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Sunday, January 22, 2006

Blog for Choice

In honor of Blog for Choice Day, please turn your attention to Feministe, whose commentary on Crisis Pregnancy Centers will perhaps make you think a bit harder about the ethics of the pro-life movement in this country.

I was also taken by this post about Jimmy Carter's new book by Mediagirl. I saw Carter interviewed on The Colbert Report about a month ago, and he came across as a very kind, gentle, fair man. This commentary reinforces that overall impression. Perhaps not a very good president, but a good man.

I have so many reasons for believing in reproductive rights. Many of them are deeply personal. My family is very Catholic, and I know they would be disappointed to know of my feelings. My mother still wears a pro-life rose on her purse. It makesd me angry that women's choices are being held up as both a religious and a political issue, and that churchgoers are being called on as a moral army to right the situation. The first blog post above contains a quote from a representative of a crisis pregnancy center who claims that young women are "bombarded" with pressures to abort. The most bombardment I ever felt on the issue was in church, in parochial school, driving down the road and being faced with billboards claiming a link between abortion and breast cancer (false), and, best of all, posters of fetuses placed in the windows of a house situated alongside the local Planned Parenthood.

No one wants to get pregnant and have an abortion. But every woman deserves the right to have control over her own body. Hopefully once Samuel Alito is approved (and he will be, bet on it), he won't take this right away from our daughters, sisters, nieces, and friends.

11 Comments:

At 11:33 PM, Blogger The Gradual Gardener said...

I have to say, this whole Supreme Court thing really scares me. Yeah, Bush is a joke and all that, but at least he can't run again. The people he appoints to the Supreme Court will affect our lives for many years to come. The power they have is incredible. And terrifying.

 
At 8:43 AM, Blogger Katherine said...

Great post! I don't understand why people - usually men - try so hard to take this right away from women. I wonder if they don't care more about having control and power over someone instead of for an unborn child as they claim.

 
At 9:07 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think choice is critical -- it is a deeply personal issue for people, but as a woman, I believe strongly that I should be allowed to make decisions involving my own body.

 
At 9:21 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

It is a very personal choice and it should remain so. Your last paragraph really sums it up.
I've been very impressed with the blogs written by others on this topic. All very thoughtful and informed.

 
At 10:28 AM, Blogger Tink said...

Powerful post! I fully agree on a woman's choice in the matter. For those who like to drill their pro-life views in the faces of those who face the decision, I'd like to ask... "Will you care for the child? It's obvious that she can't if she's going to place herself in this dangerous and emotional situation. Will YOU care for this child then?"

 
At 12:45 PM, Blogger Mignon said...

Well said, Mrs. H. And thank you for the heads up on Carter's new book. I admire him as a person, as well. I'll check out his book.
The same three women are always picketing Planned Parenthood, which is right next door to where I get my haircut. Sometime I go in PP, just to piss them off. I love going in there with my daughter in tow, as well. When the baby is a little older, my goal is to volunteer at PP.

 
At 1:05 PM, Blogger mamatulip said...

What Nancy said. :)

 
At 4:51 PM, Blogger Mignon said...

tigerlily, I have a friend who's allergic to that orange dye (that can be found in so many foods). Almost anything orange, except carrots and orange juice, has it. And yes, it gives her headaches if she eats it. hm.

 
At 1:04 AM, Blogger Ditsy Chick said...

Wordgirl - I completely agree, they would have clinics at football stadiums so men could run in and get one at half-time.

Mrs. Harridan - that you for posting this, my family is much like yours and it is difficult to be different. It was a long time before I realized my views fell into the pro-choice arena.

I love Jimmy Carter, what an amazing human being. Yes, maybe not a great president, but he did not just slip away into nothing, he went out and did so many great things.

 
At 5:21 PM, Blogger Brooke said...

Amen sister!

And the thought that this legal right could be taken away in an instant scares the living bejesus out of me.

 
At 4:05 PM, Blogger Minnesota Nice said...

Thanks for a great post. Good points, and well said!!

 

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