim may be off putting. So imagine what it does to the most extreme pro-lifer.
The blame game follows suit inevitably follows suit after any mass shootings that attain prime national media coverage. Usually the blame falls on everything other than the shooter himself.Was it video games, poor access to mental healthcare, or in this case vile right wing political rhetoric? There is a natural human instinct to know why such atrocities occur.
In some cases that drive inspires people to identify a problem and attempt to fix it.More often than not, however, one side gets caught in the political crossfire.This time it’s the republicans for their insistent demand to defund Planned Parenthood.
Now they are subject to attacks from the left that the Colorado shooting was a result of their “inflammatory” accusations. Ruth Marcus of the "Washington Post" is one example.She writes an opinion piece on the subject calling out republicans for their “irresponsible” bombastic claims. She argues that when painting Planned Parenthood as cesspool of violence and evil akin to Nazis, is it any wonder that you stir mentally unstable people to commit violent actions.
Valerie Richardson of the "Washington Times" writes the opposing piece where she blames the left of hypocrisy on the issue. By claiming republicans are to blame for such a mass shooting is equally inflammatory. She writes, “Pro-choice advocates called out the “hateful rhetoric” on the right but didn’t exactly mince words themselves.”
Both sides of the aisle continually paint caricatures of the other side but seldom is there ever any real debate on the issue and quite frankly there needs to be. The stakes could be dire if in fact we are wrong and a fetus is a human being. Instead of the republicans being responsible for the deaths of three people in Colorado, the entire nation is responsible for the genocide of millions of children.
On the flip side if the fetus is not a child then you deny a woman the right over her own body and if you can deny her you can deny anyone. There is no such thing as a closed debate and on this issue the debate should never close. Scientific discoveries, new theories and new arguments are being produced all the time. We need to listen to them because they can change the way we look at the world. Each side of the issue remains firmly cemented in their beliefs refusing to hear anything that challenges their assumptions. It is of paramount importance, however, that those beliefs be challenged.
People’s lives are truly at stake. Enough with calling people Nazis enough with the witch hunts.It is time to sit down and talk this over. I know novel idea, let’s just all be friends and walk hand in hand into the utopian sunset of a brighter future. However this is not about being friends at all. It is about discovering the truth however inconvenient it may be. This debate matters because the rights at question here are rights of life. The rights in question belong not only to women or to infants but they belong you to you as well.
