A rarity on the net, there has been a thoughtful and interesting discussion about abortion happening at the vomit comit. I can’t really write about some of the personal stuff happening right now, so I’m resorting to politics again.
I have rallied and tried to work and live by reasonably high feminist standards (where feminism could be defined as the radical notion that women are people). That said, I lived for years with the skeleton in the back of my mind that I hated abortion and secretly believed that it should be illegal. As a vegetarian for 12 years and as the guy who literally escorts spiders and even mosquitoes out of the house, it seemed consistent in terms of preserving life.
The older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve come to the perspective of Melanie and Kimberly in the aforementioned discussion. It’s all terribly grey. My current perspective is that we need to work for gender equality. Equal pay, equal opportunity, equal rights, equal healthcare access, equal everything. Once we get to that ideal, and women have the opportunities and resources they need, ideally abortion won’t be all that necessary anyway.
It’s clearer to me now that the right uses the abortion issue as a ruse, a distraction. An Oz to fixate on while they sit behind the curtain and continue to try and erode all the rights and gains women have made in the last century.
thordora
| 03-May-07 at 12:00 pm | Permalink
It is reasonably thoughtful isn’t it…
The grey area bugs me. I hate that it’s there. I hate that I can no longer just be for choice without question.
I hate that women’s sexuality is always in question more….
Eden
| 03-May-07 at 12:16 pm | Permalink
Abortion is too important a political issue ever to be resolved. I believe abortion is a medical issue, not a social or moral one, and any choices girls and women make should be between themselves and their doctors. Just my $.02.
karrie
| 03-May-07 at 1:40 pm | Permalink
I tend to agree with Eden, although I do understand finding abortion personally distasteful.
Kimberly
| 03-May-07 at 2:06 pm | Permalink
Jason, I get what you’re saying and it’s a lovely ideal to which I think most of us aspire, save for one thing: There will never be equality when it comes to abortion. The simple fact is that men do not conceive and bear children. They do not grow them in their bellies for 9 months. They do, however, have the ability to walk away from these tiny bits of cellular potential at practically the moment of conception without needing to undergo a medical procedure to sever their ties. And, since that is the case, there is no equality in the discussion of abortion. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that men have no voice in the dialogue, but I will certainly say that I believe it is a muted one, at best.
Missy
| 03-May-07 at 2:36 pm | Permalink
There are seldom good objective articles on this subject from a faith perspective. Commonweal has one today.
The fact of the matter is: abortions happen whether they are legal or not. People forget this historical fact. As much as I personally dislike the idea of abortion I would never agree with making it illegal. Women who seek abortions do so because they have needs that are not being met. Perhaps as a society we could decrease the number of abortions if we looked at meeting those needs.
Amy
| 03-May-07 at 5:46 pm | Permalink
I dont think there are any right or wrong decisions with abortion. Everyone should just decide for themselves what is right for them. It is all very very grey, I remember at college have a very lengthy debate on abortion during philosophy (it took away a whole 2 weeks of ordinary lessons!).
Kat
| 03-May-07 at 9:11 pm | Permalink
I believe that it’s only a decision that an individual can make based on their own circumstances. I can no more make that decision for them than I can decide whether they should have more than 1 child or no children.
No matter how difficult and maybe even impossible the decision would be for me, it’s just not the point. I am not the one making that decision and if I was, it should be no one else’s business.
Veronique
| 03-May-07 at 10:23 pm | Permalink
Here is my 2 cents. How many women who take the pill know that the pill has an abortive effect (ie if the ovulation is not suppressed and the sperm is not prevented from going further than the cervix) the pill has a third effect on the endometrium and prevents the fertilized egg to implant in the uterus? So many women who take the pill do have abortions without knowing about it? I guess the question is when do you believe life starts?
Another interesting question to me is: how many women have trouble with the concept of taking the pill versus how many women suffer mentally after having an abortion even if they think it was the right thing to do for them at the time?
kassie
| 04-May-07 at 5:36 am | Permalink
It is just plain sad that any woman would have to choose to have an abortion. Its sad that in this world there are valid reasons for having one, rape, abuse, poverty, medical issues, mental health,etc. I dont believe in using abortion as birth control, but I do believe there are circumstances in which it would be the best thing. It needs to be a safe option for women.Although I think its a terribly sad thing to have to choose, I dont want the option taken away from me. The thought saddens me but you never know what will happen in your life that might make you think differently. I dont think mentally I would want to be forced with that.
jessica
| 04-May-07 at 2:05 pm | Permalink
Jase- thanks for the re-connect!
I’ve been a veg for 16 years, and we also do “spider rescues” here in our home. Ahimsa is called a PRACTICE because it may take many lifetimes to get it right, Spirit help us. I’m enjoying reading your blog. If you want to email directly I’m at oceansmiles AT gmail dot com.
Keep WRITING!
Mardé
| 09-May-07 at 10:26 am | Permalink
Well, I tend to let spiders live, too, but I draw the line at mosquitoes, black flies, and especially ticks. Ticks must be flushed! On abortion, I agree with most of the women here, especially kassie and Missy. I’ll have to check that Commonweal article, Missy, because as an agnostic UU I’m trying to test my beliefs these days.