Monday, January 22, 2007

Blogging For Choice

Blog for Choice Day - January 22, 2007

Today is the 34th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. NARAL is organizing a blog-in in which we are supposed to write about why we are pro-choice. I am finding this task a bit difficult, because it seems painfully obvious to me.

I became pro-choice when I got my first period -- despite 12.5 years of Catholic propaganda shoved down my throat -- including several viewings of the absolutely fallacious "The Silent Scream". I believe it is time women stopped hemming and being so polite about this topic. Stand up and proudly proclaim, "I am pro-choice because I have a uterus. End of discussion." This should be a personal decision that should be covered under the privacy rule of HIPAA -- not a pathological political platform.

No one ever WANTS to have an abortion, but sometimes it is necessary. Perhaps it is not possible to be pregnant at that juncture. Maybe you have other kids to feed and you can't miss work, maybe your parents or your husband will throw you out or beat you. Maybe you just can't devote 9 months to pregnancy. It doesn't matter. If you think abortion is wrong, then don't have one. If you are a heterosexual man and you actively campaign against abortion, I suggest you practice celibacy.

I am weary of 15+ years of activism -- keeping abortion legal. That's all that we've been able to do. Accessability has decreased and restrictions have increased. Yet we fight on... because if we lose access to safe, legal medical abortions, we lose a choice and we lose control.

I believe in choice because when I found myself pregnant at nineteen, I was able to weigh ALL of my options. In this way, I became a mother -- knowing it was what I truly wanted and chose freely. Motherhood was for me a blessing -- rather than a judgement imposed on me by the government or some religion.


but that picket line persisted
and that clinic's since been closed
they keep pounding their fists on reality
hoping it will break
but i don't think there's a one of them
leads a life free of mistakes

-- Ani DiFranco
"Lost Woman Song"

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

If they stopped protesting so much, and started adopting, or opening free day care centers, there may be less abortions.

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Twit said...

Totally with you on this.

The bottom line for me is that you can't stop it, so why pretend?

If a woman really wants to abort, she will find a way.

Why force her into a unnecessarily dangerous situation?

La Sirena said...

Pelmo -- Yeah...but the anti-choice brigade doesn't care about babies and children. They only care about fetuses.

Twit -- Precisely -- and why even turn a healthcare issue into a legal battle?