Blog for Choice Day 2007
Today is the 34th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade and on this day I celebrate CHOICE. Please allow me to introduce myself, my name is Kim and I am a member of the Pro-Choice majority of this country. I marched with 1.2 million other marchers at the March for Women's Lives on April 25, 2004 in Washington DC and we made history. Don't even think of calling us a minority!It's been scary these last six years with Bush in the White House and all the changes he's made to the Supreme Court. We haven't heard a lot about it on the news as of late, but please don't allow yourself to become complacent. The fight isn't over. It's easy for those of us under 40 to do because we can't remember a time when abortion was illegal. We can't remember the days before the pill was commonplace. Don't let anyone fool you, we can have our rights taken away from us very easily--especially in this political climate. Here's a quote from a newsletter I received from the Planned Parenthood Action fund today. I'm a proud donor.
"Just one week ago, members of the North Dakota legislature introduced several anti-choice measures, including one that would make abortion illegal, directly challenging Roe v. Wade and another that would outlaw abortion only if Roe v. Wade were ever overruled. Other states are considering similar legislation.
And in November, the Supreme Court heard the case of Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood contesting the federal abortion ban. The decision in this case, expected in a few short months, is critically important to protecting women's health and safety." -- Cecile Richards, President Planned Parenthood Action Fund
These zealots don't care about the children they are trying to "save." They vote for a political party who cuts funding to programs like WIC, Headstart, and Welfare and are against Universal Health Care. If they cared about children they would be working with us to make sure that every school had real sex education programs instead of abstinence only. Comprehensive sex education programs drastically reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies and--of course--abortions. Keeping kids in the dark won't do that! Taking away a woman's right to her own body won't do that either!
I'm Pro-choice for the rape and incest victim who shouldn’t be forced to give birth to a child that was created in violence. So that poor victim doesn’t have to be traumatized all over again by being forced to give birth to her rapist’s child. She deserves a choice.
I'm Pro-choice so that we don’t go back to the days of back-alley abortions. So a woman or girl will never again die by trying to give herself an abortion with a coat hanger because abortion is illegal, because emergency contraceptives are outlawed and she has no other option. She deserves a choice. She deserves options. She deserves better.
I'm Pro-choice for my cousin, a mother of a four-year-old son, a diabetic whose second pregnancy put her life at risk. After much soul searching, she made the difficult choice to have an abortion, a decision she didn't take lightly. She very much wanted her second child. I'm Pro-choice so that her son can have a mother, her husband a wife and partner and so that no one can tell her she can’t have a so called "partial birth" abortion. She deserved a choice. Thank God she had one back then.
Thank God we still have one now. Please don't let anyone take our freedom of Choice from us. Please vote for and support Pro-choice candidates in November. Spread the word to your family and friends though e-mail and on your Blog--educate people on the issues. Finally, there are many organizations you can support with your time, money or in other ways. Here are but a few:
ACLU- Reproductive Freedom Project
Now get out there and fight the good fight!
posted by Cherry Red at 1:24 PM
9 Comments:
Hi Kim,
What a pationate post! Thank you for writing it and having the courage to share it. I was a little nervous putting mine up there this morning, but I'm so glad I did. I got to read your (and other's) very supportive comments.
You make a great point that I had forgotton about. Those same people who are aggresivly trying to make abortion illegal are also the ones cutting programs for the poor. It's a sad truth that people living nearer the poverty line are the ones more likely to need an abortion. How do these right wing politicians plan on getting all these children fed I wonder?
Thanks again for your writing and the links you provided. That's a whole lot of useful information!
Hi Meesh,
I hadn't thought about being afraid to post. I suppose that's a very real fear for some--especialy those who live in a conservative area. I actually do, but this is my hot-button issue.
Yes, it's the people who want to "save the babies" but don't care about them once they are born that infuriate me the most. My favorite sign at the march: "And just how many children have you adopted, mister?"
Thank you for writing too. I actually found the link on your blog!
I admire your passion. I really do. I don't agree with all of your politics, but I really love that you are vocal and passionate about them. I also admire your convictions.
I'm not against choice, but I'm not for abortion. Does that make sense? Without trying to get into an argument (as if that would happen here in your comments!), I don't like the whole idea of abortion. Yes, I agree that there are times when a woman shouldn't have to go through a pregnancy, like rape or incest, or when her life in in jeopardy. I don't think those circumstances happen all that often, but they do happen. And I think, in THOSE situations, a woman very much has the right to determine the fate of her own body. However, as a form of contraception, I am very much against abortion. I know, it's so not PC to admit to being against abortion. But I have 6 kids. Six beautiful kids. There were unplanned pregnancies in there, and once I was told that if I carried the baby to term I would die during delivery. I didn't, and he's a very healthy 12yo now. I made a choice. So yeah, I guess I'm pro-choice, but not pro-abortion.
But I am VERY pro-Kim, and I'm very proud of you for sticking up for your beliefs. Not many are willing to do it, and far fewer do it with such grace, eloquence, and style.
You rock, baby!
You Rock too Dee!
I am pro-sex education, pro-birth control, pro-family planning, pro-adoption. I am not pro-abortion. I don't think anyone thinks abortion is a good thing. It's not. It would be great if we never had to have them ever again. I think that's something everyone can agree on.
Legal, safe and rare--that's what abortion should be. But the choice is mine. No one has the right to tell me what to do with my body. That's a personal thing between me and my God.
Hugs!
I agree with most of what you wrote. I too am anti-abortion, but definitely pro-choice. And I think there are several areas where an abortion maybe the only choice (rape, to protect the life of the mother). I do feel it necessary to throw out that this is an issue that affects men too, though. If I might ask, how do you feel about notification laws? Not permission laws, but I've always felt that the a law requiring parental or husband notification is not necessarily a bad thing, as long as some form of protection is built into the law to protect against abusive parents or husbands.
Hi Grendel,
Here's where we'll most likely disagree. I am not for spousal or parental notification. Notification sounds like a good thing on the surface. Every parent would want to know if his or her child was getting medical services. I know I would! But not every child has a parent she can go to. Many girls would be abused by those parents who were supposed to help and protect her.
There was a horrible case not too long ago here in CA. A pregnant teen was nearly beaten to death when her parents found out she was pregnant. Requiring notification does not make families magically communicate better.
In the case of Planned Parenthood, for example, they do encourage the girls to tell their parents and they do require that patients return another day for an abortion. They won't just let you walk in and do it the same day.
As far as the male spouse, I feel for him. I really do. But that comes down to the difference in being male and female. A woman can't fight in combat, a man can't make a woman carry his child to term. I've always felt very strongly about that. What kid of a world would we be living in if we forced a woman to have a child against her will? Many women would keep the unwanted child (rather than letting anyone take something of hers away) and we'd have more child abuse. Every child should be a wanted child.
I do feel sorry for a man who wants to be a father and doesn't have any say over whether or not he can be, but he needs to choose his partner more wisely. Just as a woman need to choose her partner wisely too. One of the very first things I discussed with my husband when we started dating was marriage and family. What I wanted and what I didn't. If he didn't agree with me, I would have moved on. Marriage and family is a huge part of our lives. We should all choose someone we agree with on those important issues.
Just my opinions. Thanks so much for stopping by. Did you Blog for choice as well? I didn't see a Blog when I clicked on your name.
Hi, Cherry. And actuall, I thank you for a thoughtful and polite response. :)
I do have a blog: http://grendel-brokenbranches.blogspot.com/
But I didn't do anything for the blog for choice day. I ran across yours by accident, and was more interesting in the writing content.
Anyway, I don't really disagree with your concerns, which is way I go with the notification rather than permission route that's advocated by some. (That, and even a delay of a few days can make the abortion much more complicated, in my admittedly limited understanding) It's just that I feel along with the notification, any reasonable law would also have safeguards written into to protect those women/girls who are in abusive situations.
I also don't want the male spouse to be able to make a women carry the child to term. However, I believe he has the right to know about it, and then be able to make his decision (basically whether to stay in the relationship) based on that. If medical science ever progress to the point of allowing a male to carry the child, I might change my mind on it, but until then I don't thing a women should be made to carry the fetus (or whatever term works) to term anymore than she should be made to abort.
I would say one thing mostly on subject and one thing slightly off. Your statement that a man should be more careful about who he has a relationship should be equally applicable to a woman. Thus, I don't think that's a very good argument against notification (again, not permission, just notification).
Rather off subject, I'm all for women in combat positions. In the U.S. military they're currently allowed as combat pilots in the Air Force and Navy, I believe. I'm not sure about the combat role in the Army and Marines, other than that they are not allowed as ground combatants. I personally would be fine with women in those roles, although my preference would also be for one physical test standard (currently a much lower one applies to women).
Hi Grendel,
Thanks for stopping back. I too appreciate your thoughtful ideas and responses. I'll be sure to pop by your blog too.
I guess for me in most things political, I'm willing to err on the side of caution. Yes, people abuse programs, but they need to be there for the people who need them. I feel the same about abortion. The notification scares me because of abuse. I'm not sure how safegaurds could be put in place, but I'd be interested to hear the ideas. On the parental side of things, asking a teen to navigate the judicial system is rediculous. I know I wouldn't know how to do it and I'm 38.
As for women choosing partners more wisely, I did say that too. Honestly, I think it's a two-way street. Family planning needs to be taught in school and people need to take precautions and think about what kind of future they want--how many children, when, etc. I'm an only child and I pondered these sorts of things from very young age and I know it's not something that most people really THINK about--especially at a young age, but I think they should. Education is the key to lowering abortion rates, though.
I could be totally mistaken about women in combat. I appologize. I don't know a lot about the military.
Great note. Thanks!
Well, I totally agree with the family planning aspect of things. I absolutely can't stand people who claim to be pro-life but then insist on zero sex education in school.
As for possible protections for a notification system, it's really not that hard, I think. Simply telling the woman about the notification and her right to contest it would be the start. If she makes any mention of contesting it, it's held up while a judge makes that decision. I'd assume for teens any previous reports of abuse or interventions of child protective services would pretty much automatically cancel the notification. Otherwise, it involves an interview with the Judge or some other officer of the court. While you'd have to be careful to keep this from being too intrusive, I think it could be done. For husbands, again, any reports of police intervention in domestic matters (at least, ones that agree the husband was the aggressor) cancel the notification. Certainly convictions of any sort of violent crime should as well.
I agree the system should err on the side of caution, but I think it could still protect the husbands interests as well.
And if I'd looked at your profile close, I'd have seen you're in the U.S., so the rules on women in combat are what I mentioned. As I said, I'm all for it, and in fact would like to see more women standing up and wanting to get into the ground combat positions but would also like to see the testing standards be the same (not necessarily keeping the standards as they are, but if the requirement is important, it should apply across the board. For example, for two soldiers of the same age, a male is required to do 44 pushups in 2 minutes in the Army. The same aged female soldier is required to do 13 and it has a direct impact on promotions.)
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