(no subject)
Ordinarily I know better than to tackle abortion, but a friend linked a brilliant editorial on Slate about the Supreme Court decision on partial-birth in his blog today, and I couldn't resist commenting. LJ cut for the (most of you, I'd imagine) who have your opinions on the subject and don't care to read mine.
My take on the actual decision aside, it's why he did it that's fairly disturbing. Kennedy won't shut up about the "poor women" who feel bad after the fact. This isn't a new argument, and it's always bothered me quite a bit because it fails to mention that if abortions are so horrid and everyone wishes that they hadn't had them in the first place, then why are abortions still performed? Because the irony remains that a lot of the conservative (especially Christian fundamentalist) groups that rail on and on about abortion will then turn around and condemn single mothers for being horrible, amoral wretches. You just can't win, can you? Listening to idiots like the good Reverend James Dobson and Chuck Swindoll almost gives you the idea that unless you live in a basic, nuclear family with a mom and dad and 2.1 kids and a dog and go to church every week, then you're a bad Christian and lack "family values." (Whatever the hell that means.)
Well, perhaps these folks hadn't considered that if they'd just shut up, get of their moral pedestal and start doing things like offering to help watch the kids when Mom needs to work, or maybe cook for them once in a while and actually be productive, then perhaps some of those women might be a little more inclined to keep their baby, feeling like perhaps they're not going to be condemned for being such a young, single woman pushing a stroller.
2. The idea that ignorance is bliss, and the courts know best is likewise idiotic. How fucking stupid does Kennedy think women are? As if a woman isn't going to research a procedure before she commits to it. This argument actually sounds a lot like the point Dr. Stephen J. Ducat, a psychologist out at UCLA, made about the irony of a male-dominated Congress thinking they need to dictate women's healthcare. Because, of course, we're all too emotional and unable to handle the gritty details of such a procedure, supposedly. Sorry, but because "it's just too gross" isn't a good enough excuse to potentially risk a woman's health.
My take on the actual decision aside, it's why he did it that's fairly disturbing. Kennedy won't shut up about the "poor women" who feel bad after the fact. This isn't a new argument, and it's always bothered me quite a bit because it fails to mention that if abortions are so horrid and everyone wishes that they hadn't had them in the first place, then why are abortions still performed? Because the irony remains that a lot of the conservative (especially Christian fundamentalist) groups that rail on and on about abortion will then turn around and condemn single mothers for being horrible, amoral wretches. You just can't win, can you? Listening to idiots like the good Reverend James Dobson and Chuck Swindoll almost gives you the idea that unless you live in a basic, nuclear family with a mom and dad and 2.1 kids and a dog and go to church every week, then you're a bad Christian and lack "family values." (Whatever the hell that means.)
Well, perhaps these folks hadn't considered that if they'd just shut up, get of their moral pedestal and start doing things like offering to help watch the kids when Mom needs to work, or maybe cook for them once in a while and actually be productive, then perhaps some of those women might be a little more inclined to keep their baby, feeling like perhaps they're not going to be condemned for being such a young, single woman pushing a stroller.
2. The idea that ignorance is bliss, and the courts know best is likewise idiotic. How fucking stupid does Kennedy think women are? As if a woman isn't going to research a procedure before she commits to it. This argument actually sounds a lot like the point Dr. Stephen J. Ducat, a psychologist out at UCLA, made about the irony of a male-dominated Congress thinking they need to dictate women's healthcare. Because, of course, we're all too emotional and unable to handle the gritty details of such a procedure, supposedly. Sorry, but because "it's just too gross" isn't a good enough excuse to potentially risk a woman's health.