Hairball Logic

Originally posted September 25/2007 on "Allison Wonderland"



I've found some really interesting stuff while I've been searching groups on facebook. My favourite so far is "Nicole Richie Isn't Pregnant- She Just Ate A Grape". Not many members, but it's the best group name I've seen.

There are weird groups, too. There are at least three anti-abortion groups with very similar names, which are still confusing the you-know-what out of me, even after thinking it over for a few days. (I know, I need a life).

Here's the idea that is sure to bring the pro-choice faction to its (their?) knees:

If it's not a baby, you're not pregnant. Therefore you do not need an abortion.

Am I the only one who reads that and goes, "Huh?" I'm thinking there's a flaw in that logic somewhere, probably somewhere around the time when the zygote/embryo/fetus comes into the world and the mom goes, "Aw, shit- I thought I wasn't pregnant!" It's fuzzier than dryer lint.

Seriously, folks, is that the best we can do? Way to make pro-lifers sound like a bunch of morons. I hate the idea of anyone having an abortion as much as anyone out there, but I don't think anyone's going about ending it the right way. In fact, after a lot of consideration, I've decided that I don't think pushing to make it illegal is the way we should be going. Shocking, I know. But here's my idea, crazy though it is: Maybe, just maybe, we should be trying to make sure women with low incomes have access to reliable methods of birth control. Maybe we should get over ourselves and accept the fact that teenagers, college students, twenty-somethings, whoever- they're going to have SEX. That's not to say that we shouldn't teach them about respecting themselves and other people, or even advise them that, hey guys, the best way to not get pregnant is to not have sex. But abstinence-only sex ed in schools really pisses me off. Back in the day, when kids weren't taught anything about the subject until (maybe) the night before their weddings, there were still young 'uns out there getting frisky, and prostitution's not called the world's olders profession for nothing. It happens, and if people don't know how to protect themselves/ their partners/ prospective kids, what happens? Abortions. Maybe when we can keep people from getting pregnant "by assident", it won't be such a big issue.*

I also think there needs to be more social support for women who decide to go ahead and have their babies. We're so concerned with keeping the poor kids alive until they're born, but there's not enough being done about what happens after they get here. We can be pro-life and still care about the terrified women who weren't planning on being moms yet, who are facing a new, scary life they weren't expecting. If we want these kids to be born, we need to be prepared to have daycare funding available so their moms don't have to drop out of school or give up working. So they don't have to resign themselves to a lower standard of living because they decided not to kill their babies. Being a mom is hard enough when you're married and have another person's income to rely on. I can't imagine doing it on my own.

If those things happened, maybe some day abortions could be seen as a tragedy, a nearly impossible decision parents might have to make if the baby/ mother's life is in danger. But as long as we have a "you made your bed now lie in it" attitude toward women who choose to (gasp!) enjoy sex outside of a stable potential-family structure and make it easier for them to not create a "non-baby" to "not be pregnant" with (?), it's not gonna happen.

That's my rant for the day. Sorry.



* I read once about a very nice pregnancy-crisis centre that tried to show women alternatives to abortion. I thought that was great, until I found out that they won't refer a woman to a doctor who can prescribe birth-control pills, because "she shouldn't be having sex, anyway." 'Cause THAT'S gonna help...