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“For those relegated to non-being, to even appear is a violent act.”—
George Ciccariello-Maher (via ninjabikeslut
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[[MORE]]the most amazing part of this whole getting-a-new-job experience has been seeing...
Observations
I needed something for thoughts that are too long for Twitter or Facebook, but don't comprise a full blog post. Fortunately, that's what Tumblr is for.
Happy birthday to Roe v. Wade—or what’s left of it.
Some important numbers here. You can’t just dismiss abortion as the lazy way out for irresponsible teens.
4 months ago
Barack Obama, Pro-Life Hero
In providing strong documentation that no-cost contraception is successful in dramatically limiting abortions, Peipert has placed the ACA’s opponents in a potentially difficult position. Fierce resistance to abortion is a central plank in the social conservative platform, and has for decades served as one of the standards around which millions of activists and voters have rallied. That a path to the drastic decline in abortions that these individuals have so desperately sought has suddenly been provided them by a president they so openly despise is, at the very least, a political puzzle.
But by addressing the problem of unintended pregnancy—rather than the politically fraught problem of abortion—“Obamacare” addresses the issue at its root. Though abortion has served as the central locus of the “culture war” for nearly forty years, it has always been a secondary concern—a problematic solution to a deeper and less sensational problem. By insisting on mere illegality, pro-life forces have turned a blind eye to the troublesome side-effects of illegal abortion even as they dedicated themselves to a largely symbolic political victory. And since the political divisions accompanying the debate have become so intractable, hope for a deliberative resolution has long ceased to exist.
In the Affordable Care Act’s contraception mandate, we have a previously unimaginable opportunity for satisfying compromise on abortion. In accordance with liberal demands, the procedure will remain safe and legal, and reproductive choices will be extended to those who have been unable to afford them in the past. In exchange, conservatives will see abortion rates plummet, achieving a result comparable to that of illegality but without the fierce controversy or government imposition in the lives of individuals.
I realize the author of this article is likely aware of what I’m about write and is simply making a rhetorical point. But for the sake of my point, I’m going to pretend the above was written in earnest.
The problem with this line of argument is, of course, that the primary focus of Evangelicals isn’t simply to reduce abortions. That’s not really the idea behind the pro-life movement. Because the pro-life movement is very closely intertwined with the Evangelical prohibition of sexual activity (outside of marriage, that is). From this point of view, if people just didn’t have sex, they wouldn’t get pregnant, and therefore wouldn’t need abortions. The problem they see with Obama’s approach, then, is that not only does it not seem very concerned that unmarried couples are having sex, but it even seems to encourage such activity! And assertions that contraceptives are the path to responsible sexual activity are met with deaf ears, because there is of course no such thing as responsible sexual activity outside of holy matrimony.
Now, of course, there are several problems with this. For starters, unmarried couples voluntarily having sex doesn’t cover all of the scenarios that lead to abortions. There are abortions with rape involved, and interestingly, more than 1 in 5 abortions occur within married couples. But these are largely ignored to argue that if kids weren’t just being irresponsible and could keep it in their pants, we wouldn’t have all these abortions all over the place.
Now to be fair, there is a genuine concern that abortion itself is bad. There is, in fact, generally a concern that stopping the growth of any clump of cells that could potentially be a human being is bad. Any conflicts with things like early miscarriages and such is taken care of with that being God’s will and such, and you’ve got yourself a nice little rule: potential human = person = sacred life.
The problem, of course, is that when we try to prevent abortions by stopping them from being necessary in the first place - by making contraception easily available - the previously-mentioned importance of making damn sure that kids aren’t having sex overrules the “embryos are sacred” bit. While it makes sense from the outside that if we can stop unintended (and therefore abortion-prone) embryos from being formed, we should do what we can to do so, that is a non-starter from inside Evangelicaland. Because that, in the Evangelical world, is encouraging irresponsibility and fornication, and what kids should really learn is that you shouldn’t have sex if you don’t want to have a kid, contraception be damned. There is certainly importance in weighing the possibility of an unplanned pregnancy if you’re having sex, regardless of contraception, because no contraception is 100% effective (and of course, the old joke, neither is abstinence). But there are responsible and irresponsible ways to go about sex without wanting a kid, which the Evangelical world denies (except, of course, if you’re married).
Where this line of argument falls apart is in practice. Religious affiliation doesn’t have much affect on the chances that a young adult has had sex - in fact, people 20-29 who said religion was “somewhat important” were slightly more likely to have had sex than those who said it wasn’t important. Christians, including Evangelicals, are still having sex and getting pregnant and yes, getting abortions, regardless of whether they’re supposed to or not.
It would be better (from the point of view of reducing abortions) to impress upon kids the risks of having sex and then give them easy access and encouragement to contraception. But from a common Evangelical standpoint, it’s more important to focus on the idea that they shouldn’t be having sex, and not encourage that in any way - even if that way is by encouraging preventative measures. And that’s where a movement that shouts about the evils of abortions does their part to actually increase abortions and - bonus! - imply that babies are punishment for sex.
10/11
Isn’t it odd how everyone that supports abortion has already been born?
Strangely, everyone who opposes abortion has also been born. It’s almost like you have to be born to have opinions…like it’s part of the basic definition of being a person or something. I’m so glad you pointed that out. It’s a really great point.
8/8
Unfortunate but necessary serious moment:
It really bothers me that a lot of pro-life people think abortion is some ~fun, easy alternative~ to other forms of birth control, and that people who have had abortions just waltzed into the clinic, had some easy peasy procedure or popped some pills, and then left to hit a club.
For a lot of people, abortions are expensive, difficult to arrange, and physically and emotionally painful. Mine was the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced, and even with my parents being comfortably middle class, the cost was an issue.
No one uses abortion as their go-to method of birth control. I don’t care if you think you know someone who does, or you were at Planned Parenthood and saw a girl laughing about it. You don’t know their story. You don’t know how they cope. Now please, stop judging other peoples’ medical decisions.
I don’t have anything to add except, read this. As a former pro-lifer myself, abortion isn’t as simple as pro-lifers like to make it.
Eugene Cho (via mysoultokeep)
I really, really like Eugene Cho. Seattle is so fortunate to have Quest right across the bridge from Mars Hill. It’s such a great place, in so many ways.
2/21
Planned Parenthood
I obviously am all for shutting it down and I know that makes me the bad guy but I was talking to a friend earlier today, who I might add is a Lesbian who voted for obama and she said she hopes it gets shut down to. I was completely surprised and I asked why and she said she doesnt think its fair that people can go have sex with whoever they want, get STDs and then go there get some pill and be fine. I didnt think of it that way because I believe a baby is a baby at the time of conception.You are in denial if you dont think so. Everyone is all about pro-choice but those babies didnt get to choose. Horrible. and so sad
Punctuationless stream-of-consciousness rambling aside, your argument is invalid.
Only 3% of Planned Parenthood’s services provided are abortions; the remainder are education, contraception, cancer screening, breast and gynecological exams, and treatment for illnesses. With these services, PP prevents approximately 291,000 abortions every year. If you truly cared about “the babies,” you would wholeheartedly support Planned Parenthood’s contribution to reducing the abortion rate.
You don’t think it’s fair that medications exist to treat STDs? That people can just treat illnesses without suffering or death? I think it’s really unfair that people can go to school or work, pick up strep throat, and then just magically cure it with amoxicillin. I mean, it’s totally their fault for going out in public, they should be forced to deal with their infectious consequences! So what if some of them die, these people need to learn!
“Baby” is not a scientific term. It is a layperson’s term for an infant, which is defined as becoming an infant only upon live birth. Zygotes are zygotes at fertilization, infants are infants at birth. No, embryos and fetuses do not get to choose, because their bodies are not being used by another organism without their consent. And even if they were, these organisms are unconscious and unaware of themselves and their surroundings.
As a side note: “lesbian” is not a proper noun, and why is your friend’s sexual orientation and voting record relevant? You can still be an anti-choice, anti-women asshole even if you have LGBT friends, are LGBT, or voted Democrat.
Not everyone that gets pregnant or gets an STD is sleeping around irresponsibly. It only takes one time. Even if they are sleeping around, who are you to say that they do not deserve medical care? If you really cared about life you wouldn’t want people to get infected with diseases and suffer and eventually die. Why do real live people matter less than potential life? All of those people were fetuses once too.
There is a very simplistic view of Planned Parenthood that makes them easy to demonize: ABORTION FACTORY.
I used Planned Parenthood as my primary (and often only) health care provider for 11 years. When I worked at a job that kept my hours to 39.5 in order to not provide me with health insurance, Planned Parenthood worked a sliding-scale payment with me so I could do things like get my annual PAP smear and checkup, and Planned Parenthood was who I went to to learn how to do self-examination for breast cancer (which my grandmother suffered from twice, resulting in two complete mastectomies). When my husband and I were too poor to afford to have a baby at the time, the safest, cheapest, and most effective BC method for me was an IUD, which PP gave to me without insinuating that it would be a bad idea because my feeble lady-brain might decide to want to get pregnant right that day and what if I couldn’t do it because I had an IUD? (That’s the actual line a friend’s gyno used to refuse her request for an IUD— she might want to get pregnant right away and an IUD would prohibit that.) Before I got my IUD, Planned Parenthood worked with me to find a BC pill that would help regulate my periods from FIVE DAYS OF DEATH to five days of “If I take an Aleve and a heating pad to bed, I won’t feel like I’m dying.” When my husband didn’t have insurance, he used PP to answer health questions. And when we reached an emotional and financial state where we felt we could support a child, Planned Parenthood prescribed me pre-natal vitamins and taught me how to chart my menstrual cycle and BBT to identify the best time to get pregnant. I am currently five months pregnant with my first child— a wanted child. And Planned Parenthood lived up to their name, helping me to plan and take charge of my fertility so that I became a parent.
This. This is why the GOP’s war on PP is dangerous and myopic.
(Source: bindmyyhearttothee)
