What about the children?

Several states have some very controversial things on their ballots this election...two of the biggest, of course, involve abortions and gay marriages. In fact, in California, Proposition 8 (banning gay marriage) is in for a *very* close race. Another state is attempting to outlaw any single parent or non-married couple from adopting children (aimed primarily at...you guessed it - gay couples).

So, I don't get it. Beyond the fact that people are people and should be able to love whom they wish and make whatever choices about their body that they wish...where are the kids going to go? You know the kids...the hundreds of thousands of children in this country with no families and no homes?

Here's my thinking...there are already so many children waiting to be placed in their own "forever homes", and so many more already in foster care, that the system is already overburdened trying to keep track of, and take care of, them all. So, let's presume abortion is outlawed. You are now creating a situation where there will be thousands more of unwanted babies - many of them possibly special needs (Down's Syndrome, etc.). Because even if the child has significant health problems, abortion is not longer an option. Where are they going to go? Who is going to take care of them? The already over-burdened system? The same system where kids can just fall through the cracks until they are found chained to a bedpost, or beaten, or starved almost to death?

Then take the gay couples, married or not. Many of these couples want a family. They're not going to raise children to be gay. They're not going to raise them up as satanists. They just want to have children for the same reasons as other folks - to love them, to hold them, to be there for them and help them grow. Now, many of these gay couples adopt children from the foster-care system, thereby giving these previously unwanted children a home and parents who love them.

So, you're outlawing abortions and creating a potential crisis with the adoption system, and then you're taking away the rights of some people to adopt these children. Talk about stuck between a rock and a hard place! Now we have more children with no homes and no family and fewer people able to adopt them. Hm. Sounds like a terrific idea, doesn't it?

Then, while you're at it, we can decriminalize prostitution (Nope. Not kidding. See *California* above) and put a whole new meaning to "endangering the health of the mother" in the abortion clause...