Her Body My Choice
We live in looney times. First, a bunch of right-wingers shout, “No masks, no vaccines. My body my choice!” Then these same folks crow over a new Texas law that forbids a woman from having a choice over her own body after she is six weeks pregnant.
My body, my choice! Your body, my choice!
Few women even know they’re pregnant until week five, giving them little time to prepare. And if a woman doesn’t reliably menstruate every four weeks she may not know she’s pregnant for several weeks or months. This Texas law forbids an abortion even if a woman was raped or if a little girl was molested, and if giving birth might tear up her small body.
Against killing, they claim.
Yet not masking or vaccinating can kill someone.
And, these same folks are also against plenty of things that preserve life:
- Prenatal care for the poor (which supports live births)
- Food stamps for poor children, the elderly, the disabled and the working poor
- Medicaid, which saves lives
- Obamacare, which saves lives
- Legislation to stop climate change and pollution, generally
- Sensible gun regulations
Meanwhile, laws against abortion don’t stop it. They drive it underground, killing more women and girls who try to do it themselves or go to unlicensed backstreet abortionists.
None of this is at all pro-life.
When I was young I had heard that so-called “pro-lifers” were not really pro-life; instead, their goal was controlling women. That didn’t make sense to me at the time. But clearly most “pro-lifers” aren’t actually pro-life. Meanwhile they work to control women’s bodies (even as they declare they need freedom for their own).
___________
Meanwhile, check out these stats:
Should abortion be legal?
- A Quinnipiac University poll found that 62% of Americans believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, 67% agree with Roe v. Wade, and 83% feel abortion should be legal if the girl or woman is a victim of rape or incest.
Should vigilantes receive monetary incentives?
- A Monmouth University poll found that 81% of Americans oppose incentivizing vigilantes with a $10,000 reward (secured by this bill) to accuse anyone who performs an abortion or helps a woman to get one. [Worse, if the accusation turns out to be false the accused must still pay the false accuser’s legal fees. This opens the door for incentivized vigilanteeism of all sorts. What might your neighbor report about you — whether made up or true — to get a monetary reward?! Talk about witch hunts.]
Do Americans approve of the Supreme Court letting the Texas abortion ban + vigilante justice stand?
- A Marquette University Law School poll found approval of the Supreme Court, which is letting the law stand, falling dramatically. And the Supreme Court, having no control over law enforcement or the purse, only has as much power as the people give it.
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Posted on October 5, 2021, in reproductive rights and tagged abortion, reproductive rights, Texas abortion law. Bookmark the permalink. 114 Comments.
BroadBlogs 
I used to listen to a talk show host host called these “pro-life” phonies “compulsory pregnancy people.” Truer words were seldom spoken,as once the “valued” fetus becomes a baby ( a living person) ,these folk say “F**k you” about anything which may ease the child’s existence. Screw these people,the ultimate hypocrites.
Yes. So you can see it’s not really about pro-life at all.
In all honesty, this Texas law makes me feel so helpless and scared for the women in Texas. I am someone who has always been pro-choice because I favor the idea of just letting others do what they want to, as long as it doesn’t harm other people. I do believe that with this Texas law, women are technically forced to birth a child, which in a way, would kind of sound inhumane because they’re doing it against their will. We have to think about the women and their circumstances as well when it comes to pregnancy in the matter of whether or not they’re ready or if they want it at all.
The day I chose to get an abortion was the day that I knew I was making the most “life saving” choice I have ever made in my life. As this author stated, the legislation is not there to be able to even support a life brought into this world. A year ago I was 22 years old, barely in college, and a full time nanny making a little over minimum wage in one of the most expensive cities in the world. I was barely able to support myself, and my boyfriend was a student as well who I was extremely disconnected with. I knew I did not want to spend the rest of my life with him. However, I knew that I wanted to have a child, and choosing to not continue with the pregnancy was extremely difficult, especially since I have been diagnosed with PCOS which makes 1 in 3 women infertile. In a way, I was also very fortunate to have been pregnant too, and I knew this might have been my only chance of bringing life into this world.
But bringing life into this world, where there is no infrastructure in place to be able to support young mothers would have been the most anti-life decision I could have made. Furthermore, studies show that adoption and foster care is one of the most traumatizing things children can go through. A newborn baby being taken from their mother is not good for the development of their brain, as multiple studies have shown. I believe with my abortion, I chose life. I chose life because I chose to not ruin an innocent person’s life, a life that I would not be able to support. If there was legislation in place to be able to support my fetus’ life, I would have absolutely continued with the pregnancy.
I have always been and, will always continue to be pro-choice. If it is not your body, then you shouldn’t have any say in what happens to it. When I heard the news about the abortion ban being passed in Texas I was honestly very scared for all the women there who are now going to be denied abortions. The thing about the ban is that it is not going to do what “pro-lifers” want it to and actually stop abortions from happening. Instead all it’s going to do is stop abortions from happening safely, ultimately resulting in more deaths of mothers.
It’s repulsive and horrifying to think that men like Greg Abbott, Texas Governor, think they rightfully have a say on a women’s choice regarding her own body. The disapproval surrounding abortion has been profoundly blown out of proportion by mostly religiously tied and opinionated individuals. Many stand in front of nonprofit organizations such as Planned Parenthood, which provides reproductive health services like HIV scans, supply birth control, LGBT+ services, and even just general health. These individuals wave demeaning and intimidating signs to scare teenagers/children. The way I see it is if you decide something is wrong whether it be because your religion frowns upon it or you yourself disagree, it is absolutely not your place to constrain and judge people because of it. I’m fed up of hearing the argument that you’re doing God’s work, or God sent you here to save the lives of unborn children. This is not an issue of protecting unborn children but a misogyny against women. A human rights violation. I feel women today are not seen as individuals with their own thoughts, beliefs, ideas… lives, and instead just a category of people. How can you as a man possibly think you have the credibility to outlaw a medical procedure pertaining to a women’s overall health? Many lawmakers today, especially Greg Abbott, don’t understand the significance and negative effects his religious-based and self-centered opinion has on all women in Texas. “I don’t believe abortion is right so no one can have it” is a childish mindset and insulting to medical professionals who work very hard to keep women safe and healthy. All in all, I don’t care that it’s against God’s plans because I in fact do not believe in God. Why are we pretending that making life-altering laws only affecting a certain percentage of the population in the name of one of the many “Gods” out there is acceptable?
This blog post brings up good points in the matter of Pro-Life people and that overall they don’t support the life of the child but the control of the pregnant women. If the life of the mother or the child truly mattered to them we would see reform in the healthcare system where many women are subject to death during childbrth. Not to mention the fact that many laws that are put into place to slow abortions, have the exact opposite effect. In Texas for example, where in most cases wome aren’t allowed ot get abortions after 6 weeks, many doctors have seen an increase in abortions. This is because instead of having more time to think about whether they want to keep the child they only have about 2 weeks to think about it and most rush to get an abortion. In these cases women would rather regret an abortion than a child.
This blog post brings up good points in the matter of Pro-Life people and that overall they don’t support the life of the child but the control of the pregnant women. If the life of the mother or the child truly mattered to them we would see reform in the healthcare system where many women are subject to death during childbrth. Not to mention the fact that many laws that are put into place to slow abortions, have the exact opposite effect. In Texas for example, where in most cases wome aren’t allowed ot get abortions after 6 weeks, many doctors have seen an increase in abortions. This is because instead of having more time to think about whether they want to keep the child they only have about 2 weeks to think about it and most rush to get an abortion. In these cases women would rather regret an abortion than a child.
It’s alarming to see how a woman’s power is systematically undermined. Wearing masks and receiving a vaccine can be justified on the grounds that it is a person’s body and decision, whereas a woman seeking an abortion should be someone else’s option, not hers. This is a double standard in which women are expected to have little control over their bodies. Ms. Platts raises a good point. People don’t want to be “pro-life,” they want to control women with whatever power they have. It’s horrifying to think that young girls and women who have been molested, raped, or even subjected to sex trafficking will be compelled to have a child of their assaulter. There are so many children in foster care or being raised in high-crime areas that many mothers are forced to give up their children because they cannot provide a safe environment for them or cannot afford to keep them. Women are expected to raise children they did not intend to have. They are supposed to love and care for them, yet they are not given enough money or resources by the government to ensure a “decent” life for a child.
I think that abortion should not be banned, I think every woman has every right to do whatever they want with their body. People who yell out my body my choice when it comes to their needs and wants and then support this law is what you call hypocrisy, I don’t get how people think it is okay to forbid women to do what they want with their own bodies. I can understand when it comes to religion and how people don’t believe in abortion but I think that should be kept to yourself and not shoved down through people’s throats or make a person feel bad for what they believe in or what they choose to do with their life and body. I personally believe that it is not okay to ban abortion. Not everyone is stable or mentally prepared for a baby or want a baby or it could be that they had been raped or whichever other reason but women should not feel obligated to keep a baby they don’t want. I think it is horrible how you can accuse a person that they aborted a baby or helped someone do so and get money for it even if it is a false accusation you can still get money for it which is disgusting.
All women should be allowed to make their own choices especially if it is about their own body. The fact that there are laws that forbid women from having abortions proves that women are not treated equally. I always hear individuals during this Covid-19 pandemic saying that it is their body so its their choice wether they want to wear a mask or get the vaccine. If those individuals are allowed to make those decisions for themselves because it is their own body, then the women in Texas should be allowed to have abortions. Pregnancy is not meant for every women, there are always risks when having a child. If a child was raped and lived in Texas she would be forced to go through with her pregnancy and give birth to a child. Lots of complications can happen if a child is to give birth, death is the worst result.
This article brought into perspective an issue that I have strong opinions towards. Another form of women’s rights that is gravely important and shockingly an issue which is a woman’s rights to her own body. I comprehend the fact that there are religious beliefs behind why people believe abortion should not be viable however I believe there are many more factors than just one in the decision of whether an abortion should be had however the most important factor of it is the woman’s choice. The other factors include financial stability to provide for self and child as well as mental stability to provide for self and child children are abused every day or are in poverty as a result of parents who are mentally unstable or financially unfit for taking care of a child so why should we bring a child into the world if this is the consequence they would have to bare? I felt particular resonance when the article spoke about how laws against abortion doesn’t stop it, it just drives it underground and as a result, kills more girls and women that attempt to do it themselves or attempt to get it done by unlicensed backstreet abortionists. I felt particular resonance with this because there was a moment in my life when I had a pregnancy scare as a result of a false positive home test. As I waited to get another test, I contemplated and searched online, ways of doing it myself however, all that worrying was for nothing because the second test showed negative therefore showing that what I was seeing was simply the evap line and I got my period a few days later.
I think the decision to ban abortion is absolutely disgusting and something I feel very strongly about. I think many people have the misconception that being pro-choice is being pro-abortion, but what people forget is it’s about “CHOICE.” When it comes to the autonomy of a woman’s body, it should be up to her and her only. If one disagrees with abortion, there is nothing wrong with that; but to take away someone else’s choice because of ones personal/religious beliefs directly infringes on the principal/constitutions that this country was built on: FREEDOM AND JUSTICE FOR ALL. And freedom shouldn’t only encompass one personal space but the freedom of choice. If people really cared about the lives of these “children,” then there would be an increase in changes made in the foster care system, in education, and even in health care. Anything that means that the quality of life these kids once born is better, but there isn’t. And to only penalize the women involved, what about the men? The fact that more people care about the “life” of a “baby” that has no emotion, no thoughts/brain activity than the physical and mental well being of the full-fledged human being says a lot more about the people who think this is okay than it does about the women who do end up going through with getting an abortion.
I personally think that women should have the right to get an abortion. I think that people other than the woman who is pregnant shouldn’t have a say in whether or not those women can have an abortion. I feel that if someone wants to get an abortion it is nobody’s business but theirs and that they shouldn’t have to explain it to anyone else or ask anyone if they can get one. In my opinion it is very sad and crazy that they are trying to pass a law to ban abortions in Texas. There are a lot of different reasons why women choose to get abortions and they are all valid reasons. Especially if the women or child was raped or molested. Passing that law would make life harder for a lot of women and young girls in Texas. It would not only make life harder for them, but it would also in a way be saying to them that they don’t deserve to have a say about what goes on with their own body. I also don’t understand why men feel like they have the right to speak about abortions and banning them because they aren’t even the ones who will be affected. I feel like they shouldn’t have a say on the matter at all.
“I also don’t understand why men feel like they have the right to speak about abortions”
Women make up a majority of the population. Women voted for candidates (both men and women) who implemented this. Don’t put his on men.
I agree that the problem is patriarchy and not men. Women and men both unconsciously internalize a patriarchal system that favors men, and unconsciously reinforce it. I discuss this in my post below:
That’s why we need women’s studies classes: to make us aware of the things we have unconsciously internalized so that we can change them.
It’s also important to understand that it doesn’t seem that men didn’t even start patriarchy with a conscious aim of dominating women:
A World Before Male Dominance
Gender Inequality Emerged From Agriculture?
What Created Patriarchy? Many Possibilities
So women are dominating women’s bodies, and your description of this is patriarchy? How does that work? This has got nothing to do with men. Women voted to do this, this is matriarchy, pure and simple.
I hope you will read the links I sent. Here is the simplified form:
Once upon a time we had partnership societies, neither patriarchy nor matriarchy.
At some point patriarchy rose, but not because men purposely try to create it. See links.
Once patriarchy is created men have more control over ideas, controlling religious pulpits political pulpits, literature, the arts, eventually they are controlling media, advertising and they are the ones designing clothing.
Little girls are born into this society and unconsciously absorb its messages, which come mostly from men. They are too young to have the sophistication to criticize so the world will seem natural and normal. Their mothers were raised in the same way and when they have questions and ask their mothers, their mothers will give them a patriarchal viewpoint that they have unconsciously internalized.
Fortunately, some people are more inclined to think outside the box and some of these become feminists who begin to see in question. It is at that point that you actually have free choice. That’s why we need feminist thought and women’s studies classes.
This is such a touchy subject, but I find myself drawn to it. It’s not something I like talking about, actually, I rarely talk about it at all…but I had an abortion 10 years ago. It was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever been through. I wasn’t in a committed relationship, in fact, the father was a very close friend of mine whom I had previously dated. We had a one night stand, and the result was a pregnancy. While I was extremely scared, I always wanted to be a mother and had every intention of keeping the baby. My friend, however, didn’t agree. He had a girlfriend and didn’t want her to find out. I was treated like a dirty little secret he had to get rid of…and so was our baby. He pressured me to get an abortion, and when that didn’t work, he used threats. I ended up giving in, against my better judgement. The clinic was a horrible experience. The staff knew I was apprehensive, but never once offered me even an ounce of empathy. Not once did they ever ask if I was sure, or offer any alternatives. I desperately wanted someone to tell me I didn’t have to do it, but that never came. I took the second pill alone, in my room, and went through the entire process completely alone. The pain became so intense I thought I might die, but I truly believed that if I did, I deserved it. I swore to myself I would NEVER allow anyone to coerce me into anything ever again. I was so depressed that I tried to cope by heavily using drugs. I became a rock-bottom addict within months. Shortly after, I met my now husband, and he helped me get clean and sober.
Fast-forward to today, I have two healthy children and one on the way. I still think about the child I threw away, it haunts me. Even more so after I suffered a miscarriage last year. The experience was similar, medically speaking. Due to covid, everyone was on high alert and wearing a mask. I wasn’t able to have anyone with me for appointments, and the entire experience felt impersonal and non-compassionate.
While I do believe abortion should be accessible in certain circumstances, I don’t believe it should be so readily available to the point where it’s now being used as birth control. I know one woman who’s had 4 abortions while in a committed relationship, that’s not being stuck in a bad situation or a mistake, that’s flat out irresponsibility. While some say it empowers women, I also believe it has opened the door for them to be victimized. Men are often a mitigating factor in a woman making the decision to get an abortion. It undermines women’s health, and devalues human life. While some women consciously decide abortion is the answer, I am not alone, there are many women who are pressured, coerced, or forced to have abortions they don’t want. The current laws don’t protect them, or their unborn child. From my own experience, I can attest to the fact that it’s not a quick fix or healthy solution to an unwanted pregnancy. As a woman, I feel like we need to do more to support women in crisis, and not just point to abortion as the answer. It’s become a platform in the feminist movement and a political talking point. Nobody ever talks about the damage it does to the woman’s self-esteem, or the fact that it does indeed take a life. I understand that many women feel like they have no other option, but I am here to say that many times they do. The medical community needs to start being more honest with women when it comes to the psychological and emotional side of abortion. It makes me sad and angry when I see young women on college campuses celebrating their abortions, or saying they will get pregnant just to have one. Behavior like that is a slap in the face to someone who almost ended their life due to the trauma.
The comic posted at the top particularly caught my attention. I’m curious what pro-choice supporters think about the legislation currently on the California agenda regarding the covid-19 vaccine. If women have bodily autonomy when it comes to abortion, should they not have it when it comes to a vaccine? The current bills on the legislative agenda would all but take that right away, which I also believe would open the door to taking away a woman’s right to choose…would it not?
Thank you for sharing your experience with this. I’m sorry you had to undergo this and I’m sure it was very difficult to write about.
I believe it should be the women’s choice over the man’s choice. Because her body is the main one affected.
Women, like you, who feel pressured into having abortions from the men who pregnant them or from their families often have bad emotional outcomes.
When it is the woman’s free choice the primary feeling is relief.
And when women who want an abortion aren’t given the option it tends to go underground because desperate women and girls will find a way to abort an unwanted baby if that’s what they want. So laws against it have very little effect on the actual abortion rate. And when girls try to do it themselves or go to illegal abortion as you get young women and girls dying at higher rates.
The legislation in California to use vigilante laws against gun ownership is largely being used to pressure states like Texas to stop using these kinds of laws too and abortion. Highly unlikely that California will outlaw abortion because of our culture. Just like it’s highly unlikely that Texas will outlaw guns because of their culture, despite their vigilante abortion law.
I think that the whole topic of abortion is extremely unfair. As we all know, one of the main reasons why people are against abortion is because of religious reasons. Even though our country’s amendments state religious freedom and we do not have a designated religion for the nation, laws are still built around Christianity. Truly I believe that it is a women’s body so it should be her choice. The vaccine and anti maskers are just proving the double standard exists.
This is really a tricky subject without getting political. It seems that you’re either on one side or the other when I think in reality it’s really unfair to try and make life choices for people when we don’t understand the circumstances that they are in. What we should be able to do it help provide support and guidance to help dictate the best discucion giving the circumstances. If a woman can’t support a child yet alone herself, she shouldn’t try and get pregnant but it really isn’t that easy. As the article mentioned, if a women is raped or a little girl was molested they shouldn’t be able to keep the child. While i do believe, as a christian i’m not 100 percent content on killing unless it occurs naturally. With that being said if it’s the only and best possible solution then what must be down has to be down. I do think they are ways we can support women who do become pregnant and can’t support them with foster care programs, Making healthcare more affordable and educating the world in the concept that you can’t make life choices for someone with one answer.
The main reason this ends up being a “one side or the other” issue is because that is actually the only choice available when you were talking about abortion. You do it or you don’t. And it seems to me that the person whose life is most affected should have more say. When it comes to abortion it is the woman whose body in life is most affected.
That said, it could be that if there were more social support for mothers that there would be less abortions. And I I am certainly for more support for mothers.
We all deserve the opportunity to be born into a family that awaits you, into responsible parents who are ready for you. Abortion is a gift not only for the mother who is not prepared and who does not want to have such a great responsibility; but also for the child who does not ask to be born and who I am sure would come to suffer alone or with a mother who rejects his baby and only have the baby because society does not let her choose. It is not fair for a newborn to arrive in this world under these conditions, and it is not acceptable for the mother not to choose.
I completely agree that “pro-lifers” are not pro-life but want to control women. It is ironic that many of them say to choose adoption but have not adopted a child. The adoption and foster systems are broken and overcrowded, yet “pro-lifers” often do not want to pay more in taxes, which would help fund these systems, and do not want to foster or adopt a child. And if the parent(s) does decide to raise a child they did not want to, it will most likely result in adverse mental health effects for both the child and the parent(s).
It is severely obvious that pro-lifers are not focusing on a life of a baby, but more on controlling women’s bodies. The statements are very contradicting between believing in one’s right to bear arms and potentially taking a life, their belief in the death penalty, and also their response to Covid-19 and the meltdowns we see on the internet about wearing a mask. At the same time, pro-lifers are also claiming that every life, even if it is just a bunch of cells, needs to be kept no matter the circumstances in which it was conceived. The fact that other ‘peoples’ lives only matter when it concerns the rights of a woman’s own body shows that being “pro-life” is just an excuse to prevent women from making medical decisions.
It’s so contradictory that a grouping of cells that aren’t actually human yet are given more rights than actual women. And meanwhile the same people don’t care if the children starve or die from lack of medical care once they are born. Such hypocrites!
“grouping of cells that aren’t actually human”
What are they if not human? Giraffe?
Potentially human. Not human yet.
It was absolutely unbelievable when the abortion law was passed in Texas. Abortion should not be stripped away from women, as it is their choice whether or not they want to raise a child. If a woman is not ready to raise a child or does not want a child, then abortion would be the rational decision. Of course, this is not always the case but abortion is a safety net for women who are on the fence with raising a child.
And it is alarming band creepy that they want to use vigilante justice where everyone reports on each other. Who wants to live in a society like that?
Through the years as I was growing up I was also taught that everyone has the choice of what they do with their body. Whether it be with an outfit someone wears or physical alterations done temporary or permanent. As a women, it is our given life choice to do what we please as we see fit for our life choices. Having other individuals take that choice/right away is inhuman and should be not justifiable as majority of the people against being pro-choice is men. What happens if the roles were switched, would men still be against pro-choice if it’ll limit their say on their own body?
If the roles switched I’m sure laws would switch too!
Are you implying that men can’t give birth? How transphobic of you.
Men can’t but trans men can.
It’s very obvious that pro-lifers are hypocritical. “Pro-life” is less about actually being pro-life and more about about controlling and taking away choices due to their own religious beliefs. When they stay quiet or advocate for the detention of children in cages, the denial of affordable healthcare, want to force victims of rape to carry their rapists baby and rally behind the imprisonment of women and children who go through with abortions it becomes obvious that these people are not “pro-life” in any sense.
I think it is ironic how right-wingers can call themselves pro-life especially with issues regarding abortion because with real pro life acts such as affordable healthcare, gun control, and food stamps they don’t agree. I think it is more about having control rather than actually caring about the lives and especially the quality of life of others. How they acted during the Covid 19 pandemic is a great example. It is proven that wearing masks and getting vaccinated saves lives but somehow that is when they stopped caring. It was never about being pro life. It is about control.
Sometimes, it’s genuinely hard to believe that opinions and views like this are real. It blows my mind that people can be so ignorant and even think of comparing two completely different situations like this. Abortions save lives, not end them. Women deserve the ability to have this choice that quite literally changes the trajectory of their entire lives, and carrying an unwanted pregnancy could harm them not only physically, but mentally as well. The ability to choose doesn’t mean all women choose an abortion, many women do choose to carry out the pregnancy and have a baby and that being their choice is what makes it so special. Getting a vaccine has no proven long term effects on ones life. It doesn’t hurt, takes maybe 15 minutes out of your life, and saves millions of lives in the process. The two genuinely have no similarities and making a “choice” has no relevance to a life saving vaccine.
Like you I am amazed at how contradictory and hypocritical so many people can be.
First of all, if someone else is going to make a decision for a woman about raising a child in their body for at least 40 weeks. I strongly suggest that those decision makers be there every step of the way. Especially when that midnight cravings hit, the child needing a diaper changed, and most importantly the emotional and physical stress that women undergo during the pregnancy and postpartum. I believe that decision should be none of anyone’s business but the pregnant woman.
To be very honest I have thought about this for a really long while and I believe this topic isn’t getting enough attention. Claiming to not be vaccinated or using a face mask can not just kill a person but could result and them Killing others too. Unexpected pregnancies aren’t to be stereotyped, it’s normal and in a situation where the pregnancy or delivery might damage the body an abortion should be an option. Abortion should be legalized, I mean it’s our bodies and we can choose to do what we want and when we want to.
I agree with this blog post one hundred percent, I’ve always felt the need to advocate for women’s rights even if its just to someone who doesn’t agree with how I view laws that have been passed like this. Abortion should be any woman’s right to do or not to do regardless of the situation, for example, how she got pregnant? Whether it was by force or even sex between two mutually consenting partners. I’ve never understood the audacity so many people (male and female) have felt the right to make decisions for someone else’s body, especially coming from such a hypocritical state as Texas, whom doesn’t enforce mask mandates, and opened up there state as if the whole world isn’t going through a pandemic, but had the nerve to write up a law as absurd as this one.
I have always found it interesting how controversial the topic of choice is. Personally, I am for having the freedom of choice. If a woman wishes to have an abortion, then I do not believe it is my place or the government’s place to tell her otherwise. In addition, I also have that same belief when it comes to getting vaccinated/boosted. We should all have the freedom to make decisions for ourselves and understand any repercussions that may result in our decision(s).
This has been something I have always thought was insane and how could a group of people be so deep in their hypocrisies? Especially when it comes to sexual assaults and traumas, in Women and girls, how can we force them to birth a trauma? There’s no way, this is an acceptable choice, Women and girls control their own bodies, the end. Also, safe Abortions are needed 100%, we wouldn’t want these women to be forced into an unsafe abortion. This is literally just a path to harming and killing women. There’s no other way to see this, or accept it. It’s misogyny at its highest.
I agree that women should have their own choice on what they want to do with their OWN body. Men do not have the something women have, and it is not fair for them to say on what we do with our bodies. If someone wants an abortion, they should have the free right to choose because we do not know what they are feeling and why they want to have the abortion. Especially if a little girl gets raped her body will be torn apart by the birth of a baby and will permanently damage the little girl. These are sad things to say but it can happen, and it will if they people making decision for women bodies.
I agree with you a thousand percent with this, everyone has the right to choose what they want to do with their bodies and no one needs to have a saying to that. And people who believe in pro-life, I believe that their priorities are not in check they don’t want women who are going through the hardest thing they can possibly go through in any way that may be and they choose to have an abortion but they get told they can’t. that is not fair because it is not their bodies nor their lives to make that decision for.
The life growing inside a woman is scientifically, and factually NOT “your body”. It has a different genetic makeup. A different blood type. It doesn’t share blood with the mother. It is in every sense a different organism, with its own body. That’s why “my body, my choice” rings hollow… the issue is not about your body, it’s about his or her body.
If a fire broke out at a stem cell research facility would you save thousands of “people” over one screaming child? I have never met anyone yet who would choose thousands of embryos or fetuses over an actual child.
Embryos and fetuses are not morally equivalent to an actual human being.
When my sister-in-law was in the hospital with a late term troubled pregnancy her husband, who had always been against abortion, was told he might have to make a choice between the baby and his wife. He chose his wife. Again, embryos and fetuses are not morally equivalent to an actual human being.
And making abortion illegal does not stop it. Desperate girls and women fins illegal abortionists or try to do it themselves. So laws against abortion have almost no effect on the abortion rate. You just kill more girls and women by driving abortion underground.
You still haven’t answered my question… that you seem to be very studiously avoiding. Are you in favour of women having unrestricted ability to kill 9 month old fetuses? Yes or no, why are you afraid to answer? Instead it’s a continual distraction with the “stem cell factory” nonsense.
Of course I think it should be legal for a woman to be able to get an abortion under any circumstance.
1. Fetuses and embryos do not have moral equivalence to actual human beings. I haven’t met anyone yet who would save thousands of “people“ (embryos and fetuses) over one terrified child who is about to be killed.
2. Making abortion illegal just kills more people as girls and women desperately try to do it themselves or go to back alley abortionists.
1. Question: What is the objective difference between a 9 month fetus in the womb, and a 0 day baby out of the womb? Or are you in favor of the mother’s right to kill a 0 day old baby? If not, why not since they are physiologically identical?
2.This is actually a brand new claim that it “kills more people”. There are nearly a million abortion deaths in the US per year. Please cite your evidence that 1,000,000 girls and women would die from illegal abortions if abortion were illegal. It’s been claimed that 1000 a year die in the Philippines from unsafe abortion, a country of 110 million. Extrapolating that to the US would be 3000, or 0.00003% of the number of deaths of children by abortion.
Does outlawing abortion stop it? No. More girls and women die
https://amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/572638/
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/amp/ncna1235174
https://www.colorado.edu/today/2021/09/08/study-banning-abortion-would-boost-maternal-mortality-double-digits
The fetuses are aborted whether or not abortion is legal. But when abortion is illegal desperate girls and women die too. So more death overall.
Also: if a fire broke out and you had to choose between saving one terrified two year old boy or saving thousands of “people” in the form of embryos and fetuses, what would you choose to do?
And: What is the objective difference between a 9 month fetus in the womb, and a 0 day baby out of the womb?
Like I said, my brother-in-law was always against abortion until his pregnant wife ended up in the hospital and he was told he might have to make a choice between her life and the baby’s life as she might end up unconscious. He chose his wife. Even at that late stage she is more human in a number of ways including all of the experiences that have made her who she is and all of the relationships she has. To lose her would be much more wrenching for those who loved her than to a baby that no one knows.
Why do you think an unborn baby should take precedence over an actual woman? If a woman gets pregnant she gives up all rights to her own body and life? If that were the case women should stop having sex to ensure that an embryo/fetus life cannot trump hers.
This topic is a very complex and sensitive topic for many men and women to discuss though it’s very important to address and while many times it’s may not be easy to talk about with others its necessary. This notion of “my body, my choice” versus “your body, my choice” is a very deep complex issue simplified to a small statement. This in my opinion can be both harmful and helpful. For example, the simplification can help those understand the hypocrisy within their views in how they truly view “pro life”. While it can also be harmful considering it’s taking a very intricate issue and drawing it down to a two sentence argument that can be easily misconstrued. I think regardless this is an important issue to address and fully dive into not other others opinion and views but ones own opinions.
This is really a perplexing time we are living in. It seems the world clearly has moved to understand that a group of men are not the correct group to make such decisions (and most if not all men I know would agree…), but to see the politics of the world moving in a different direction, I do not get it. Here in Czech, this is a volatile discussion not so much internally in the country, but with neighboring Poland and their government new, strict, law towards abortion. It has created groups in Czech opening up ways to help the women in Poland who find themselves at the mercy of politics. Great post.
It’s always interesting to hear how things are going in other parts of the world. Yes, these are distressing times in many ways.
And thanks to Maddy for sharing about her experience with this!
I think this topic is a hard one and very difficult to understand. I am in no position to say that I am pro-life or not because I have mixed feelings about this. I am against abortion for sure but I do feel like it depends on the situation, life for example rape. If a woman or young girl has been raped and due to that they become pregnant, I feel like they can totally decide for abortion, I think that if they decide or somebody forces them to keep the baby, they will hate the baby since it was created by against their will. But then I think life is a life no matter what. That is why is so hard to know who is right or wrong. In regards to the mask during the pandemic, I feel like some people are just trying to take this to another level. The mask is for protection, protection for you and for everybody. I do not think is violating your body or is bad for you. It is interesting that Texas can call itself pro-life but is not passing the other important bills such as obamacare.
One thing to keep in mind is that laws against abortion don’t stop very many of them. Women find ways to do it themselves and often die in the process.
The reasons for people being against abortion have nothing to do with logic. Denying bodily autonomy to women in the case of pregnancy is neither logical nor medically sound. It is based in faith, punishment and control. Faith is belief in the absence of evidence and decisions made based in faith often fly in the face of logic and reason. it is possible for faith-based decisions to dovetail with logic but not always. Punishment has everything to do with patriarchal society which at its core relegates women to that of subordinate. How dare a woman have sex/get pregnant outside of the control of a man in wedlock? Obviously this is irresponsible behavior and by forcing birth -women are forced into vulnerability that will make them subordinate even if they aren’t in their own heads. In this way women are kept down and held up as an example of what not to do for others who might be getting too big for their britches. Lastly, control. Women must be controlled as they are obviously not sound enough to make responsible decisions on their own. Men would be privileged less if they didn’t control the other half of the population thru forced vulnerability. Wrap up those last two in faith- you had sex/got pregnant and God let that happen so obviously you were meant to be punished- and you’ve got a position from which someone fairly ensconced in this camp will never budge.
But all of this aside here is what happens when abortion is outlawed. Romania was what is called a “natural experiment” and anyone who denies this and the studies etc probably deserves to go to hell. it is heinous and reckless and despicable if you ask me.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/07/can-an-unloved-child-learn-to-love/612253/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_orphans
Yes, the leaders and many abortion opponents often have an anti-woman, domination agenda. Many other abortion opponents have been brainwashed. Thanks for the links!
Interesting and well written read. As an outsider looking in I often can’t comprehend the irrationality of the contasting ‘beliefs’ of some people, especially in the US. I agree, it is about power over women, but why then do so many women also have these beliefs? That’s really a question not a commentary. Maggie
I grew up in a conservative Christian church and couldn’t figure out why women in my congregation insisted on gender any quality. Men should be the head of the home and only men should hold priesthood, they insisted.
When I got into sociology and learned how society gets in our heads I finally came to understand what was happening. And I wrote about it in this blog post:
“Why do women fight against their own interests?”
https://broadblogs.com/2016/01/01/why-do-women-fight-their-interests/“Why do women fight against their own interests?“
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Abortion issue is a very sensitive topic, it has a different way to see it with in multiple cultures. Hearing that not being able to chose if we want to take responsibility to have a baby or no shocked me. I would say what about if the couple are young and it happens that the girl gets pregnant by mistake that she needs to get stuck her rest of life with that mistake and not providing a good life for baby, does the baby needs to pay for that mistake as well?. Also, in a medical field shows that most of the women don’t know that they are pregnant until passing couple months because of certain reasons and the law doesn’t allowed them to have right to chose what it is better for themselves or for the baby too.
You know, I think this part: “what if the girl gets pregnant by mistake that she needs to get stuck her rest of life with that mistake?” Is actually the point with these people. They feel a sense of anger and lack of control in their own lives so they’re going to take it out on someone who they think they can control and punish. Since they are so anti-life in every other case, it’s clearly not that they are pro life.
A couple months ago I watched a Tiktoc of this 20-something year old women talking about what would happen if abortions were made illegal again. I wish I could find the video so I could quote her but, the gist of the video was “If we can’t get safe abortions legally, I going to make an camp for girls and women to come to where we get blackout drunk every night and have gloveless ring fights where we aim for the stomach.” She followed up that insane statement by saying that something like this can be a reality if abortions are made illegal again. Making abortions illegal is going to make women have to go too extreme and dangerous solutions. It was done in the past and will inevitably be done again in the future. More people could die because of the bill weather it’d be botched backstreet/ diy abortions, overdoses, body mutilation, possible assault from a partner or other trying to prevent the birth, someone killing/ abandoning the new born, child abuse from someone who never should have had a child in the first place, suicide, and more. It only sounds crazy until you get desperate.
Yes, a bunch of angry people who feel like they don’t have control over their own lives want to exert power over others.
And then, in a very non-pro life kind of way, a lot of young women end up dying trying to get rid of the pregnancy.
It’s really more like a pro death cult.
Ultimately, its hypocrisy. Pro-lifers are only pro-life until they come across an inconvenience. They’re against abortion until they or someone close to them needs one. They oppose the mask mandate and vaccine until they or someone they know gets sick and is in the hospital dying alone because friends and family can’t be with them. It is about control one way or another. Either they want to control something or someone or they feel like they’re being controlled and feel oppressed.
Your point that they are against abortion until they need one is a good point. I know people who have worked on the lines trying to protect girls and women who need an abortion who have seen people who have been on the picket line coming in for an abortion. Their claim is that they deserve one because they try to be responsible. Like no one else there did?
I had a student who was very anti-abortion and happen to also fail the class. When she really took the class she said life had taught her some lessons and she saw things differently now. I wondered if she was one of those young women.
The amount of anger I felt when I first read about the Heart Beat Bill is something that is unimaginable. Women have proven that we are able to make decisions on our own. Men should not have this power against us. Just because they feel this empowerment of owning us, is absolutely disgusting. We have been able to fight for our rights, and this time, it is a step back. This one step back just makes us stronger. Since this bill was introduced, we have been able to show up in protest against this heinous act. These men need to realize that this bill targets all women, including their wives, sisters, daughters, and granddaughters. The fact that they made such an irrational decision so quickly is what startles me.
I’m hoping that laws like this will create a backlash against those who make them.
I agree with this post because I think there are plenty of ways to help preserve life and that the abortion ban in Texas is about controlling women. There are plenty of examples being used where men can use their own forms of birth control or be held responsible for their own actions when children are born. Women are expected to be held accountable and essentially hunted for making choices against their own bodies, the idea that women are being hunted in the freedom that we should have in this country is appalling. This topic is so clearly about the control of women because men are not responsible for anything, a woman could be prosecuted for having an abortion and have a harsher punishment for that abortion than the man who raped her. Control of women is the ultimate goal of laws like these and it’s insulting as a woman but it also shows how hard people are fighting to have control of women Why are you so fearful of us? Because you know we are stronger than you give us credit for?
Good question. And a pointed one of that.
A women’s right to choose is never a priority when it affects political and religious standing. I mean that religiously, the republican party has adopted the end of abortion as a party requirement. Not a spoken one, but to appeal to those who elect these officials, the conservatives that are feed misinformation about abortions and the choice for anyone, not just women, to decide what they want to do with their bodies, including the LGBTQ+ community. Medically and biblically, these people do not know its effect on the mother and/or the child if the pregnancy was to go full term. Biblically, when Jesus died on the cross, he died for our sins but as well for our choice choose, and God gave the same choice; we see this throughout the bible starting with adam and eve no matter what choice was made, may it be the right or wrong one the choice is still ours to make, to choose religion or not. As the government in the US does as well, giving us religious freedom and religion should not be the reason. Abortion should be the women’s choice with a medical professional as others are not professionally inclined to assist in the decision making as proven by those who are pro-life backed by terms like partial-birth abortion, being made up to induce fear in public thinking that a live baby was being ripped out with forceps and being torn apart when this is not the case nor medically proven.
Regardless of how an abortion is done laws against it don’t stop it. In the late term abortions almost only happen when the mother’s life is at risk.
I think it is ridiculous that there has to be this conversation of what a person can and cannot do when its pertaining to their own livelihood. In the article there is a poll that says the majority of people agree that abortions should be legal no matter the circumstances and that almost 85 percent of people believe that in cases where someone needed an abortion due to birthing being life-threatening or if the girl or woman was a victim of rape should be able to do so. So why isn’t this being reflected in our laws and being taken into account when policies are being made, especially ones that deeply impact the lives of women? If we had more women in positions of legislation and policy making, we sure wouldn’t be having this conversation and maddening debate over who has the right to choose how one lives there life and what decisions they can or cannot make based off one’s belief.
Interestingly there isn’t a huge gender gap in how people feel about abortion. People with a conservative mindset tend to be anti-abortion, regardless.
What I think is a very interesting question though is what would our laws look like if men were the ones who suddenly got pregnant?
We live in a patriarchal society that values and privileges men, and to privilege men you have to take rights away from women. And then conservative people tend to be most likely to internalize whatever the culture says, so conservatives will tend to internalize the anti-abortion notions of a patriarchal society.
But if men were suddenly the ones you got pregnant I will bet you the laws will change real fast. And conservatives within internalize that, too.
When I first heard about this law passing, I was shocked, even more shocked to hear that the Supreme Court did nothing to stop this. The first thing that came to mind was to try and find loopholes to cheat the system, figure out if it makes a difference if one was sexually assaulted, forced, underage, but it doesn’t. Then I thought of it on a more personal level, I found out that my brother and his girlfriend are going to have a baby. They did not find out she was pregnant until she was 9 weeks along, thankfully not only do I live in California, which is pro-choice, but they want to keep the baby and start a family. I found out after the law in Texas had passed, my first thought was what if we lived in Texas and they did not want to keep the baby? What then? Would they have to travel to another state and get an abortion? Which is illegal according to the law, risking getting sued by someone if they found out what you did, this vigilante reward that would go to the person telling on them.
The other part I thought about quite a bit regarding this law was the beliefs that some parents hold and the way they treat their children, not that this is everyone, but hear me out. So, the law passed and now these people must have the baby, some will put the baby up for adoption, but then the other some will keep the baby. Now having loved and raised the baby for 10-18 years, one finds out that their child is gay or apart of the LGBTQ+ community. One half of parents are accepting, they don’t have a problem with it or that they are a little worried or skeptical about it but accept it anyways, because love is love and that is their kid, whom they love and care about. The other half of parents do not accept at all, they kick their child out at 16, they disown them, they are getting rid of the child, they do not want them anymore. Isn’t that a bit similar to getting an abortion? Of course, it is not actually getting an abortion, but back then when you decided that women did not have control over their own bodies, were you not also deciding that you would love and care for your child regardless of anything? Were you not deciding to love them until the day you die? Regardless of gender, sex, morals, values, sexuality? Were you not deciding to be responsible for the child until the day you die? When you decided to bring a child into this world, were you not deciding to be responsible for them? To love and to care about them no matter what?
And it’s very common for girls and young women to try to avoid themselves, which can be dangerous.
Thanks for sharing about your story and your thoughts on this.
This blog post makes excellent points regarding abortion and how pro-lifers aren’t really pro-life if they don’t take any cons into discussion. (e.g. children and women who are raped, people who cannot afford to care for the child, the lack of time to even realize one is pregnant or even make a decision on what to do, etc.) It quite honestly makes me sick to the stomach that Texas has passed such a disgusting and controlling law. Let alone the fact that they reject other means of helping people, when they claim to be “pro-life”. My heart goes out to anyone that has to suffer under this law.
Yeah they are only pro-life until birth. So not really pro-life after all.
ive had family members get abortions before and I was there for them when they needed me. its scary how “pro-lifers” stand outside of abortion clinics and basically just yell and call you murderers. while they themselves aren’t wearing masks. why are they so worried about an unborn child rather than those millions of children in foster care. the abortion law would, like the blog said, would still lead to abortions but they would be dangerous especially for young children who have been raped. the thing about the abortion law in Texas is that it won’t even affect the government, it only affects the mother. once the baby is born they won’t care for it, the mother will.
This is such an interesting image:
“pro-lifers” stand outside of abortion clinics and basically just yell and call you murderers. while they themselves aren’t wearing masks
They don’t seem to mind that they themselves are possibly committing murder.
I completely agree with you, they are a million of the kids that they are suffering from a drugs parents, or from poverty because they parents didn’t have chose to choice what it is the best of their kids
This topic sits heavy with me. Never would I have thought to live in a day where our government would have the right to determine what happens with a woman’s body. I could not that understand how someone’s entire future could be dictated based upon someone else’s ideologies. There are women who are victims of rape and abuse, and they will not have the option to terminate and unwanted pregnancy due to this atrocious new law. The fact that most women are unaware that they are pregnant within the first few weeks (and 6 weeks being the deadline to terminate the pregnancy) makes it next to impossible to have this choice available. I can only imagine what will become of women’s futures pertaining to our natural born rights. Talk about regression.
I can only hope it will backfire on the conservative movement.
I totally agree with you, when it comes to the rape and women are not able to chose to the abortion it is disaster because she needs to deal with a baby that is a result of a bad experience that had in her life. The society won’t see how that can effect badly in the kid education and her/his life in general. It will be a punishment that none of the baby or mom did.
When I first heard about this anti-abortion law pass in Texas, I was honestly shocked and taken back. Right after the shock I felt fear. I felt strange to even acknowledge that I did feel fear because that meant I in some way felt threatened. A completely different state so why did I feel scared? Well I did, when I think more about it, I felt fear because it felt like a beginning and ending at the same time. Beginning of non sense like this becoming peoples reality and a control on women’s bodies being made only women but by a group of men. How is that possible? What can a man possibly know about being pregnant, giving birth, and being a mother? It was also the ending for many women to feel safe and cared for. That to me is very upsetting because no one should feel that they don’t have full control over their bodies/lives.
There’s good reason to feel fear. Looks like authoritarians who want us to report on each other are testing the waters. Looks a little too much like “the handmaid‘s tale.“
Anti-abortion laws and other legislations about sexual conduct are almost all about controlling women and their actions. It’s such a hypocritical situation to constantly be reprimanded to protect chastity and virginity, yet never give proper sexual education on even the biology of reproduction. In addition, society simultaneously pressures women to immediately grow up and become subjected to the male gaze while being told modesty is our only protection against rape and harassment. It’s then baffling to have the same people who don’t take parenthood responsibly (foster care, adoption, child support, etc) claim that each life matters when that life is likely to be abused, mistreated, and neglected.
Good points.
Great article! As you mentioned it is so ironic that the same people that chant my body, my choice are in fact limiting what women can do with their bodies.
Does someone else’s abortion really affect these people? The same people are advocating for adoption, but are they going to adopt all these children that end up in foster care and the children that are already in the system waiting to be adopted. There are a lot of children that already need homes. How about the children that can end up there anyway because their parents are not meant or fit to be parents. What about the babies that have severe health problems and only live a few minutes or hours after birth. That should be the women’s choice whether or not to have to deal with the possible emotional and physical trauma of birth on top of losing their baby.
How about we make a new law that all men have to get vasectomy’s until they are ready and willing to have children and take care of them. Oh your body your choice? That is exactly what women everywhere are saying.
Yeah, besides the hypocrisy, there is the fact that they are so much more “pro life” when they don’t have to take any responsibility. But of course it isn’t really about life, given all the pro-death they are for.
As a 18 year old who is sexually active with my boyfriend of 3 years. Me and him have had this talk many times about what would happen if I were to get pregnant. I am on birth control but it is not 100%, nothing is 100%. This post might be triggering for some so a fair warning. When so called ‘pro-lifers’ tell you all of your options about keeping you accidental child, the main one is adoption. However they are not out there donating to child shelters, nor are they adopting. Our foster care system is very sad and overall not a safe place for people and kids end up staying there for 18 years. And you know god forbid your child in a PCOS, apart of LGBTQ+, or has a disability then they might stay there longer. Another reason for them to tell you to keep your baby is because an abortion can cause infertility. What people don’t think of is that everything causes infertility. The topic of the covid 19 vaccine also causes infertility is something pro-lifers will always talk about too. But in the end not all women want to be pregnant. Me personally I don’t think I want to have kids, I have never lived my own life and I just don’t think I would be a good mom and if I got pregnant right now I would not think twice about getting an abortion but many would call me selfish for not populating the world or not giving my kid up for adoption to someone who can’t have kids
Good points: When so called ‘pro-lifers’ tell you all of your options about keeping you accidental child, the main one is adoption. However they are not out there donating to child shelters, nor are they adopting.
Pro-vaccine Democrats, have made it literally illegal to visit businesses and live your life in places like New York unless you are vaccinated. However they are not out there donating to charities to support people who are medically unable to get a vaccine, and they are not allowing any medical exemptions.
Whose freedom?
I spent part of my summer in a red state for family reasons and when I returned to the bay area and visited San Francisco where you had to be vaccinated to eat indoors, I felt so free!
The vaccines are free so why do you need to contribute to a charity?
Why would you need to donate to a charity? Because According to the CDC, some people should not get vaccinated and yet you’re happy to throw them under the bus.
Please explain why you feel free in a place where you must be vaccinated to eat. Doesn’t your vaccine work? If it does work, why do you care about other people’s vaccinations? If if doesn’t work, how does it make you safe if other people are vaccinated?
It’s actually pretty hard to kill someone without a gun.
There are a number of reasons why I feel so much freer where everyone is required to be vaccinated:
I care about saving lives of those who can’t be vaccinated yet.
In states that don’t have any mandates the hospitals are so full that people are dying of strokes and things like that.
In red states doctors and nurses can hardly take it anymore and nurses in particular are leaving in droves. And then people can’t get healthcare.
It is still possible to get breakthrough infections. One of my friends got a breakthrough infection and he is still having problems tasting. I love food and don’t want to lose my sense of taste.
Another friend got a breakthrough infection and was just really sick for quite a while. The virus won’t kill her but I don’t like being sick for a long time.
You still haven’t explained why people should give charity for vaccines when they are free.
It was always about control over women.
Yes! When you really look at how these folks act, it’s so obvious!
They seem to be not the least bit concerned about hypocrisy.
Amen!
And the other side, allowing safe legal abortions, saves lives so they are actually consistent on life — since desperate girls and women will do whatever necessary to abort a pregnancy. Anti-abortion laws have almost no effect on abortion rates. But they do save lives.
I abhor people who think they have a right to decide what someone else does, when it is not harming them in any way. Particularly when a woman makes a decision on the best course of action to take as a result of pregnancy. Laws that are designed to control people instead of considering their wellbeing are not beneficial to any civilised society.
Creating a modern-day witch hunt mentality is modern-day subjugation.
It’s very easy to be so-called “pro-life“ when you don’t have to take any personal responsibility. Just Yellit other people. When they actually have to put on a mask and get a vaccine and have to take some responsibility suddenly they aren’t pro-life. Making any sort of sacrifice so that children can have food, shelter, not get killed by guns, stop pollution.
And yeah, vigilante justice can come back to haunt you when people start reporting lies about you on some other issue and then you have to pay their legal fees when it turns out they have been lying.
The world these folks are setting a path to is a scary one: everyone reporting on each other and telling lies so they can make a bunch of money.
“It’s very easy to be so-called “pro-life“ when you don’t have to take any personal responsibility”
At least you admit that not being pro-life is to be devoid of personal responsibility.
“When they actually have to put on a mask and get a vaccine and have to take some responsibility suddenly they aren’t pro-life.”
That’s a very un-nuanced view of the vaccines. Some countries want children to take the vaccine, on an argument similar to yours. Other countries have said children should not have the vaccine because it’s of no benefit to them, and it would be ethically dubious to force it on them because of some supposed benefit for the rest of society.
In any case, if you’ve had the vaccine, and the vaccine works, what do you care what other people do? Sooner or later you will come into contact with the virus, so you are basically unaffected by other’s decisions in this matter.
I am pro life. More lives are saved by keeping abortion safe and legal than outlawing it and driving it underground. Also for vaccines and masking that save lives. And making sure that one’s children are actually born they aren’t starving and that they get medical care. Also work to save lives by stopping pollution.
The reason we no longer have smallpox or polio yes because vaccines didn’t get politicized such that people refused to take them. So long as people won’t take them you have the virus and its mutations.
Some people are immunocompromised and can’t take the vaccines and some people who are old can still die, so that other people need to protect them. It’s a small sacrifice to save a life.
Pitting neighbour against neighbour with financial enticement, more divide and conquer strategy.
I have read about Governor Greg Abbott, but never anything that was good. Seems to me that the difference between Abbot and God, is God doesn’t think he Abbot.
Ha ha!
And so (Unfortunately) true.
” More lives are saved by keeping abortion safe and legal than outlawing it and driving it underground.”
Clearly that’s not true, because an abortion is a guaranteed ending of a life. That’s an indisputable fact.
“not get killed by guns”
It was shown in the Oxford academic journal
Making abortion illegal has almost no effect on the abortion rate. The fetus dies either way. When abortion is illegal women find ways to do it themselves and end up killing themselves and the fetus.
So more lives are lost when abortion is illegal then when it is legal.
And only one of them is an actual human being. Women and fetuses are not morally equivalent. If a fire broke out at a stem cell research facility and you had a choice of saving “thousands of people“ meaning fertilized eggs and vats, or a screaming two year old boy — because your arms won’t hold both – what do you do?
If fertilized eggs were equivalent to people anyone would choose the thousands of people over the one child. But I haven’t heard one person yet say that the choice they would make.
The article makes some excellent points regarding the Texas Abortion Ban. Abortion has never really been a societal issue, because if the life of the unborn was as important as the right wing politicians make it seem, then there would be investments made in education, both for women and men, there would be investments made in pregnancy prevention, but abortion is only about control. Those opposed to abortion are not doing it because they are pro life – fundamentally they are not – a great majority are for the death penalty and don’t believe Healthcare to be a right for all, but a privilege of the few (who can afford it). What these people are is pro-birth. The woman will be forced to carry to term and give birth, but nobody cares whether she will be able to feed or care for the baby, cares that she may not be able to afford daycare or that she may need to work 5 jobs to support herself and that child. Regulating women’s bodies has always happened in various ways, back in medieval times, women were property, in the 1800s they had to have a male guardian, in the early 1900s they still could not vote. There are never any repercussions for those who make the unwanted pregnancy happen, the men, and that is because, again, this is not about being pro life, but about control.
Well said!
There’s nothing odd about “a bunch of right-wingers shouting “My body my choice!””, who consider the unborn to have a body, and a right to a choice.
OK, but what is the argument you are advancing here… that any government mandate that protects life should be supported? Since suicide is far higher in childless women, clearly anyone supporting mask or vaccine mandates should support banning abortion, right?
The right wing ethos here is NOT “save as many lives as possible”, rather it is “let people be free to make their own decisions in the name of liberty” (and yes “people” includes the unborn).
But what is the left wing ethos here? There’s no rhyme or reason to it, other than what mob rule takes as the position of the day, with no underlying principle or foundation. Today it’s “my body, my choice”, tomorrow it’s “violate people’s bodily autonomy, because the mob wants that today”. Yesterday it’s “violent protests, firebombing court houses, shooting police officers is fine, because the mob demands it”, today it’s “going on a non-violent unguided tour of the capitol derserves the death penalty”.
As I commented to someone else:
Allowing safe, legal abortions saves lives because desperate girls and women will do whatever necessary to abort a pregnancy, and often die trying. Anti-abortion laws have almost no effect on abortion rates. But they do save lives.
So the pro-choice side of this issue is actually consistent on life.
I don’t know about the suicide rate between the childless and mothers. Forcing women and little girls to have babies won’t make them less likely to commit suicide. It is more likely to cause their deaths when they desperately try to abort by themselves.
And when someone starts harassing you by telling a lie so they can make some money I don’t think you would like this type of law.