Scott Liddicoat

It’s such a slam dunk I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before!  I don’t know why someone else didn’t think of it before.  And where did the inspiration for this perfectly fair and democratic slam dunk come from?  Of all things, preparing my taxes. 

Let’s start at the beginning.

Both sides make the claim that abortion is a moral issue.  Those who are for the right to choose abortion look upon it as a moral question.  They say a woman has a moral right to choose what happens with her body.  Those who are against abortion believe the unborn is a person.  They say that every person has the moral right to life.

Neither science nor the courts have come up with an unequivocal answer or solution.  Thank goodness the politicians aren’t capable of doing so. 

So here’s a great start at decreasing hostility around an abortion issue that everyone can agree on.

No one should expect a pro-choice advocate to be forced to fund pro-life programs.  Everyone can agree pro-choice supporters shouldn’t be required to fund initiatives they morally oppose.  For this reason there should be no public funding for pro-life institutions and activities. 

Similarly, no one should expect a pro-life advocate to be forced to fund pro-choice programs.  And likewise, everyone can agree pro-life believers shouldn’t be required to fund initiatives they morally oppose.  Public funding for pro-choice institutions and activities should not be allowed for this reason. 

But public, or government funding can still be arranged, and very simply.  Here’s where the inspiration for this idea came from.

Just below the  Amount You Owe line on tax forms will be printed two new lines with boxes to their right.  One will say, Your donation to support pro-choice institutions and activities.  The next will say, Your donation to support pro-life institutions and activities.  You select the group you’re morally in line with.  Then you write in the amount of additional taxes you want to pay toward your group as a true measure of your support for them.

At the end of tax season, government will have a budget available to fund pro-choice priorities they favor for the next year.  Likewise, another budget will be available for funding pro-life activities.  Each budget will reflect the moral choices of individual American citizens.  Just as important, no one is forced to support anything to which they’re morally opposed.

Will there be taxpayers who offer no support to either group?  You can be sure of it. 

Some won’t be able to afford it.  No one is in a better position to decide if they can’t afford to support either group than the person paying their taxes.

Others may have higher priorities.  For example, parents may decide to save money for their children’s college fund instead.  An older couple may decide it’s more important for them to save money for their retirement.  Taxpayers will manage these decisions smoothly and capably.  And how can someone else say there’s a more important moral claim on another person’s tax money?

The benefits of this plan are  crystal clear. 

Above all, it honors everyone’s moral beliefs.  In hand with this, it requires no coercion or force.

On top of that, it’s genuinely and purely democratic.  This program permits We the People to choose in the most democratic of ways.

Finally, government will no longer have to tax and fund the above-mentioned institutions and activities within their budget or through Medicare.  This plan will reduce deficit spending and the price inflation that always follows it.

Inflation decreased.   Budget and deficit reduction.  No force or coercion.  Everyone’s moral choices are respected. 

This is a slam dunk win for everyone!