OPINION: My Support for a Twin Falls Abortion Ban

The pastors behind an effort to ban abortion in Twin Falls aren’t giving up. Last year, a proclamation from Mayor Suzanne Hawkins stated her support for life. It isn’t law and it didn’t obligate her fellow councilmen and women. This year, the pastors have returned and are asking for abolition. Their central concern is Planned Parenthood, which is one of only a few locations in Idaho where a woman can seek a legal termination of pregnancy.

I’m pro-life. People rarely ask my why. Liberals possibly believe I’m just another conservative being mean. My fellow traditionalists apparently don’t see a need to know.

As a boy, doctors broke both of his legs and inserted pegs into his ankles. It allowed him to walk and he could even run but with little flexibility.

Here’s the story and I believe it’s important.

I knew a man named Matthew. He had been born with multiple hereditary birth defects. Two weeks after his birth he underwent his first life-saving surgery. Many more would follow. As a boy, doctors broke both of his legs and inserted pegs into his ankles. It allowed him to walk and he could even run but with little flexibility. He played organized football and was a championship wrestler.

His first surgery as an infant was alerted because doctors had performed the same procedure on an older brother at the age of two months. The brother didn’t suffer nearly as many health issues.

Matthew didn’t have arches on the bottom of his feet. Instead, the opposite. His soles were more like rockers.

Both boys had uncles with similar issues. Today, many would argue these children tax an overburdened health care system. Many in politics urge abortion as a solution. They ask a question, “What kind of life would that child have?”

A simple answer is, “We don’t know!”

Matthew had an affinity for languages. He mastered eight during his life. Some European and some Asian. On September 11^th, 2001, he was teaching school in a provincial city in the Balkans. Horrified by the attack on his country, he boarded a bus and traveled hours to the capital city and the United States Embassy. Where he volunteered his services as a linguist. A guy who could quickly translate Internet and radio chatter.

Matthew was 46-years-old when he died. He lived a full life and traveled the world. I don’t know if my brother’s offer to his country ever played a role in defeating terrorists. I’m sure he would’ve been limited in his ability to share any clandestine work he may have done.

I do know life has value. I do have an answer to what kind of life a handicapped baby can live. I mourn for those talents the world will never know.