Friday, February 18, 2011

Why Justin Bieber's anti-abortion talk really gets my goat...a rant from a pro-choice mama.

There is currently some scarier than usual anti-abortion rhetoric heating up in the U.S. these days (thank you Tea Party-ers, and p.s. you suck.  And now, dim-witted teenage heart-throbs, (moreover heartthrobs who clearly lack the plumbing that might result in their facing the heartbreaking decisions that must follow an inintended pregnancy) are weighing in on the debate.  (Badly).

In case you aren't aware of what's been going on with our neighbours to the South:

Here's an article from today outlining how South Dakota is considering a law in which killing abortion providers could be ruled a 'justifiable homicide.'  I am not even shitting you here, people.  You cannot make this crap up:
 
And Planned Parenthoods across the U.S. have been infiltrated by 'incognito' anti-choicers digging for dirt in the hopes of getting public funding withdrawn.

And the political scenario with regards to said funding is looking increasingly grim as well, with Republican representatives putting forward bills that would strip federal funding from healthcare providers that also provide abortions (like Planned Parenthood), as well as bills that would strip women of public and private insurance coverage for abortions.  One particularly lovely bill put forward by Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA), the “Protect Life Act”  (excuse me while I throw up a little bit in my mouth), actually seeks, in addition to other lovely things, to prohibit states from ensuring that women have access to information about how to get access to abortion services.   The House Leadership’s FY 2011 continuing resolution proposes to completely eliminate the Title X family planning program, which has connected millions of American women with health care since Richard Nixon signed it into law in 1970.   Of course, these proposals do not just affect women's access to safe abortion services - they also would effectively cut off access to affordable birth control and reproductive health services (like, um, paps, cancer screening, free counselling services, STI screening and treatment and on and on and on).

This is scary.  Scary.  Scary shit, folks.

And uber conservative states  are hopping aboard the 'force women to have an ultrasound to look at the life she's killing' before providing info and access to abortions.  In total 10 states have tried, or are in the process of trying to pass this legislation.  (Some states have failed - go South Carolina, but I digress.)

I am pro-choice.  I will always be pro-choice.  Becoming a mother has made me even more pro-choice. To be perfectly clear, what I mean by pro-choice is that women facing unintended pregnancy must have access, information, and support, whether she chooses to take the route of parenting, placing a child for adoption, or abortion.  None of these roads are easy.  And no one wants to be in the position of having to make those choices.  And I REFUSE (and I mean refuse here people) to debate a woman's right to choose what happens to (and in) her body. 
I will steadfastly refuse to debate this right until the day when: 

1.  every sign-holding, anti-choice protester who claims to care so much about 'the children' adopts at least 2 of the children already alive and needing our assistance.  And not just cute, perfect, healthy (and most often white) newborn little people.  I'm talkin', you know, the 'hard-to-place' ones;

2.  every sign-holding, anti-choice protester who claims to care so much about  'the children' explains to me why they (and their ilk) remain in steadfast opposition to my people providing safe, loving and nurturing adoptive and foster homes to the aforementioned children;

3.  every sign-holding, anti-choice protester who claims to care so much about 'the children' starts spending more time raising money and resources to help feed and cloth and educate and find good and safe homes for the shamefully high number of starving and abused children already alive and suffering right here in our own backyards (not to mention to world over);

4.  every sign-holding, anti-choice protester who claims to care so much about 'the children' fights for better sex education, and easily accesible information about birth control and safer sex choices to all people, of all ages, and all income levels;

5.  every sign-holding, anti-choice protester who claims to care so much about 'the children' can explain to me the moral relativism that makes shooting abortion providers reasonable and rational;

6.   every sign-holding, anti-choice protester who claims to care so much about 'the children' can explain to me how creating a society in which back-alley abortions in which women and often near full-term babies die, in which women attempt to perform abortions on themselves causing irreparable damage, in which women desparate to hide their pregnancies, birth alone and then do shockingly awful things like dropping newborn babies in dumpsters) because fear and desparation and lack of supports can make people do shocking and awful things), is anything but counterproductive to the cause of helping make children's lives better;

7.  every sign-holding, anti-choice protester can somehow explain to me how 'no child left unborn' makes more sense than 'no child left unloved,' 'no child left alone,' 'no child left abused,' 'no child left unfed,' 'no child left uneducated,' 'no child left unwanted;' 

Then, and only then will I sit and debate whether or not it's ethical to force a woman to be a human incubator for 10 months (that's how long it actually is, folks) against their will, because they fucked up (for all kinds of personal and/or systemic reasons), or worse still, because they were fucked up upon.  

Really.
 
This kind of shit just incenses me.  Pisses me off.  Because you know what?  I care about 'the children' too.

(So Justin - please. just.  stop.  talkin'.  Truth be told, I'd actually prefer it if you stopped singing too - but I'm not looking for miracles here.  Just a smidge of some good common sense.)

18 comments:

  1. I agree with most of what you said, although it has nothing to do with political party... everyone in politics is a dumb as dirt rich person and therefore fucking clueless when it comes to knowing how everyone else lives.

    I am grateful I never had to make a decision about terminating a pregnancy.

    But I want my daughter to have the right to decide what happens with her body and her life without the aforementioned ruling political dipshits 'helping' her with that decision.

    As for Justin Bieber? He's a little boy. He doesn't know shit. Someday, he'll realize it. Until then, we have to cut him the slack we cut other children. They do grow up.

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  2. Yes Ami - You are right. He is just a little boy. I empathize with that. My problem with JB is that he is just a little boy with the ear of gazillions of little girls... :(

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  3. I agree--I love the comments about adopting. That could also go to people saying, "Why don't you adopt here and not from another country." Like they have even considered adoption in the first place and have a say in the matter. People love spouting off about stuff they don't actually know much about.

    Justin is an immature teenager. Sadly, I don't think he's unlike most teens these days (just saying as my brother is around the same age). I think he probably has very little idea about abortions as when the interviewer asked about someone who was raped, he kind of floundered a bit. I think he's young and naive and probably educated by his mama. Maybe once he's older and out in the world, he'll have more educated things to say. His other answers were pretty pathetic too. Go Ontario school system!!! (Witnessing many coming out of it, I can say that many teens are unknowledgable these days.)

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  4. He does have the ears of lots of little girls.

    Which is where we come in. Making sure they they understand that money and fame do not equal intelligence or common sense. Making sure that we instill a more than healthy dose of cynicism to balance out the bullshit.

    And he will eventually be a has-been. His lessons/fame will fade.

    But cynicism? Lasts forever.

    And OT... I don't comment all the time, but I read every post you write. You're in my reader.

    And even though I am afraid 'teh gay' may be catching, I read anyway.

    No, you won't get the joke, it's a family thing. We have more than one relative who is (gasp) ABNORMAL. And 'we love them despite their lifestyle choices'

    Trouble brewing in the family right now. Apparently, some of them think it's contagious and won't allow their children around the gayness.

    I am proud to say that my children recognize that love is a good thing, something the world needs more of, and don't give a fart in a windstorm about people's choice of partners.

    As for some other family members?
    God I hate assholes.

    Can I say asshole on your blog?

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  5. Ami - you can absolutely say asshole on my blog :)

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  6. The Star just reported that Rolling Stone left out part of the quote on abortion...interesting stuff. :P

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  7. This just in - the US House just voted to pull federal funding for Planned Parenthood. To sign an open letter against this action, go to the above Planned Parenthood links and click on take action.

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  8. OMG PMG are they serious? pulling funding for planned parenthood.
    Your post should be seen and heard by many. Agree with it all!! am off to twitter it.

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  9. Amen, sister. But I'd like to add something:

    I will debate the right to choose when every sign holding anti-choice person is supporting the mother of an infant that was born with fatal or profoundly life altering birth defects. Because let me tell you - had I chosen to birth my much loved but dying son there would have been NO ONE helping me pay the enormous medical bills and supporting me while I stayed home to care for him.

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  10. excellent addition biojen. thank you for sharing your story.

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  11. sick. sick. sick. what the hell are they thinking!? this kind of stuff infuriates the bajeebus out of me! Justin Bieber. who cares about this young punk. i suppose the millions of teeny bopper girls out there. which scares me even more. i am just so...angry, words fail me. i agree with pretty much everything you all said above!

    on another note. i went to go sign the petition and i could not enter my province. they only have the US to choose from. BAH!

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  12. Another addition for your list: I will debate the right to choose when the houses of government actually represent the gender most affected.

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  13. T, I'm with you!

    But Justin is just a 16 year old boy, and I'm guessing this is not an issue on his radar -- I don't know that it is an issue that many 16 year old boys think about, and particularly those with music, TV and movie careers on the go -- so lets cut him some slack. The people we should be pissed at (as should JB and his publicists) are the Rolling Stone interview and publisher because the only reason that question was asked was to get the publicity that the interview got and that is shitty, cause it focusses the debate on a 16 year old boy and not on the real issues that need attention (thanks for keeping it to the issues and not beating up on the boy, T, you are top knotch). Me, I say down with Rolling Stone!

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  14. Amen.
    And to the commenter CW - right on.

    It certainly does sound like scary, scary times. I cannot even believe that after so many years, they are pulling funding from PP. Effectively these idiot legislators are trying to turn back the clock. Surely we should be moving FORWARD not backwards. Ugh I am incensed with you and want to protest against the protesters! (and I'm not even American....)

    And justifiable homicide...holy crap.

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  15. Cheers. Just... Cheers. I am sometimes just too disgusted for coherent speech. This would be one of those times. But I second, third, and fourth all of that. Especially the part about the anti -choicers adopting.

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  16. I'm not Justin Bieber's biggest fan but I fully agree with his stance on abortion, and he has a right to that belief, especially as a Christian.

    Good on him for caring more about the potential right to life.

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