Sweat is good for philosophy
A while back someone on my flist posted a link to an article about the USA's new federal guidelines advising women - and the healthcare system - to treat nearly all women though they were pregnant, even if they aren't. Yet.
There's a certain amount of logic in this. Half of all pregnancies are unplanned, says the article. A normal modern lifestyle can do a lot of damage to a foetus, so if you want a healthy baby, you should have an unusual modern lifestyle.
Now, the terms of the article are pretty offensive, so let's ignore them entirely. Obviously if you're infertile/not having any of that kind of sex or know you'd get an abortion if you did get knocked up, then it's not an issue. Sod the folic acid & spend the money on vodka and cigarettes if you like.
And, of course, it's much more of an issue if you're against abortion - either in general or in your own particular case - and I'd be very interested to hear what you guys & gals are doing about it.
I don't fall into any of those categories. On the contrary: I'm in line to inherit a fertility which, as at least one of my cousins proves, sneers at modern science. Contraception isn't 100% effective so there is, at any given moment, something like a 1 in 1000 chance that I could be this year's lucky winner of an unplanned pregnancy and a baby full of weird hormones.
I like to think about these things. I particularly like to think about them when I'm having a fat day, or at 5am when I can't sleep.
Self, I wonder, what the hell would you do with a baby? And I can think about how cute they are and how much I don't like changing nappies, and wonder how the pleasure/pain sum would come out. And then I'm asleep before I've even got to wondering how I'd pay for it.
And if that doesn't work, I move on. Self, I say, you're just fat. Get some exercise. And anyway if you do get knocked up, there's always abortion. And, if you do go into labour unexpectedly, like that girl in J17, then at least you can sell the story & further your nascent journalistic career.
But, that treacherous little voice says, what if you wanted to keep the baby? What, it asks, if your inestimably lovely partner wanted to keep the baby? What if you found out too late?
And that's enough to keep me awake for another hour, because although I don't smoke, I do drink (wine, beer, coffee), eat what I like, and generally make my body a fairly inhospitable place. And science tells me that as far as foetuses go, it's not true that whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
So I've been thinking about it today (a fat day), and I've come to some conclusions. A pre- (let alone post-) pregnant life isn't what I want right now, so if I do find myself pregnant I will almost certainly get an abortion and try again later if/when I am ready.
That seemed kind of selfish at first but then I thought about it & decided, no. It's not. I don't believe (feel free to take issue with any of my premises) that that little bundle of cells can suffer or that there is anything morally wrong in destroying it in other instances. So why not this one? Why not have an abortion now and give my kid a better start in life later? Even if I swapped the beer for folic acid, I'm not in the position I would want to be in when I have a child. For one thing, I can't afford a car, let alone a flat, and the other half of the potential genetic soup is in a different country. It's not a good time: come back later, maybe.
So sod being pre-pregnant. Book me a rolling slot in the abortion clinic if you must worry. I'll have children in my own time and under my own terms, thank you.
There's a certain amount of logic in this. Half of all pregnancies are unplanned, says the article. A normal modern lifestyle can do a lot of damage to a foetus, so if you want a healthy baby, you should have an unusual modern lifestyle.
Now, the terms of the article are pretty offensive, so let's ignore them entirely. Obviously if you're infertile/not having any of that kind of sex or know you'd get an abortion if you did get knocked up, then it's not an issue. Sod the folic acid & spend the money on vodka and cigarettes if you like.
And, of course, it's much more of an issue if you're against abortion - either in general or in your own particular case - and I'd be very interested to hear what you guys & gals are doing about it.
I don't fall into any of those categories. On the contrary: I'm in line to inherit a fertility which, as at least one of my cousins proves, sneers at modern science. Contraception isn't 100% effective so there is, at any given moment, something like a 1 in 1000 chance that I could be this year's lucky winner of an unplanned pregnancy and a baby full of weird hormones.
I like to think about these things. I particularly like to think about them when I'm having a fat day, or at 5am when I can't sleep.
Self, I wonder, what the hell would you do with a baby? And I can think about how cute they are and how much I don't like changing nappies, and wonder how the pleasure/pain sum would come out. And then I'm asleep before I've even got to wondering how I'd pay for it.
And if that doesn't work, I move on. Self, I say, you're just fat. Get some exercise. And anyway if you do get knocked up, there's always abortion. And, if you do go into labour unexpectedly, like that girl in J17, then at least you can sell the story & further your nascent journalistic career.
But, that treacherous little voice says, what if you wanted to keep the baby? What, it asks, if your inestimably lovely partner wanted to keep the baby? What if you found out too late?
And that's enough to keep me awake for another hour, because although I don't smoke, I do drink (wine, beer, coffee), eat what I like, and generally make my body a fairly inhospitable place. And science tells me that as far as foetuses go, it's not true that whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
So I've been thinking about it today (a fat day), and I've come to some conclusions. A pre- (let alone post-) pregnant life isn't what I want right now, so if I do find myself pregnant I will almost certainly get an abortion and try again later if/when I am ready.
That seemed kind of selfish at first but then I thought about it & decided, no. It's not. I don't believe (feel free to take issue with any of my premises) that that little bundle of cells can suffer or that there is anything morally wrong in destroying it in other instances. So why not this one? Why not have an abortion now and give my kid a better start in life later? Even if I swapped the beer for folic acid, I'm not in the position I would want to be in when I have a child. For one thing, I can't afford a car, let alone a flat, and the other half of the potential genetic soup is in a different country. It's not a good time: come back later, maybe.
So sod being pre-pregnant. Book me a rolling slot in the abortion clinic if you must worry. I'll have children in my own time and under my own terms, thank you.