Submitted by media girl on 13 September 2008 - 9:35am
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The political "debate" is really a bunch of moralistic posturing. As much as the so-called "pro-life" camp tries to deny it, the crux of the conflict is not about abortion itself, but about governmental control of women's bodies.
A governmental ban on abortion means that the government is deciding what happens inside of a woman's body.
It means the woman has no say.
And it means a lot of scary implications.
Birth control could end up being banned as a consequence, since some people seem to think that "life begins at conception" which would make even the birth control pill illegal. Some people, especially a certain patriarchal legacy from the Roman Empire, seem to think every sperm is sacred, which would make even condoms illegal.
But it goes beyond that. Doctors have determined that drinking during pregnancy can have detrimental affects on the fetus. So do we start arresting pregnant women when they have a drink?
What about smoking? Can a woman who miscarries after smoking a cigarette be jailed for manslaughter?
What is to be considered an unnecessary, even reckless, risk? Riding a bicycle, where you could fall and suffer miscarriage?
What if the woman just has "unhealthy" eating habits? Toss her into prison?
Does the government then establish breeding colonies where women's behavior and diet are strictly controlled, safely protected from the temptations and dangers of the outside world by razor wire and armed guards?
And what if the government decides that certain genetic lines are undesirable -- to many health risks, perhaps, or maybe just "the wrong kind of person"? It has happened before, even in our own country, and not all that long ago. If the government decides on what can happen in a woman's body, and controls the woman's body by force of law, then the government has the power and right to force abortions and sterilizations as well. Is that what we want? A kind of fascist breeding program?
It may sound silly or outrageous to you, but these are real implications of giving government control of the womb, the result of simply making abortion illegal.
Why do abortions happen? Because pregnancy entails real physical risk, real livelihood risk, real social risk, which makes an unwanted, unexpected or dangerous pregnancy a very real problem to the woman. How do we reduce the number of abortions to near zero? There are so many ways that have proven track records, but what doesn't work is government occupation of every fertile woman's body.
If you are really pro-life, then you will see through the false morality of righteous posing that defines the "pro-life" movement, and you will see the falsity of the claim that the pro-choice majority wants to abort babies just for kicks or to pursue some dark satanic agenda.
If you are really pro-life, then you would support:
- Easy availability of birth control
- Emergency contraception (which is not the abortion pill, by the way, which is another thing altogether)
- Real fact-based sex education for all children who are fertile
- The end of abstinence-only education, which is just wishful thinking (or do you really think that kids pumped full of raging adolescent hormones would not even notice their sex organs if adults did not tell them about it?)
- Stronger laws protecting women from date rape, marital rape and general violence against women
- Elimination of all laws that make rape the only felony where the victim's own testimony is not enough to convict the perpetrator (and here I'm speaking to you "tough on crime" folks)
- A cultural change to put responsibility for a woman's pregnancy on the man as well (because she sure didn't impregnate herself, did she?)
- Free sterilization for women who opt for it (for whatever reason)
- Free pre-natal healthcare for women who cannot afford to have a baby
- Free post-natal healthcare for children and women who cannot afford it
- Affordable healthcare for all
- Elimination of all pre-natal coverage exemptions that insurance companies are getting away with right now
- And many many other policies that empower women to more effectively control their own destinies, rather than empower the government to seize women's bodies.
Comments
11 comments postedNo matter what, in deciding who will be our next president, we must remain objective. When it all goes down is when we let our personal feelings and reactions get in the way of long-term thinking. Americans have a problem with seeing the forest through the trees and postponing instant gratification for something in the long term. Here's good links of what happened during the first VP debate: http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/politics/Septe...
What happens inside a woman's body - especially when we are talking about unwanted pregnancy should be regulated by the individuals own best solution. I support every 13 points in your list and think this are extremely important and good arguments. I would like to hear more from McCain and Obama and what they think/feel from a personal perspective about this. Even though I'm not a US citizen I am watching the election closely. US politics are somehow always affecting us in one or the other way either on a short or long term basis.
Nice article media girl!
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Pro-lifers believe in personal responsibility, too, which means you have to pay for your own health care. It can be hard, but if you can't do it, you shouldn't be having sex.
I really like the idea about "policies that empower women to more effectively control their own destinies," though I'm pretty sure the antithesis of this is not empowering "the government to seize women's bodies."
Thoughtful writing, though!
...should be responsible about having sex....
An error in the beginning is an error indeed.
Deceived by The Liar, those who think their bodies belong to themselves (wrong) kill the innocent person living within. The right to choose murder? We wonder why the world is in such a mess when we continue doing wrong.
Has the world gotten any better since Roe Vs. Wade?
Are you any better because of Roe vs. Wade?
As the ever increasing line for abortions get longer so does the line for promiscuity. Evil begets evil.
How many innocent children need to be murdered before things become right? One million, forty-eight million, a billion? And we wonder why things are so wrong and how to fix them. How many people who may have found the cure for AIDS been killed? How many people who could solve world hunger have been slaughtered? Maybe we don't deserve these answers. We certainly haven't been smart enough to give the child a chance.
Keep in mind that there's roughly a fify-fifty change that the murdered baby is female.
And we still keep killing innocent babies.
Yes.
I am pro-life and support most of your points. I do not believe Roe v. Wade can be succesfully overturned until we have true infrastructure set up to aid and help women in a crisis pregnancy. I think you, media girl said some pretty harsh things against prolifers. There are genuine concerned people on both sides of the issue. Oh and I'm sick of this being called a woman's issue. Almost all "women's issues" affect children, if you better a woman's life her children's lives will improve. That's not statistically true for men.
I am a pro-lifer. I agree with you on certain points, though.
"If you are really pro-life, then you will see through the false morality of righteous posing that defines the "pro-life" movement"- I do. Some pro-lifers wish to punish women for having sex. I don't like that idea- a child is a blessing and should be viewed as such.
"you will see the falsity of the claim that the pro-choice majority wants to abort babies just for kicks or to pursue some dark satanic agenda."-on the contrary. I see that pro-choicers have good intentions. They don't want women to die from illegal abortions, nor they do they want the baby to suffer during his/her childhood. I don't want those things to happen either. However, I don't see abortion as a solution.
"If you are really pro-life, then you would support:
Easy availability of birth control...
...policies that empower women to more effectively control their own destinies, rather than empower the government to seize women's bodies."- I strongly support all of the policies media girl has listed. I also think that abstinence-only sex ed is a really stupid and bad idea and bad, ineffective policy.
It is a very delicate question. There could be a lot of pros and cons. Well, here is an interesting video http://www.videorolls.com/watch/Obama-Abortion-The-Freedom-of-Choice-Act-His-Intentions-Revealed-Pro-Life-Video . I wish people stopped discussing this question. Let everything remain as it was.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqXi8WmQ_WM
Thank you for your well written article. I am a pro-choice Catholic male who was once pro-life, because I just had never thought about the implications you raised here. I am now firmly pro-choice, specifically because of these issues. If someone doesn't have the right to decide what happens to their genes & 'blood', and the circumstances of how those are passed on (or not) into the the next generation, & with whom, they effectively have been stripped of all personhood & dignity. To be crude & blunt, its the difference btwn a woman getting to choose the man who will be the father of her children & grandchildren, versus being forced to reproduce with the first gang rapist in line. I can think of nothing more monstrous & evil. This is the logical & practical implications of pro-life ideology, & anyone who thinks this is an exaggeration should visit parts of Latin America & the Islamic world. Civil-rights without reproductive rights are hollow & meaningless. So-called christians who openly argue that woman are somehow slaves to God & so have no say over their bodies wish to subvert every sense of personal honor, dignity, & selfhood that I believe God created us with. I really think that the pro-life movement, as it gets more extreme & twisted, will help bring about the collapse of organized Christianity, as more & more people become disillusioned & seek guidance elsewhere. I don't want to live in a Christian Taliban state & I would give my life to prevent my daughters & granddaughters from being exposed to such a horror.
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