Inspired by recent changes on the U.S. Supreme Court, a Republican lawmaker filed anti-abortion legislation Thursday that would criminalize the practice except to save the mother's life or in rape and incest cases.It’s not as bad as South Dakota’s law. But it is bad.
Rep. Tim Burns said President Bush's two appointments to the Supreme Court convinced him that now is an opportune time to pass legislation toughening Louisiana's abortion laws and give the high court a chance to overturn or challenge parts of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling establishing a right to an abortion.
Here’s my favorite part about the current state law:
Louisiana lawmakers already have placed language in the law that explains the state only allows abortion procedures because the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled they are legal.They only allow it because it is legal. I hope that’s a joke.
Anyway, da po’ boy generally stays away from debating the legality of abortions for two reasons: 1) I am a po’ boy, not a po’ girl. 2) Abortion is LEGAL, and its legality has been tested over time.
I am pro-abortion. Not pro-choice. Pro-abortion. I think this is an important distinction because I hear some pro-choicers say they support the right of a woman to choose, but they would never want to have or would want their lover/girlfriend/wife to have an abortion.
I don’t get that. I can’t say I support the right for a woman to get an abortion and then say abortion is bad. Abortion is good. When a woman evaluates where she is in the universe and decides that she should have an abortion, she is doing the right thing. And she is doing a good thing.
An abortion is nothing to be ashamed of. However, saying you are pro-choice and with the next breath saying you would never get an abortion is shaming those who have.
I hate that. “I’m pro-choice, but I would never get an abortion.” Or, “I’m pro-choice, but I would never want my girlfriend to have an abortion.” Or, “Abortion is never a good thing, but we need to protect a woman’s right to choose.”
If the right to choose is good, then abortion is good. Does that mean we need more abortions – more of a good thing? No. We need as many abortions as we need. No more, no less.
I will never be pregnant. But, I have been through the process of pregnancy and birth as an observer with da po’ wife and lil po’ boy. And a woman’s body changes during pregnancy. From what my uneducated eye can see, it either takes a while or a woman’s body is never the same after a child is born as it was before. I am talking physical and hormonal changes – changes you can see and changes you can feel.
Making abortions illegal for whatever reason will force a woman to go through these physical changes against her will. Imagine that – forced physical changes. If they are welcome, the physical changes are necessary and perform a function. If they are unwelcome, they still happen. Getting pregnant and having a child changes a woman, whether it is a wanted or a forced pregnancy.
At the end of the day, I look down and I still have a penis (that is, if it was a good day). So that might make me inherently unqualified to opine on the legality of abortion. And, please, let me know if I sound bone-headed.
The thing is, I love women. I really do. All women – and that’s not necessarily required (or recommended) when you have a penis. The result of my love is that I never want a woman to hurt because she made a decision concerning her body and the changes in her body that she can control. I wouldn’t want anyone forcing me to go through physical and hormonal changes that I don’t want to go through. Time will take care of that, and time is something I have no control over.
I never hear anyone say abortion is good. I never hear anyone say a woman who had an abortion did the right thing. I think we need to start saying these things. Hence, the title of this post.
Call me pro-abortion. Or pro-choice. Or anti-life. Whatever. It’s all good.
24 comments:
You bring up an interesting issue. I have been pro-choice all of my life. I probably would have gotten an abortion if I had become suddenly pregnant as a young woman, but later, I knew that I would not have one. That does not mean that I think badly of women who have abortions. It means that I don't think whether someone has an abortion is anyone's business. Women have abortions for many different reasons, and the issue is way beyond right and wrong.
I support every woman's right to have a safe, legal abortion, and I always will. I also support every woman's right to have cosmetic surgery, but I would not have it myself. But I just fine with those who have it and am pleased for them. That is why we call it "choice."
I understand what you are saying, though.
It's interesting that people who oppose abortion on the grounds that it is immoral to take an innocent life, are quick to allow it in the case of rape or incest. What, is the baby less innocent because of the way it was conceived?
Not a fun subject, but one we as a society really need to talk about more.
Peace,
Tim
Every child should be loved, every person should be able to live to their full potential. Abortion enables both of these things. Many people do disagree but you are right, in the right circumstances abortion is a very good thing.
Some of the abortion debate reminds me of the old saw about childbirth and population control: we'd have far fewer children if men had to go through labor and delivery. Po' boy calls out the similarity, and he's quite correct -- this really is a uniquely female issue.
But even within the gender-specificity, it's also a uniquely personal issue. Until a woman has actually been faced with the question, it's totally impossible to know how the decision will go. To imply that it should require guilt, as Len has done, puts hackles right up. As I once wrote, it's not up to you!
I agree with you, po' boy: the verbiage surrounding these choices is couched in bias, obfuscating a lucid, rational choice even now.
right on. its a very interesting view point that i havnt heard before. to force a woman to change her body is wrong. i agree with you fully :)
My name is Jamie and i am 15 years old and attend a high school as a sophmore. I am doing a paper on what affects my life and what i feel is something important.
I am pro-abortion and pro-choice, and i do not feel its a bad thing, just something i'm not willing to do. If i am raped then yes mabey but doing it just because it doesn't fit my life style, no i wouldn't get an abortion. And althogh i know where you are coming from, saying that you are pro-choice but you'd never do it is not necessarily saying that you think it's a bad thing, but something that you'd never think of doing because it's scary or something.
abortion is bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!! u people are loco in the head!!!!!!!!!!
by ur enemie!
You make sense but then you don't. I am pro-choice because it is a woman's right to choose. I would not have an abortion myself but i do not look down on others who would. Nobody knows what one person is going through, there could be a lot of reasons why someone would need an abortion and even if there isn't a good reason it should still be their choice. The only person who is in the position to decide if going through with a pregnancy is right is the mother. Plus the world is so corrupted and sucks so bad it realy isn't right to bring a baby in if your not ready for the responsibility. whats the options: adoption? wow so they can move to multiple houses and be in danger of molest and abuse...... Come on your grandparents aren't even safe in a housing home
hear, hear. anti-choice rhetoric in this country has succeeded in making abortion a dirty and taboo topic. I'm happy to add my support to the notion that there is nothing wrong with having an abortion, and it is one of the options you should have when faced with an unwanted pregnancy, period.
i disagree that its bad when women say "i'm pro-choice but i'd never get an abortion." because: because if they believe that its all right to have the women make the choice for themselves, thats great! But they personally don't want one but believe the women should have the power of choice.
i'm a woman so i know that i'd want the choice. if i got pregnant at a bad time, like as a teenager, i'd certainly want the option of getting an abortion. Doesn't mean that i would. but its the choice of having other options.
ps
your kind of a dick.
u people are loco in the head!!!!!!!!!!
LOL
u people are not loco in the head
go po' boy!!!
This is well after the fact, but just because it is good to have a choice does not make the outcomes of the choice good.
Abortions are a young woman's chioce, I agree, but try to see it from this point of view. Its a living life you are talking about. Trying to make it seem like a thing that could be cut off from living, is just not right to me. I love kids. I truly do. They are such a joy to me. But even if a woman's body went through changes, she would have made a good choice. By letting a human being have a chance at living. If she did not, she would constantly live through a fiery guilt that would nag her over and over again. Maybe she would have woken up one morning and wondered if she did keep that darling baby. That's what I think about every morning, about what if I had kept little Emma. But I did not. And that is what hurts the most.
-Chrissy
hi. ok this is my piont of view... obviously...
ther is nothing wrong with Pro-chioce people. just because people say "i support women who get abortions, but i would never get one" doesn't mean they are fake, I am strongly pro-choice, and i do support people who get abortions but in my opinion i would never get one, not even if im faced with it, i would carry the baby to term and give it up for adoption....
just because you support women who do it doesn't mean you should do it if you dont want it. THATS WHY ITS CALLED PRO-CHOICE because you have a choice
If I shoot the squirrel that has been chewing on my house, I could go to jail.
Why is it legal to kill human babies?
the squirrel is not inside you
i think it is right to do abortion in such situation where women is rapped or don’t want babies because she don’t like that guy anymore or its early to become a mother or she have some kind of
disease which may transferred to the baby etc etc etc so who THINKS its worong they are absolutely WRONG.
As though existence was avoidable!Better to light a candle than curse the dark!-If this is a disinformation forum, then shame on yourself. If this isn't, it is now! Political activism won't find all the answers! Keep an open mind and heart! Mark Wybaillie
It makes me sad to read so many comments from people who think 'abortion is a good thing'.
I absolutely believe women should have a choice and a say in what happens to their own body...and I believe that choice comes when they decide to have sex. Protected or not, there is always a chance a child will be created when you have sex. THAT is your choice.
In my opinion, once you are pregnant, it's not just about your body. It's about a human life inside of you, who through YOUR choices, has been created. How selfish, self-centered, and really, weak, is it to now completely disregard this life in light of what is convenient for you?
What has always really bothered me about abortion is that when a baby is conceived, when YOU, the person getting the abortion, were conceived, you were exactly who you are now. All of your genetics were there, and the only difference is TIME and GROWTH. Why is it ok to kill a baby who is 12 weeks old in utero, but not ok to kill a baby who is 12 weeks old outside of a woman's body? The only difference is about 9 months of growth.
And please, spare me the 'b/c it couldn't survive outside the body' argument. I'm pretty sure a 12 week old can't survive without a care provider...not a big enough difference between a body and 24/7 care to me, to justify the termination of a life. And besides that, babies have lived at 22 weeks gestation, and yet also LEGALLY been aborted at that age. What do we do with those facts?
I know I sound harsh and judgemental, an I am in my opinions, but I would NEVER treat a woman poorly b/c she has had an abortion. To be honest, I would avoid the topic entirely, b/c it's something I feel too strongly about to lie about, and wouldn't want my opinion to make another person feel bad.
What I think we really need is more education and social service programs to help women going through unplanned pregnancies understand ALL of their options. There are countless people who want to adopt infants, nine months carrying a life seems like a small sacrifice for the gift you would be giving that child and those parents.
And in case you're going to ask, YES, I am a person (along with my husband) willing to adopt, both infants and older children. In fact we have, and plan on doing so again.
EVERY LIFE is precious. And we need more people fighting for those innocent lives without voices.
YOU MONSTER!!
I feel abortion is acceptable for some reasons. but just cause u feel your not ready to have one is no reason, the first time u have a baby is how you can be ready, during that time. because you are gifted with a living person inside you. I am Pro-choice and would want my lady to have an abortion except for things like death of her (cause she could have more wit me at anytime), but you are yes, correct in all ways really.
wouldn't*
What a great post. I am impressed by a man for a change. If these idiot prolifetaliban idiots sat in a high school classroom for one day, they would be screaming for mandatory abortions. They don't have a clue. Want to live in a theocracy, move to Afghanistan.
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