an issue i feel VERY strongly about...
The circumstances under which I would, might, have, or might have chosen to have an abortion are nobody's business but mine and those I choose to tell. They are not the business of any government. I do not accept the proposition that either the state or my sexual partner(s) should have any say over when and if I choose to bear a child. I do not accept any sovereignty over my body and my reproductive organs but my own. If faced with the situation, I will do everything feasible to help other women and girls I know exercise their rights to safely terminate a pregnancy if they so choose. When a state treats women and girls as chattel, it is they that commit a crime.
If you agree, please place the preceding paragraph in your journal. Then use the following link to send a message to South Dakota's governor - Planned Parenthood's Take Action. Thanks!
ok...to put it mildly, I feel very strongly about abortion rights. An unwanted fetus isn't a baby-it's a parasite. It cannot live without feeding off the host's body and if something happens to the host, it dies. It is the first thing the host shuts down in extreme illness or injury BEFORE shutting down any part of her own body.
I do NOT believe in abortion as birth control-no surgery is benign, either physically or emotionally; however, if you refuse to allow information about birth control to be given to people in school then you must deal with the consequences of that-which means elevated abortion rates. this means that higher abortion rates are created by the very people who want to limit access to them. Humans are sexual creatures and teenagers never think about the consequences of their actions-it's part of being a teenager-they think they are invincible, and they haven't yet learned that bad things don't always happen to "other people." Where you have boys and girls that have access to eachother, there WILL be sex...and unless those kids know how to properly use (and have access to!) birth control, there will be pregnancies.
Also in that vein, sometimes people get prenant even when they use other forms of birth control; however, education is the best way to prevent the need-not denying access to it.
Unless the government plans to pay for people like myself to go out on leave when we get to the point of not being able to work secondary to pregnancy and to cover all medical bills relating to pregnancy, they need to allow abortion to stay legal. Unless the government ups its birth control awareness campaigns, abortion needs to stay legal. Why? Because people will still have abortions. They will just move into the back alleys...yes, the numbers may drop off, but they will still happen and it will no longer be the relatively safe procedure it is today.
We will see a rise in child abuse-parents have no business raising unwanted children. And let's be realistic...while adoptions are up, there are places where there are MAJOR stigmas against putting your child up for adoption-and most people looking to adopt these days want healthy white babies...most kids who who feel they have no options when they get pregnant try to deny their pregnancies and many try to abort through "dangerous behaviors" such as drinking and drugs. Few of them get prenatal care...many of the children have MAJOR medical problems-they are born premature, addicted to drugs, with fetal alcohol syndrome, etc...many times the parents convey all sorts of STDs to the baby on delivery.
Let's also consider the health of the mother: yes...bearing the child of rape or incest may not be immediately life threatening to the mother; however, the South Dakota law makes no allowance for the long term. As the victim of rape I can tell you that it has long term side effects-the worst of which is depression...to the point of being suicidal. Don't try to convince me that suicidal thought are not life threatening. Don't try to convince me that the parents will know that their kids are that depressed.
As a paramedic, I see it all too often where the first time the parents find out their child is depressed is when the kid has succeeded in killing herself.
I couldn't IMAGINE having to bear the evidence of my rape for nine months or more and then knowing the product was out there somewhere and may come looking for me. I was raped twice-I still bear the scars and they were "isolated incidents." Even with massive therapy, I still have major issues tied to the rapes sometimes. I was absolutely suicidal after the second time, which was a violent rape. Only a lot of support helped me through it...don't EVEN try to tell me it isn't a danger to the life of the mother to bear that child. From personal experience, I KNOW BETTER.
...I am one of the lucky ones...I got help; I still have a healthy sex life and enjoy sex...I have the support of my friends and family. In many places, rape is still considered on some level to be the fault of the victim, not the actor. Local estimates (per local police) are that upward of 50% of rapes are NEVER REPORTED.
...as I never reported mine....because I was cared I wouldn't be believed, eventhough I bore the visible bruising...and because I was ashamed...and because I was scared....
And INCEST??? I don't even think I need to go there. Incest is sexual abuse. You are going to make a girl bear the fruit of her abuse? Do I even need to describe how twisted that is? I thought there were laws in this country making cruel and unusual punishment illegal...I guess not, if you are a pregnant girl...
This terrifies me...while I do not believe that the right to an abortion is specifically guaranteed by the constition, I do believe that it is implied under the guarantee of womens' rights to equality. If women are not to be second class citizens we need to have control over our bodies. When men can get pregnant we then can re-evaluate the laws limiting access to abortion...
Whether or not you agree with having an abortion, you have no right to inflict your beleifs on me...this comes under freedom of religion-I don't believe the same thing you do...and in this country that is supposed to be ok....it's what this country was founded on.
It's my body; it's my life; it should be my choice.
A rally a couple years ago here sponsored by some of the local churches said it right: A woman's choice is between her and her god.
Couldn't have said it better myself!
(this letter is an expanded version of the one I sent through the website that is linked above)
If you agree, please place the preceding paragraph in your journal. Then use the following link to send a message to South Dakota's governor - Planned Parenthood's Take Action. Thanks!
ok...to put it mildly, I feel very strongly about abortion rights. An unwanted fetus isn't a baby-it's a parasite. It cannot live without feeding off the host's body and if something happens to the host, it dies. It is the first thing the host shuts down in extreme illness or injury BEFORE shutting down any part of her own body.
I do NOT believe in abortion as birth control-no surgery is benign, either physically or emotionally; however, if you refuse to allow information about birth control to be given to people in school then you must deal with the consequences of that-which means elevated abortion rates. this means that higher abortion rates are created by the very people who want to limit access to them. Humans are sexual creatures and teenagers never think about the consequences of their actions-it's part of being a teenager-they think they are invincible, and they haven't yet learned that bad things don't always happen to "other people." Where you have boys and girls that have access to eachother, there WILL be sex...and unless those kids know how to properly use (and have access to!) birth control, there will be pregnancies.
Also in that vein, sometimes people get prenant even when they use other forms of birth control; however, education is the best way to prevent the need-not denying access to it.
Unless the government plans to pay for people like myself to go out on leave when we get to the point of not being able to work secondary to pregnancy and to cover all medical bills relating to pregnancy, they need to allow abortion to stay legal. Unless the government ups its birth control awareness campaigns, abortion needs to stay legal. Why? Because people will still have abortions. They will just move into the back alleys...yes, the numbers may drop off, but they will still happen and it will no longer be the relatively safe procedure it is today.
We will see a rise in child abuse-parents have no business raising unwanted children. And let's be realistic...while adoptions are up, there are places where there are MAJOR stigmas against putting your child up for adoption-and most people looking to adopt these days want healthy white babies...most kids who who feel they have no options when they get pregnant try to deny their pregnancies and many try to abort through "dangerous behaviors" such as drinking and drugs. Few of them get prenatal care...many of the children have MAJOR medical problems-they are born premature, addicted to drugs, with fetal alcohol syndrome, etc...many times the parents convey all sorts of STDs to the baby on delivery.
Let's also consider the health of the mother: yes...bearing the child of rape or incest may not be immediately life threatening to the mother; however, the South Dakota law makes no allowance for the long term. As the victim of rape I can tell you that it has long term side effects-the worst of which is depression...to the point of being suicidal. Don't try to convince me that suicidal thought are not life threatening. Don't try to convince me that the parents will know that their kids are that depressed.
As a paramedic, I see it all too often where the first time the parents find out their child is depressed is when the kid has succeeded in killing herself.
I couldn't IMAGINE having to bear the evidence of my rape for nine months or more and then knowing the product was out there somewhere and may come looking for me. I was raped twice-I still bear the scars and they were "isolated incidents." Even with massive therapy, I still have major issues tied to the rapes sometimes. I was absolutely suicidal after the second time, which was a violent rape. Only a lot of support helped me through it...don't EVEN try to tell me it isn't a danger to the life of the mother to bear that child. From personal experience, I KNOW BETTER.
...I am one of the lucky ones...I got help; I still have a healthy sex life and enjoy sex...I have the support of my friends and family. In many places, rape is still considered on some level to be the fault of the victim, not the actor. Local estimates (per local police) are that upward of 50% of rapes are NEVER REPORTED.
...as I never reported mine....because I was cared I wouldn't be believed, eventhough I bore the visible bruising...and because I was ashamed...and because I was scared....
And INCEST??? I don't even think I need to go there. Incest is sexual abuse. You are going to make a girl bear the fruit of her abuse? Do I even need to describe how twisted that is? I thought there were laws in this country making cruel and unusual punishment illegal...I guess not, if you are a pregnant girl...
This terrifies me...while I do not believe that the right to an abortion is specifically guaranteed by the constition, I do believe that it is implied under the guarantee of womens' rights to equality. If women are not to be second class citizens we need to have control over our bodies. When men can get pregnant we then can re-evaluate the laws limiting access to abortion...
Whether or not you agree with having an abortion, you have no right to inflict your beleifs on me...this comes under freedom of religion-I don't believe the same thing you do...and in this country that is supposed to be ok....it's what this country was founded on.
It's my body; it's my life; it should be my choice.
A rally a couple years ago here sponsored by some of the local churches said it right: A woman's choice is between her and her god.
Couldn't have said it better myself!
(this letter is an expanded version of the one I sent through the website that is linked above)