Yay, sanity! (Warning, politics)

[gement]

"There is tremendous sadness, loneliness in the cry, 'A woman's right to choose.' No one wants an abortion as she wants an ice cream cone or a Porsche. She wants an abortion as an animal, caught in a trap, wants to gnaw off its own leg." Frederica Mathewes-Green

The pro-life author of the above seems awfully surprised at how many pro-choicers have quoted her... It's the one really odd point about this really thoughtful pro-life article. She seems aware of the rhetorical limitations of a lot of pro-lifers, but then doesn't see that this quote addresses 90% of the usual arguments?

Thanks to agrumer, who pointed me to this article. I still don't agree with all of the writer's points or assumptions, but I think more people need to take this next step in the discussion: when we all acknowledge that no one is really happy about abortions, we can talk in more concrete terms about what to do about it instead of calling the women in this unfortunate position frivolous sluts.

I do not believe that the solutions she proposes could ever completely remove the existence of desperate situations. Birth control fails, rape happens, abuse happens, people continue to go through a young and stupid phase. Some situations are just not bearable, and I believe that the life experience of the sixteen or forty year old woman should never be considered secondary to the hypothetical life experience of the unborn. But I don't think anyone would be sad to see a much better support structure in place for pregnant women who really just want more help with their babies.

(For the record, I don't post a lot of this stuff, but I think about it a lot. If you want to see the sorts of things I'm thinking about, I suggest skimming moominmuppet or memegarden, who post a lot of interesting articles on what's going on with civil rights, women's rights and particularly women's reproductive rights.)

Comments

On the subject...

[littlemystories.livejournal.com]

Sarah pointed me toward this:

http://mcmillan.livejournal.com/160179.html

Gee, I just can't decide...cereal or toast?

This is why I'm prolife...

[granny-grump-42.livejournal.com]

Because I avoided abortion myself by such a narrow margin. I know the despair, the paralysis of thought, the fear, the inability to see any way out that doesn't lead through those clinic doors....

Fortunate, I had a friend who was able to identify the actual problems that my pregnancy was just highlighting. He had to practically kick us in the butt to get us to address them, because we didn't think they could be solved. We had no hope.

What did we actually need? To move to a better apartment. How long did it take us to find one, after my friend goaded us into looking? One day.

A one-day apartment hunt. That was what I really needed. But all society at large offered was abortion.

Re: This is why I'm prolife...

[gement.livejournal.com]

I'm glad someone was there to give you that support and that reality check. I still believe that there are situations that cannot be fixed so easily, but I would like to see more done to resolve the simpler social and financial causes.

I'm curious; how did you end up at my journal?

Re: This is why I'm prolife...

[granny-grump-42.livejournal.com]

I found you on a search, either Google or Technorati.

[gement.livejournal.com]

Dear FK fan who posted in my journal -

Please be aware that I considered your message spam, because it is unsolicited promotion that you're obviously piling into a number of people's journals regardless of context. I appreciate your devotion to the show (which I share), but this is an inappropriate way to express it.

Because I can tell you have very good intentions, and probably run a very high-quality fan site, please note that I'm refraining from personal attacks. This time.

Cousinly yours,
M. G.