catharsis. you may have guessed this was coming.
i think i am on information overload. last night i couldn't sleep, and wound up staying awake way past my normal bedtime. but today at work, believe it or not, i didn't have to rely on caffeine because there was so much external stimuli.
for me, the external stimuli are the constant thoughts (and information) about the Supreme Court ruling from Wednesday, and the "what to do about it" aspect of my job. right now my mind is starting, finally, to wind down, from sheer exhaustion, but i still feel a need to blog about it (and since that need occurs so very rarely, i figured i'd give in).
i have several things i want to say, and i don't know how well i can connect them to each other right now. so, i'll go with the old-fashioned list.
1. i'm so, so, SO very disappointed in Kennedy. and so very, very, VERY happy with Ginsburg! she's awesome. almost makes me with i was a law student so i could go clerk for her.
if you don't know what i'm talking about, check out http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/06pdf/05-380.pdf - it's the majority and dissenting opinions in the ruling for Gonzales v. Carhart and Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood (they combined them in some legal way and thus there's only one ruling).
2. i've been slowly reading through a few of the high-traffic blogs on this topic (feministing, daily kos), and it feels to me (at the very ripe old age of 27) that everything anyone is saying about this has been said before. so i can't help but wonder - what on earth will make us learn? help us to respect each other? and then allow each individual (already born) person to live their life to the fullest in whatever way they themselves deem best?
2a. oh, yes, and everyone should take a women's studies class - preferably in, like, the 8th grade. because everything i've read that i've heard before i've heard in a women's studies class. and elsewhere. but the classes stuck out.
3. a. it's a public health thing. governments should not have the right to step in and legislate, and criminalize, something just because there may be some disagreement over it in the medical field. and btw, i hate even saying that there may be some disagreement - if this is a procedure performed on pregnant women, and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists says it's one of the safest medical procedures, then that pretty much defines the issue for me right there. i just had to point out the inconsistency of Kennedy's argument. because basically he's saying that if doctors can't agree, then legislators can. and that's just so very wrong, on so many levels.
3. b. it's a rights thing. if something relies solely on my body to live, and i decide that i cannot - for any reason - allow it to continue to rely on my body, then i have the right to make that decision (kill the goauld! too many stargate lately).
3. b. i. the rights and life of a person who has breathed on this earth is more important to me than any potential life. period.
3. c. TRUST WOMEN. we are not hysterical (our wombs are firmly anchored, i promise, and the hormones very rarely actually interfere with rational thought). we can make our own best decisions, and do not need anyone - you, Kennedy, Bush, my mom, your dad, someone's brother, anyone - to make decisions for us. i am not weak. i am not irrational. i know my body. i know my life, and myself, and what i can handle. and if i do not want to be pregnant, there should be NO reason, at all, that i would have to be.
i feel a little better now.
for me, the external stimuli are the constant thoughts (and information) about the Supreme Court ruling from Wednesday, and the "what to do about it" aspect of my job. right now my mind is starting, finally, to wind down, from sheer exhaustion, but i still feel a need to blog about it (and since that need occurs so very rarely, i figured i'd give in).
i have several things i want to say, and i don't know how well i can connect them to each other right now. so, i'll go with the old-fashioned list.
1. i'm so, so, SO very disappointed in Kennedy. and so very, very, VERY happy with Ginsburg! she's awesome. almost makes me with i was a law student so i could go clerk for her.
if you don't know what i'm talking about, check out http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/06pdf/05-380.pdf - it's the majority and dissenting opinions in the ruling for Gonzales v. Carhart and Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood (they combined them in some legal way and thus there's only one ruling).
2. i've been slowly reading through a few of the high-traffic blogs on this topic (feministing, daily kos), and it feels to me (at the very ripe old age of 27) that everything anyone is saying about this has been said before. so i can't help but wonder - what on earth will make us learn? help us to respect each other? and then allow each individual (already born) person to live their life to the fullest in whatever way they themselves deem best?
2a. oh, yes, and everyone should take a women's studies class - preferably in, like, the 8th grade. because everything i've read that i've heard before i've heard in a women's studies class. and elsewhere. but the classes stuck out.
3. a. it's a public health thing. governments should not have the right to step in and legislate, and criminalize, something just because there may be some disagreement over it in the medical field. and btw, i hate even saying that there may be some disagreement - if this is a procedure performed on pregnant women, and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists says it's one of the safest medical procedures, then that pretty much defines the issue for me right there. i just had to point out the inconsistency of Kennedy's argument. because basically he's saying that if doctors can't agree, then legislators can. and that's just so very wrong, on so many levels.
3. b. it's a rights thing. if something relies solely on my body to live, and i decide that i cannot - for any reason - allow it to continue to rely on my body, then i have the right to make that decision (kill the goauld! too many stargate lately).
3. b. i. the rights and life of a person who has breathed on this earth is more important to me than any potential life. period.
3. c. TRUST WOMEN. we are not hysterical (our wombs are firmly anchored, i promise, and the hormones very rarely actually interfere with rational thought). we can make our own best decisions, and do not need anyone - you, Kennedy, Bush, my mom, your dad, someone's brother, anyone - to make decisions for us. i am not weak. i am not irrational. i know my body. i know my life, and myself, and what i can handle. and if i do not want to be pregnant, there should be NO reason, at all, that i would have to be.
i feel a little better now.