I had a dream in which the governor of a particular state declared that the priority of his administration was to be nurturing children. The legislature, both the senate and the representatives, proposed, considered and passed laws that had at their core nurturing children.

One of the first departments to move toward nurturing children was Education. After all, the customers for education are children. Soon children were allowed to attend schools that were the best place for that individual student. Teachers were unleashed to teach children in the highest and best teaching methods in an effort to nurture each child’s intellect and help them grow into self-reliant, productive adults. School buildings were both modernized and adequately maintained. Children learned that they had options. If they worked hard and well, they could be anything they wanted to be when they grew up.

The Health Department was close behind. Every child had proper health care regardless of where the child lived or at what socio-economic level. Vaccinations were available. Well-child check-ups were encouraged. Soon nutrition improved in schools and also in the home. Children didn’t miss school because of illness. Schools and families were full of healthy and happy children.

The Housing Department implemented programs to create safe and attractive places for children and their families to live. Not extravagant housing, but adequate in all respects of cleanliness and appearance. There was less vandalism and graffiti. Because children had safe housing, they played outside. Communities were strengthened and neighbors helped one another.

Because children were nurtured in schools, in health care, and in homes, they made better decisions. They went to college or apprenticed for a trade. They put off childbearing because there were so many other things they wanted to accomplish. Schools and colleges graduated good, dedicated workers. Towns, cities and countryside were filled with responsible adults who worked to make a better life for their children. It took a long time, but gradually these good changes became normal for the state that put nurturing children first.

As happens in dreams, there wasn’t any explanation of how all of this happened. But I somehow knew that the government did not tax the citizenry exorbitantly in order to pay for all of the nurturing children programs. It seemed there was less crime so less jails and less law enforcement was needed. As education increased, citizens took responsibility for their own situations and relied on the government less. Non-governmental agencies as well as faith-based organizations flourished as they stepped to the forefront ministering to and nurturing children.

As wakefulness began to intrude on my dream state, my dream played over again in my head. I basked in the remembrance of scenes of children being nurtured. During the day, images and impressions from this dream bubbled up triggered by a word, a sight or smell. The things I saw in my dream seemed extreme. They seemed impossible. They seemed pie-in-the-sky. But, hey, it was a dream. Isn’t that how dreams are?

Nevertheless, I yearned for the dream to be true. I yearned to live in a place where people didn’t just work against something, they worked for something. I yearned to live in a place in which hope was. And I wondered if it could really happen here in the land of wakefulness.

A long time ago I learned that dreams happen because of day residue: things that happen during wakefulness are stored in the sub-conscious and are then acted out in dreams. So what was the day residue that was acted out in this dream? It was the abortion bill. I live in Texas and for months the state legislature has been considering and debating a bill that would effectively end abortion in Texas. This is a volatile issue. Here is what I believe:

A fact of life about the facts of life is that women get pregnant. Sometimes those pregnancies are unwanted. Abortion is one option open to women. Other options are parenting and adoption. Abortion is the law of the land. However, whether it is legally available to women or not, women will seek abortions. It’s better to have a safe procedure than an unsafe procedure. In lieu of making abortion effectively not an alternative, it seems to me that there are things that can be done to empower women before pregnancy occurs: education, health, safe housing and much more.

Abortion is a complicated issue. There is so much more to it than simply being Pro-Life or Pro-Choice. Why can’t we be for something instead of against something? Why can’t we focus on all of life and not just the beginning of life? Focusing on nurturing children could be a good place to start.