Lately, I've noticed a lot of Democrats slipping out of the abortion question. They steer the conversation to "unwanted pregnancy."
I believe that's because the pro-life camp is really good at what they do. They successfully labeled us pro-choicers as pro-abortion. Lots of abortions for everyone! We love abortions!
No one likes abortions. But pro-choice people think women should have the option NOT to deal with the product of a rape...NOT to raise a child they don't want...NOT to carry a child they aren't ready for.
I'm glad Bristol Palin had that choice. I'm assuming Sarah Palin isn't lying about Bristol's "decision." Big assumption...I know.
But I wish she had that choice. I DON'T wish she had an abortion. I just wish she could have had one...if she wanted it.
But back to the "unwanted pregnancy" point. Democrats are trying to bring the conversation back to its essence. Here's Barack Obama on This Week, trying to reframe his abortion answer at Saddleback:
“What I do know is that abortion is a moral issue, that it's one that families struggle with all the time. And that in wrestling with those issues, I don't think that the government criminalizing the choices that families make is the best answer for reducing abortions.We're talking about the best way to reduce abortions now. And I don't think that's a bad thing. Would
“I think the better answer — and this was reflected in the Democratic platform — is to figure out, how do we make sure the young mothers, or women who have a pregnancy that's unexpected or difficult, have the kind of support they need to make a whole range of choices, including adoption and keeping the child.
Bristol Palin have gotten pregnant if she had better sex education? The plague of teen pregnancy isn't the "Juno effect," and it isn't a fad, it's a startling example of what happens when kids don't know how to have safe sex. So are the troubling new AIDS stats. I hope this is all the proof we need that abstinence-only education is a crock.I'm okay with the new conversation. It's about safe sex, and keeping options open when condoms break, birth control fails, or women can't get emergency contraception when they need it. It's not about your religion, it's about my freedom. It's not about killing "babies," it's about making sure every child in this world is wanted and cared for. Sounds good to me.
11 comments:
"It's not about killing "babies," it's about making sure every child in this world is wanted and cared for. Sounds good to me."
This sounds like an opportunity for compromise to me.
Would you agree that if the following conditions are met, a woman should be required to bring the baby to term responsibly?
1) The pregnancy was not a result of rape/incest
2) There is a responsible, married couple willing to adopt the baby upon birth and pay for all prenatal care required but uncovered by insurance.
I believe this covers "wanted and cared for"....so...do we have a deal?
Add to previous comment #3, the woman can choose to abort the baby if life-threatening complications arise
Deal???
A brave feminist willing to see and speak the truth?
http://www.salon.com/opinion/paglia/2008/09/10/palin/index1.html
Would love your reaction. To me, it seemed intelligent, rational and introspective in a way that the modern Left has essentially refused to look at itself as.
Sorry it took so long to get back to you about your "compromise."
There is never a time when it's okay to require a woman to give life to a fetus. You're not allowed to force someone to donate a kidney or bone marrow even if it would save someone else's life...why should a woman have to carry a child (I'm trying to speak your language...I do not, for 1 minute, believe it actually is a child) for someone else?
You always seem to discount the health risks, the pain, the discomfort, the incapacitation that goes along with being pregnant.
It should always be a choice. If it's not, then we start regulating what women do with their bodies once they're pregnant (something that is already starting)...we start chaining women to their beds...and then we have more "reasons" to pay women less for their work.
We don't need to change abortion. We need to give women and men better access to birth control...better sex education.
I could only stand about a page and a half of that article, Andy. She wasn't saying anything.
Yes, Palin appeals to some...but a step forward for feminism? I don't think so. I agree...this woman is very Annie Oakley. That's a step backward.
The things she chose to believe about Palin just aren't true. She's a former Assembly of God member. She's a religious extremist. And I'm sure her pastor has said something horribly controversial, but it's okay, because he's white.
Those technical glitches during her speech? Non-existent. De-bunked.
The "liberal hurricane" of Palin-bashing? The Right would have done the same thing. But it wouldn't have been bloggers, it would have been the RNC. Republicans play the bashing game much better than Dems do.
I just hope this Camille Paglia has followed the truth about Palin. If this is where feminism is going...it's leaving me behind.
And I'd just like to say...this is not a historic choice! Walter Mondale made a very similar choice for a very similar reason. Let's hope it works as well for McCain as it did for Mondale.
It is not an historic choice. It will be an historic victory and an historic inauguration.
Just as Rice, Powell, Thomas and Ginsburg were.
On the abortion stuff...I just wanted to make sure the reason wasn't REALLY "making sure every child is wanted and cared for" nonsense talking-point of the Left.
Oh...Andy. My entire point was that this was rhetoric. This is politics. We can't argue our point if it's about abortion. Pro-lifers have made that impossible. It's better to argue on the education side...the idea of avoiding abortions, but keeping them safe and legal at the same time.
The post was ABOUT talking points.
Actually teen pregnancy is a fad. At least it was a fad where I went to high school.
I still think that if a week old baby has rights, then a fetus has rights too. So suck it up ladies, responsibility isn't just for our grandparents!
Hey I linked to your blog on my blog at Livelifelove06.blogspot.com. and took an excert of the last paragraph of this post.
I hope you don't mind. But if you do, let me know and I'll take it off.
Hi Allie. No problem at all. Thanks for the head's up and the link love!
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