I have always lead an unpredictable show, giving my candid perspective on the news and debates affecting our nation. A recent call to The Savage Nation led me to address my own take on abortion.
Now, the easy answer for anyone in talk radio would be to say that they one hundred percent oppose abortion. That would be the phoney answer, the knee-jerk answer. That’s because they know that is what the audience wants to hear.
Of course, this works in an abstract sense, but in the real word, there is a danger to turning back the clocks completely on such a complex issue.
Banning abortion could have unintended, disastrous consequences for women in this country. I’ve been around long enough to remember the tragic lengths women sought decades ago. I’m talking about illicit abortion mills, women almost killing themselves, using coat hangers to a terminate a pregnancy.
But you should understand that abortifacients have been used since ancient times in almost every society. Years ago, I wrote a book called “Earth Medicine, Earth Food” about Native American healing and in my research I found that many tribes had used plants to end pregnancies that were unwanted long before we could ever imagine this would become an industrial level act here in the United States of America.
Even in the pre-industrial era, they were using plants to end pregnancies in primitive or traditional societies. We must be cautious in making and reversing legislation so that we prevent women from killing themselves, having to fly to third world countries for abortions, or going to shady operators in bad neighborhoods to have abortions.
There has to be some balance in this picture. Once again, I acknowledge that this may not be the popular stance for my profession, but I must offer my sincere observations rather than those that will only boost my ratings. I hope I have not offended the devout Christians amongst my listenership which is a significant part of my audience in expressing to you the picture of this very complex story of abortion.
