5 posts tagged “pro-choice”
http://www.springfieldunitarians.org/Sermons/prochoice.htm
I need to find this church, and hug the woman who gave this sermon.
Comment on Feministing today, about an article in the Kansas City Star.
" As a native of Missouri, I am horrifically embarrassed by the current governor. I find it fitting that, even in the wake of his Abortion Task Force, both this judgment that female inmates retainin their right to control their reproductive destiny *and* the 35th anniversary of the Roe v Wade decision fell on the same day he made his YouTube statement about his impending doom--errr, I mean, retirement.
As if, now 8 days before Christmas, one isn't tired of hearing the traditional holiday music and all of its permutations... I run across this Catholic.net comic strip. Umbert the Unborn--featured as part of the "Culture of Life."
It took me a until the 3rd frame to figure out what the 'artist' was doing--constructing an anti-choice Christmas carol!!!! How very clever! As a matter of fact, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is one of the most beloved *childhood* Christmas songs of which I am aware; everyone knows the words, the tune, and the story-of-the-bullied-turned-leader concept that makes it so uplifting. It's a song that already boasts a host of parodies--why not add another?! Between the song, the cartoons, and (my favorite) the 1970s claymation classic, the carol is ubiquitous from Black Friday until December 26th. Some of us are even "fortunate" enough to be trapped in Christmas-time until the New Year.
However, the idea of a fetus driving the sleigh of a fictional character through sub-freezing temperatures is the least of Umbert's worries. The final frame gives us the *real* opinion of the anti-choice movement:
"...have a great life until birth!" (Emphasis and outrage mine)
Yes, baby Umbert--who will be protected from evil health care professionals by God-warriors who waste entire days of their lives screaming at women in front of health care offices, murdering physicians and nurses, fire-bombings of clinics, and other means of obstruction of social justice--we want you to have a fabulous and wonderful LIFE. We want you to enjoy your experience from conception...through implantation, embryogenesis, organ development, and then the descent through the birth canal. Then we really couldn't care less. You're born, your life has been protected....time to go soldiering on in front of Planned Parenthood. Speaking of soldiering...where will you be 18 years from now? We'll need you to pick up a Selective Service registration form--might have to send you off to kill some "Islamic Extremists" and their innocent neighbors in order to protect our right to be fabricated-Christian-doctrine Extremists.
Doesn't anyone understand that simply ensuring that a baby is born does absolutely nothing whatsoever for his or her life!? Barring unsuitable intrauterine conditions, inherited disorders, embryological problems, or premature birth, babies enjoy basically the same experience during gestation. Their lives are the same as everyone else's...until they're no longer attached to their mothers. Then, the determination of a "great" or a "poor" life can be made. Being born, while obviously necessary to have a life, is not the dictator of the quality of life. Being born to a poor, single mother with 3 children, however, is going to be an undeniable influence on quality of life, both immediately, and in the future. It seems not to matter to those who would gladly kill for the sake of a bundle of cells. They just want a birth to celebrate. They don't want to take any responsibility for the appropriate upbringing, health care, or other needs of a child who is born when he or she probably shouldn't have been.
Another concept often missed by the Anti-Choice Religious Right is this: not every child born is going to be a beautiful, white, straight, Christian. Some of them will be....black! Gay! Atheist! Buddhist! Progressive! *GASP!!* The Catholic responsible for the animation of Umbert readily ignores these facts. Umbert is, as far as we can tell, a well-developed, Caucasian male. His parents, as evidenced by past comics, are married and happy to be expecting. His father works and "takes care of [his] mother," which is another wonderful generalization that can be applied to Umbert's perceived socioeconomic class.... but few others'. One of his friends (how they can be in the same environment, let alone a spaceship, I don't know...ask the crazy people responsible!) is black, but seems to be in the same situation enjoyed by Umbert, and is only featured occasionally.
I guess the bottom line to this post is this: to all of my beloved anti-choice protesters, radically conservative activists, and those dedicated to manipulating your religious doctrine to support your own opinions of oppression toward women....
GOTCHA!!!! May the child you 'save' be a gay/lesbian, liberal agnostic, who votes in EVERY SINGLE ELECTION.
As if, now 8 days before Christmas, one isn't tired of hearing the traditional holiday music and all of its permutations... I run across this Catholic.net comic strip. Umbert the Unborn--featured as part of the "Culture of Life."
It took me a until the 3rd frame to figure out what the 'artist' was doing--constructing an anti-choice Christmas carol!!!! How very clever! As a matter of fact, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is one of the most beloved *childhood* Christmas songs of which I am aware; everyone knows the words, the tune, and the story-of-the-bullied-turned-leader concept that makes it so uplifting. It's a song that already boasts a host of parodies--why not add another?! Between the song, the cartoons, and (my favorite) the 1970s claymation classic, the carol is ubiquitous from Black Friday until December 26th. Some of us are even "fortunate" enough to be trapped in Christmas-time until the New Year.
However, the idea of a fetus driving the sleigh of a fictional character through sub-freezing temperatures is the least of Umbert's worries. The final frame gives us the *real* opinion of the anti-choice movement:
"...have a great life until birth!" (Emphasis and outrage mine)
Yes, baby Umbert--who will be protected from evil health care professionals by God-warriors who waste entire days of their lives screaming at women in front of health care offices, murdering physicians and nurses, fire-bombings of clinics, and other means of obstruction of social justice--we want you to have a fabulous and wonderful LIFE. We want you to enjoy your experience from conception...through implantation, embryogenesis, organ development, and then the descent through the birth canal. Then we really couldn't care less. You're born, your life has been protected....time to go soldiering on in front of Planned Parenthood. Speaking of soldiering...where will you be 18 years from now? We'll need you to pick up a Selective Service registration form--might have to send you off to kill some "Islamic Extremists" and their innocent neighbors in order to protect our right to be fabricated-Christian-doctrine Extremists.
Doesn't anyone understand that simply ensuring that a baby is born does absolutely nothing whatsoever for his or her life!? Barring unsuitable intrauterine conditions, inherited disorders, embryological problems, or premature birth, babies enjoy basically the same experience during gestation. Their lives are the same as everyone else's...until they're no longer attached to their mothers. Then, the determination of a "great" or a "poor" life can be made. Being born, while obviously necessary to have a life, is not the dictator of the quality of life. Being born to a poor, single mother with 3 children, however, is going to be an undeniable influence on quality of life, both immediately, and in the future. It seems not to matter to those who would gladly kill for the sake of a bundle of cells. They just want a birth to celebrate. They don't want to take any responsibility for the appropriate upbringing, health care, or other needs of a child who is born when he or she probably shouldn't have been.
Another concept often missed by the Anti-Choice Religious Right is this: not every child born is going to be a beautiful, white, straight, Christian. Some of them will be....black! Gay! Atheist! Buddhist! Progressive! *GASP!!* The Catholic responsible for the animation of Umbert readily ignores these facts. Umbert is, as far as we can tell, a well-developed, Caucasian male. His parents, as evidenced by past comics, are married and happy to be expecting. His father works and "takes care of [his] mother," which is another wonderful generalization that can be applied to Umbert's perceived socioeconomic class.... but few others'. One of his friends (how they can be in the same environment, let alone a spaceship, I don't know...ask the crazy people responsible!) is black, but seems to be in the same situation enjoyed by Umbert, and is only featured occasionally.
I guess the bottom line to this post is this: to all of my beloved anti-choice protesters, radically conservative activists, and those dedicated to manipulating your religious doctrine to support your own opinions of oppression toward women....
GOTCHA!!!! May the child you 'save' be a gay/lesbian, liberal agnostic, who votes in EVERY SINGLE ELECTION.
I posted this as a comment on Melissa's amazing post about conscience clauses provided for physicians as a "moral safeguard" against performing abortions, if they are opposed to the practice. You can read it here: Melissa's Post
You and I are incredibly like-minded on this subject, so you know that I agree with you on the entirety of this post.
I
think that the choice NOT to have an abortion is just as valid as the
choice to undergo the procedure, and that no one should ever be forced
or coerced into either decision. Millions of women choose NOT to have
an abortion every year--I have the utmost respect for those women,
their choices, and their commitment to raising the child in question.
However,
the women who make the choice to terminate a pregnancy are often doing
so to benefit many people OTHER than themselves: a financially
burdened family, several children who are already suffering in a
single-parent household, or a loved one who has fallen ill and needs
personal care on a daily basis. These women don't need judgment,
especially by all of us other "corrupt" sinning Christians--they need
support. Abortion as birth control is a myth. Freely-accessible birth
control (that isn't abstinence, which isn't actually birth control, but
a practice) that is safe for everyone, easy to use, and 100%
effective.... is also a myth.
While I believe that abortion should be available and safe, I also hope that it will become rare, if not completely obsolete. However, the Victorian attitude that our society has placed upon sex ("Sex is a filthy activity--so save it for someone you love!"), and the unwillingness for select religious/conservative/etc. groups to allow for open, comprehensive dialogue on the subjects of sexuality and sexual expression, birth control, and STI prevention have landed us where we are today. We have a long way to go before we can prevent all the unwanted and dangerous pregnancies that end in abortion.
And, yes, I am totally on board to staff the Women's Hospital with you. :)
In all reality, until insurance companies are "required" to cover Ortho Tri-Cyclen AS WELL AS Viagra, children who are taught sex-ed at school (instead of by their parents) are taught how to use a condom, a pill or a ring, without the insistence that anything other than abstinence guarantees AIDS and death, and women are given the same status as a human being as the man who impregnates her and takes off... My pro-choice brethren and I will have our work cut out for us.
On the topic of Physician-Assisted Suicide: I side with the Oregon legislature on this one. I think it should be available (only to physicians who are recognized by the state board of medicine, and who are not subject to conscience clauses), but should have stringent steps and guidelines that are overseen by several people throughout the process. You can read the statute here: Death With Dignity Act I am a staunch supporter of withdrawal of life-support, when authorized by power of attorney or advanced directives, and informed refusal of treatment, but only by a patient who is competent and voluntarily requests such conditions. These are extensions of the autonomy that each human being deserves, and should be provided as a patient. Suicide attempts by "traditional methods" fail all the time, and death from cancer can ravage the human body relentlessly for months. I walk a fine line on this subject because I believe that suicide, in the majority of the population, is horrendously selfish; a fellow Mizzou student jumped off a dorm balcony about 18 months ago, and I couldn't imagine what could make someone want to die in such circumstances, at such a young age. Having witnessed the death of my grandfather from stomach/esophageal/liver cancer, and the deterioration of my grandmother's total body muscle mass over the last 15 years, I can imagine how an unrelenting force completely out of one's own control could make a person want to control their own death by deciding how much pain he or she is willing to bear, while death is unquestionably near. Dying on one's own terms, in comfort and without fear, is something, in my humble opinion, that terminally ill patients should be able to choose.
[Insert concise conclusion here.]
Yeah, I was always the "most heartless person in the room" during my Medical Ethics course. I don't expect for everyone to agree with me, but I just want my side to be heard, and my reasoning to be understood.
I don't know if anyone on this site read the comments on the KC Star site where the article is posted, but some of those people are downright frightening. The commenters' solutions included forced/secret sterilization and forcing the inmates to pay all termination costs out-of-pocket... In short, the ignorance of my fellow Missourians is boundless.
Interestingly, even those who spoke out against abortion (as a murder of a child of God--yadda yadda yadda) used the misfortune of these women as a platform to bitch about "my tax dollars going to pay for these kids for 18 years." Ultimately, the arguments took into consideration only how the possibility of inmates receiving comprehensive reproductive care would affect ME, and MY GOD. Not the woman forced to carry a child in a hostile environment with limited resources--or her relationship with her OWN god/goddess(es).
35 years after Roe, we're still asking if *all* women deserve equal rights to their own bodies. How sad."
And a comment in response to the vitriol spewed on the Kansas City Star post at the above link:
"I am amazed and saddened at the ignorance and selfishness displayed by the vast majority of the comment-makers before me. Most of you, I'm guessing, have never faced the issues most of the women in prison are confronted with--let alone seeing those compounded by an unintended pregnancy. It is very easy for those of us privileged--enough to not live in poverty, to have health insurance, to have access to family planning and birth control resources, to not be raped by those who are supposed to guard our safety--to see this as a simplistic matter that dehumanizes and blames someone unlike "us."
Secondary to the hatred for women and their desire to determine when or whether they become mothers, I am appalled by the selfishness indicated by the complaints about the fate of the proverbial tax dollar. Trust me--the effects that these situations have on your pocketbook are the smallest ripple on the pond. You are all writing from computers that are connected to the internet, which indicates you all are working or are wealthy enough to afford both a computer and an internet connection. If you're still hurting for money, maybe you are the one with bigger problems here.
If you are personally against abortion--simply don't have one. Your obligation is to your body alone. Other than that, why don't you all just let the Constitution do its job?"
Check out some of the comments on the KC Star page. It's really sad that people are so backward.