The right to die initiative and other topics...

Here in Washington, there is right now an  initiative in the upcoming ballot to allow terminally ill patients to request for a prescription that will end their lives (they have to administer the drugs themselves).  

This week was "Life week" at the Catholic church. The pro-life argument expanded over this initiative and it was as expected, the main topic on the sermon last Sunday.

On going to church, I see the time as a structured time for reflection/meditation more than anything, I also see the benefit of my daughters seeing a community that in many occasions does the right thing in providing services and support for people in need. Of all the different religions and churches/temples I have seen, catholics (specially Jesuits) can be a reasonable crowd.

Now, my problem is that I honestly do not believe in the need of all the rites and ceremony involved, and more often than not, I end up having a silent discussion with the priest on the sermon, which although it is stimulating intellectually, it kills the quiet meditation time idea. 

So, going back to the initiative idea, I can see why the church opposes it and I understand where their arguments come form. Still I do not oppose it. Opposing it, means to me that I am telling someone who hopes their next breath is their last and curse their last one was not, that I know better. Even I am not you or in your situation I know what is best for you. Not because I am doing the right thing for you, but because by doing so I prove that my beliefs are right. 

I take away the options from you.

I think that is my issue with the whole thing. Taking your options away. It is not that you did the right thing, it is that you have no option but to do what I think is right. So forget about all that rhetoric around free will. 

Free will means that I make a decision based on my needs and knowledge, and in many cases my fears. But that is not allowed. If you are anti-abortion you can claim that you need to remove the free will of the woman expecting because the fetus cannot defend itself. But I see the problem a little different. 

I believe that abortion is not the first option a woman takes, but the last (and yes, I know you can always find an example that proves this wrong, but  it is the exception not the rule). I see that my efforts, and I hope others is to make sure that there are other options. This defines me as a pro-life pro-choicer, or some other word game like that.

More often than not, a single mother is guaranteed a life of poverty. Why not provide support services for them (job and education)? Why not provide comprehensive sexual education, so there is no pregnancy in the first place? 

But I know, it is easier to preach compassion than to act, abstinence only is expected, where being a single mother is still a stigma and you can show violence but never sex, when poverty is seen as a character flaw, all this is a very tough sale. 

So there you have the paradox created, you want people to make the right choice, without giving them the tools to make them and by pretty much giving them a single option, so there is really not choice.