merelyn | (no subject)

(no subject)

AGG! My conservative Christian roommate is currently on the phone with her boyfriend, talking about the weekend she spent counter-protesting the March for Women's Choice in DC.

Really irritating me, especially when she talked about being interviewed. This is apparently what she said to some reporter: "We're protesting to raise awareness that abortion is not safe and not healthy for women."

Like it's going to be more safe and healthy when you outlaw it and women are forced to get back alley rusty coathanger abortions???? WTF? Say what you want about whether it's right or not, but making abortion illegal isn't going to solve anything!!!!!!

*deep breath* Sorry. Just need to vent.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hmm. A small part of me is tempted to agree with you on the "reasons of convenience" bit. This is the part of me that is very hard and cynical and privately thinks that sometimes in life you get what you deserve. And if you can't stick it out, you're a pansy.

But you can't go through life thinking in those terms.

Also (and I really hate to pull this card, but it's necessary) you are a guy. If you were the promiscuous irresponsible type (which I know you're not) you could get some girl (hell, girls) pregnant and it wouldn't make a difference to you. You wouldn't have to go through the social stigma of being an unwed mother, you wouldn't have to give up 18 years of your life raising a child when you aren't emotionally equipped to do it right. The mother would.

If they can't be bothered by the consequences of their actions, then they shouldn't be having sex in the first place- Well the fact of the matter is, there are plenty of men out there who could knock a girl up and happily not deal with the consequences. No one minds nearly as much about this. If you want to outlaw abortion, you should make it illegal to be a deadbeat dad as well.

Also, I believe that women have the right to enjoy sex without being terrified of getting pregnant. (Which is another whole argument in itself, I know.) Obviously, I'm not saying everyone should have unprotected promiscuous sex. In this day and age, unprotected anonymous sex is a stupid this to do. But just because you've had sex doesn't mean you "deserve it" if you get pregnant.

The bottom line: biologically, procreation is something in which women are about 100 times more important than men. (Not to be crude, but with modern technology the male role in procreation can be reduced to jerking off in a cup.) The is a gift/responsibility which is ours from a biological standpoint, one that we should therefore have the right to control. Men would have to be able to have an unplanned pregnancy in order for this not to apply. Not bloody likely.

What I'm trying to get at is that there is an inherent inequality in our society to day as regards women, sex and pregnancy. It is this inequality which I think is one of the several contributing factors in abortion.

And until in our society it is impossible for the burden of parenting to fall solely on the mother, until there is a better emotional/social/governmental support structure in place for women who didn't plan on being pregnant, women will continue to get abortions. (And I'm not even touching outside the "convenience" abortions you mentioned.) Fixing the above, if it ever happens, is going to take serious time and money.

So practically speaking, in order to really accomplish something, I feel that the pro-life movement should focus more on fixing the reasons why women have abortions in the first place and not just work toward banning it without dealing with the root of the problem. As I said before, outlawing it is not going to stop it from happening. It's just going to make things more unsafe.

If you want to outlaw abortion, you should make it illegal to be a deadbeat dad as well. Agreed 100%

Obviously, I'm not saying everyone should have unprotected promiscuous sex. In this day and age, unprotected anonymous sex is a stupid this to do. But just because you've had sex doesn't mean you "deserve it" if you get pregnant. I stand firm on my argument that NOBODY should be having promiscuous sex.

What I'm trying to get at is that there is an inherent inequality in our society to day as regards women, sex and pregnancy. For those that haven't realized it, yes this statement is true. It's a bigger and more daunting issue than many think. However, this issue is not as dismal as it appears if, yet again, fathers weren't so "free" to not accept responsibility. Again it boils down to promiscuity.

The is a gift/responsibility which is ours from a biological standpoint, one that we should therefore have the right to control. The responsibility should be shared between married couples as was intended.

So practically speaking, in order to really accomplish something, I feel that the pro-life movement should focus more on fixing the reasons why women have abortions in the first place and not just work toward banning it without dealing with the root of the problem. I partially agree. I think the pro-choice movement should also focus on the root of the problem. Then again, I'm thinking the roots I see vary from yours and the majority of pro-choice advovates.

Obviously our views on sex differ just as much as they do on abortion.

I partially agree. I think the pro-choice movement should also focus on the root of the problem. Then again, I'm thinking the roots I see vary from yours and the majority of pro-choice advovates.

Actually, the pro-choice roommate that started this agrees with me on the government/social support thing. Her pro-life organization does work to provide counseling and baby supplies etc. for mothers and is working to implement more things on campus to make it easier for women not to get abortions. And even if I disagree with her on this issue at large, you can't really argue against that. At least it's a more practical approach.

I'm curious, though. What exactly do you see as the root of the whole problem?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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Re: Holy shit!

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