While I'm on the music theme, there was a very interesting profile yesterday on NPR of socially conscious hip-hop artist, Common (fka Common Sense). It included a discussion of his 1997 song on (among other things) abortion, Retrospect for Life. Here are a few of the lyrics:

Yo, we gotta start respecting life more ya'll
You look at your brother, man, you gotta see yourself
Gotta see the god within him
Brothers getting changed real quick over nothing
We losing too many of ours
Gotta recreate ya'll
Yo check it

Knowing you the best part of life do I have the right to take yours
Cause I created you irresponsibly
Subconsiously knowing the act I was a part of
The start of something, I'm not ready to bring into the world
Had myself believing I was sterile
Look into your mother's stomach wonder if you a boy or girl
Turning this woman's womb into a tomb
But she and I agree-- a seed we don't need
You would've been much more than a mouth to feed
But someone, I would've fed this information I read,
To someone, my life for you I would've had to leave
Instead I lead you to death
I'm sorry for taking your first breath, first step and first cry
But I wasn't prepared mentally nor financially
Having a child shouldn't have to bring out the man in me
Plus I wanted you to be raised within a family
I don't wanna go through the drama of having a baby's momma
Weekend visits and buying J's ain't gonna make me a father
For a while bearing a child was something I never wanted to do
For me to live forever I can only do that through you
Nerve I got to talk about them niggaz with a gun
Must've really thought I was god to take the life of my son
I could've sacrificed going out
To think, my homies who did it I used to joke about
From now on,
I'ma use self-control instead of birth control
Cause 315 dollars ain't worth your soul
315 dollars ain't worth your soul
315 dollars ain't worth it