Topics by letter
Awhile ago I posted a meme with 26 slots open for people to give a different topic for each letter of the alphabet that they wanted to see me post about.
Today's post is brought to you by the letter P.
Pro "life" stupidity--In the interest of full disclosure, I'm pro-choice. (Not exactly news around here, but whatever.) That being said, I'm obviously not a fan of the road blocks and legislation generated by the pro-life cause under the guise of protecting human life. There's this idea that if they can outlaw abortion it'll somehow go away. But um... guys? We tried that already. I'd like to introduce you to pre-1973. Abortion was illegal then and it still happened.
Now, I don't know about anyone else, but it seems to me that outlawing it has already been shown to be useless. So how else do we bring down the numbers? Well, let's bring down the number of unplanned pregnancies. I think that's something we'd all like to see, right? We can offer comprehensive sex ed in our schools starting at a young age with basic things like body parts, how to tell the difference between good and bad touching, how to avoid predators, etc. and build from there with a little more information each year as developmentally appropriate and eventually get into the nuts and bolts of pregnancy and STI prevention. We can subsidize clinics to offer family planing services.
Let's say we do all those things and the issue remains. What then? I'd think the first step would be to try to understand why women seek out the option to begin with. Lucky for us, there already organizations that keep stats on this sort of thing.
From a July 2008 publication from the Guttmacher Institute:
Three-fourths of women having an abortion site financial concerns
Three-fourths say another child would interfere with work, school, or caring for others
Link (Last bullet under Who has abortions?)
Point the first: money. It's several thousand dollars just to deliver and that's if we ignore the cost of prenatal care. Afterward, a new parent will spend, on average, $10,000 in the first year of that child's life. That's a hefty junk of money and something you don't just pull out of your ass. And what has the pro-life camp done to combat that? They hand out receiving blankets, a few clothes, formula, some strollers. Hell, I'm sure some of them even give out car seats and nursery furniture.
But when that can of formula dries up? Or the baby outgrows the clothes? And there are no more diapers? What about school supplies and gas to shuttle the wee ones back and forth to school and doctor's appointments? What about paying for medical care itself? Sure there are assistance programs out there, but as any middle-class American can tell you, there's a huge gap between people who could really benefit from some help and those that actually get it.
Point the second: interference with other responsibilities. Work, school, other people. Where are the subsidized daycares? How about PAID time off from work as a federal mandate to new parents instead of this shit 15 weeks of "job on hold" that the US now offers? What about respite care for parents of multiple children? Does any of this exist? Is it being fought for by lifers? No! The politicians they put in office are also the ones fighting these things.
And that's really what this whole thing boils down to. These people rage all day against the evils of abortion and then don't do a damn thing that's actually meaningful to stopping them. They don't want to prevent pregnancy, they don't want to help women seek care for healthy pregnancies and births, they can't be axed to provide meaningful support in raising a child or supporting a new parent who is no doubt completely overwhelmed. How can you honestly be surprised when people come to the conclusion that their only rational option is not to continue the pregnancy?
There's also the lovely adoption answer. Because, somehow, deciding on adoption just makes all the intervening months disappear. It somehow solves the looks on the street and the "what do you mean you're NOT keeping it?!" It makes free prenatal care and maternity clothes appear out of thin air and what do you mean time off from work? Pregnancy's not hard! If you're tired it's because your lazy and don't give me that crap about your back hurting. I threw out my back last year and still went to work no it doesn't matter that I have a nice desk job or can work from home and you're on your feet all day.
But the reality is that adoption doesn't equal a home. There's this notion that every baby will find a home with no trouble, but that really only holds true with healthy, white babies. If the child in question isn't white or, even worse, is black, his or her chances just went way down. Health problems? Same thing. Sites like this are full of people lamenting their desire for a child and begging for a birth mother to grant their fondest wish. But it's not about just having a baby, it's about having *the* baby. It's like there's some kind of shame in adopting. "Oh we can't let anyone know we adopted so the baby has to look like us. Darkies need not apply." Harsh, but when you see profiles like "this which list so many options, but only options that could "pass." Or, my favorite one--"open to discussion." Maybe I'm jaded, but I can't help but read that as "we really don't want a minority child, but we don't want anyone to think we're racist either."
Long story short, the pro-life camp does nothing but cause problems and get in the way of organizations who actually want to change the status quo. And we haven't even gotten into lifers putting pro-war and pro-capital punishment politicians into office or holding those ideals themselves. Or ones that want to bomb Iraq or see no reason to take part in humanitarian efforts. I don't care that you hold those beliefs, just own up to them. If you're going to live your life that way, then say it loud and proud--stop hiding behind your noble label.
Today's post is brought to you by the letter P.
Pro "life" stupidity--In the interest of full disclosure, I'm pro-choice. (Not exactly news around here, but whatever.) That being said, I'm obviously not a fan of the road blocks and legislation generated by the pro-life cause under the guise of protecting human life. There's this idea that if they can outlaw abortion it'll somehow go away. But um... guys? We tried that already. I'd like to introduce you to pre-1973. Abortion was illegal then and it still happened.
Now, I don't know about anyone else, but it seems to me that outlawing it has already been shown to be useless. So how else do we bring down the numbers? Well, let's bring down the number of unplanned pregnancies. I think that's something we'd all like to see, right? We can offer comprehensive sex ed in our schools starting at a young age with basic things like body parts, how to tell the difference between good and bad touching, how to avoid predators, etc. and build from there with a little more information each year as developmentally appropriate and eventually get into the nuts and bolts of pregnancy and STI prevention. We can subsidize clinics to offer family planing services.
Let's say we do all those things and the issue remains. What then? I'd think the first step would be to try to understand why women seek out the option to begin with. Lucky for us, there already organizations that keep stats on this sort of thing.
From a July 2008 publication from the Guttmacher Institute:
Three-fourths of women having an abortion site financial concerns
Three-fourths say another child would interfere with work, school, or caring for others
Link (Last bullet under Who has abortions?)
Point the first: money. It's several thousand dollars just to deliver and that's if we ignore the cost of prenatal care. Afterward, a new parent will spend, on average, $10,000 in the first year of that child's life. That's a hefty junk of money and something you don't just pull out of your ass. And what has the pro-life camp done to combat that? They hand out receiving blankets, a few clothes, formula, some strollers. Hell, I'm sure some of them even give out car seats and nursery furniture.
But when that can of formula dries up? Or the baby outgrows the clothes? And there are no more diapers? What about school supplies and gas to shuttle the wee ones back and forth to school and doctor's appointments? What about paying for medical care itself? Sure there are assistance programs out there, but as any middle-class American can tell you, there's a huge gap between people who could really benefit from some help and those that actually get it.
Point the second: interference with other responsibilities. Work, school, other people. Where are the subsidized daycares? How about PAID time off from work as a federal mandate to new parents instead of this shit 15 weeks of "job on hold" that the US now offers? What about respite care for parents of multiple children? Does any of this exist? Is it being fought for by lifers? No! The politicians they put in office are also the ones fighting these things.
And that's really what this whole thing boils down to. These people rage all day against the evils of abortion and then don't do a damn thing that's actually meaningful to stopping them. They don't want to prevent pregnancy, they don't want to help women seek care for healthy pregnancies and births, they can't be axed to provide meaningful support in raising a child or supporting a new parent who is no doubt completely overwhelmed. How can you honestly be surprised when people come to the conclusion that their only rational option is not to continue the pregnancy?
There's also the lovely adoption answer. Because, somehow, deciding on adoption just makes all the intervening months disappear. It somehow solves the looks on the street and the "what do you mean you're NOT keeping it?!" It makes free prenatal care and maternity clothes appear out of thin air and what do you mean time off from work? Pregnancy's not hard! If you're tired it's because your lazy and don't give me that crap about your back hurting. I threw out my back last year and still went to work no it doesn't matter that I have a nice desk job or can work from home and you're on your feet all day.
But the reality is that adoption doesn't equal a home. There's this notion that every baby will find a home with no trouble, but that really only holds true with healthy, white babies. If the child in question isn't white or, even worse, is black, his or her chances just went way down. Health problems? Same thing. Sites like this are full of people lamenting their desire for a child and begging for a birth mother to grant their fondest wish. But it's not about just having a baby, it's about having *the* baby. It's like there's some kind of shame in adopting. "Oh we can't let anyone know we adopted so the baby has to look like us. Darkies need not apply." Harsh, but when you see profiles like "this which list so many options, but only options that could "pass." Or, my favorite one--"open to discussion." Maybe I'm jaded, but I can't help but read that as "we really don't want a minority child, but we don't want anyone to think we're racist either."
Long story short, the pro-life camp does nothing but cause problems and get in the way of organizations who actually want to change the status quo. And we haven't even gotten into lifers putting pro-war and pro-capital punishment politicians into office or holding those ideals themselves. Or ones that want to bomb Iraq or see no reason to take part in humanitarian efforts. I don't care that you hold those beliefs, just own up to them. If you're going to live your life that way, then say it loud and proud--stop hiding behind your noble label.