You just cannot legislate abortion
Let’s face it, regardless of what our lawmakers do they simply cannot legislate abortion.
I wish we lived in a world without rape, incest, maternal illness, genetic disease, contraceptive failure, unprotected moments of passion and human fallibility… but we don’t.
To label us pro-choicers as ‘pro-abortion’ is terribly inaccurate. We are for abortion rights. Let the woman and her family make decisions about her uterus, not the government.
Pro-lifer rhetoric makes it sound like pregnant women are breaking down clinic doors to get their “on demand” abortions. No one wants to have an abortion. No one.
Pregnancies happen. Eggs meet up with sperm. About two-thirds of all human fertilized eggs become babies. The rest are expelled from women’s bodies, often before the women even realize they are pregnant.
Pro-lifers say ‘person-hood’ begins at conception. Well, that sounds reasonable.
But we women are letting go of fertilized eggs all the time — at home, at the office, even in the church pews. Happens all the time.
Though I’ve never seen a Fundie praying over a pile of used Kotex , they should. The ‘unborn’ come in all sizes, they claim.
The effect of these state laws that make pregnant women jump through hoops to get access to medical care is to encourage dangerous do-it-yourself abortions. At best, it means wealthy women get out-of-state safe abortions; poor women don’t.
So, if someone asks you to sign a petition declaring a zygote is a person, ask them how such a law would be enforced. Mandatory monthly pregnancy tests for women of child-bearing age? No? Then what use is a law that cannot be enforced?
What are your thoughts about abortion?
About Post Author
Liz Putnam
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Thanks for the comments!
One more thing:
If the Republicans take the Executive Branch and the senate for the next eight years, and if Ginsburg and Kennedy leave the court, Row V. Wade will be overturned.
In fact, even if Kennedy stays this could happen, depending on his mood that day.
P.S.
The cartoon above is priceless, and accurate.
What are your thoughts about abortion?
Glad you asked. I support Roe V. Wade.
I dismiss the inaccurate argument that it is a women’s body we are talking about, and nothing else.
I dismiss the absurd claim that a fetus is not a human. Its entire genetic code is present. I do acknowledge that a wart on my hand also contains my genetic code, and yet it is OK to abort it, even though it is human tissue. I think it is OK because is it not sentient and not feeling. I do not care about its potential to become sentient, though I know it has none.
I further dismiss the claim that a fetus has no inherent rights or that self-sustained viability determines those rights. None of us are self-sustained. We all require our environment and none of us deposited ourselves in a suitable environment as a child, either before or after birth. That argument is silly.
I don’t have a problem with aborting a non-sentient, non-feeling human fetus and I don’t find the fact that without the abortion, he would have become sentient and feeling to be relevant. Without a condom, he may become sentient as well, also irrelevant. I think the morning after pill (perfected) is the greatest thing since pretzels.
I don’t claim to have the answers, but I do claim to be able to quickly dismiss some of the absurd attempts both sides make. Most people’s efforts are to persuade, not to discover. They form their opinion long before they concoct the statements to justify it.
A women’s body is involved and if she waits long enough, a baby fetus is also involved. I don’t know where the point is, but I do suspect that once the fetus has the ability to suffer, we are probably there. Also, the assumption that if we must commit errors in our policy, we should error on the side of killing an innocent human should not be presumed as self-evident.
I find even discussing rape, incest, etc. to be hypocritical as an argument in favor of pro-choice until we have determined the common case. If we think that a woman has the right to get drunk, get pregnant and abort the fetus in the third trimester, then we are hypocrites if we try to affirm that right by arguing about a rape victim’s choice. We should argue what we think for the reason with think it and not introduce irrelevant disparate arguments to try to strengthen our case with insincerity.
In summary, while I support Roe V. Wade, I do not support the silly and often disingenuous arguments my compatriots in the cause use to justify it.
I would not have shared, but you did ask, after all. Your gratitude is felt from afar, and I am giddy with pleasure in the knowledge that was able to do this for you.
Liz, I am and presumably old enough to remember before Roe v Wade and presumably society will go back to what we had then. Their will be those with enough money who can go to other countries, there may a few states that make keep it legal, then there will be the back alley abortions. Until we can somehow get the majority of people to actually start thinking.
If abortion is criminalized, and make no mistake banning the procedure will lead eventually to incarceration, only two types of women will obtain them. The very rich and the very desperate will seek the procedure. The level of care they receive will be significantly different.
Great article Liz- great comments too.
Religion drives this crazy crap and until we can figure out a way to get rid of god this bs is going to continue and people will suffer everywhere. We could start by getting rid of the Catholic Church. They are responsible for driving up the population and indirectly infecting millions of people with STD’s, AIDS, and etc. Great read.
This is an excellent article about a very important subject. Women should have the right to choose what they do with their body and not be subjected to the dogma of the religious nutters.
Liz, I shared this immediately on FB. Wonderful!
Fundie praying over a pile of used Kotex , they should. The ‘unborn’ come in all sizes, they claim. I plan to use that line every time I encounter these anti-choice wing nuts.
Common sense with the perfect touch of acerbic wit. Brava!