Former Evangelical preacher Lee Salisbury writes an article about the extremes to which woman are forced to be incubators, calling the U.S. a "Pro-Life Police State". A woman was jailed and charged with first degree murder after she delayed having a C-section which doctors say would have probably saved one of the twins if she had had it sooner. As Salisbury writes, "No court has ever ruled that one person can be forcibly operated on for the benefit of another. The law cannot demand that you give up your kidney or bone marrow or even blood to save another life. Nor does it charge you with murder if you refuse. Yet, only a pregnant woman loses the right to question doctor’s recommendation."
Taking it a step further, could we get fined or jailed for not taking our folic acid? Will people be performing citizens arrests if they see a pregnant lady eating a deli sandwich? Where will it stop? If we're all incubators will we be forced into pregnancy? Especially those women with the "right" genes (white) and pedigree (rich, educated). And will others be forced to turn off thier incubators because they are not deemed appropriate?
It all seems far fetched but it's a slippery slope. We already have people protesting a vaccine that could prevent a cancer that kills about 4,800 women in the US a year simply because they think it will encourage sex. I don't know about you, but just because I have a vaccine against tetanus doesn't mean I'm going to stab myself with a rusty nail. Or start hanging out in small pox infested areas of the world. I don't even know what vaccinations I have. Getting a shot when I'm 2 or 6 or even 16 is not going to make me more likely to have sex. There's a heck of a lot of other things that I can still catch, like a baby. Which brings me back to my original train of thought.
I do not want to have a child. I do not want to be pregnant. As I have written recently, there are people who think that if I'm having sex I should be playing Russian roulette. "You play, you pay." They are also saying I have no recourse in ridding myself of the pregnancy once it occurs. Finally, they are saying that once I am forced to carry the child to term it's still not my decision as to what happens to my own body. "It doesn't matter if you will die carrying this child to term. You should have thought of that before you had sex."
Good lord. This all just makes me sad. Especially since I have so many more resources than other women do. I live in a liberal area where the pharmacist encouraged me to contact my insurance company to protest when the birth control I wanted wasn't covered. There are no grim reapers walking back and forth in front of my local Planned Parenthood like there were when I lived in Texas. And I have a close family who would rally around me and probably spoil the unwanted bundle of joy to death. But most women are not in my situation.
And it makes me even more sad when I realize that it is all falling on the women's shoulders despite the fact that it takes two to tango. What is the appropriate punishment for the men who were their "partners in crime?" A hidden scarlet letter? Bullshit. I think that the father should be held as accountable. But that won't happen.
I could go on but I'm going to stop now because I'm getting depressed. I leave you with this -
What the fuck are these people thinking?! Aaaggghh!!!
Thanks Media Girl for the heads up on the article.
Taking it a step further, could we get fined or jailed for not taking our folic acid? Will people be performing citizens arrests if they see a pregnant lady eating a deli sandwich? Where will it stop? If we're all incubators will we be forced into pregnancy? Especially those women with the "right" genes (white) and pedigree (rich, educated). And will others be forced to turn off thier incubators because they are not deemed appropriate?
It all seems far fetched but it's a slippery slope. We already have people protesting a vaccine that could prevent a cancer that kills about 4,800 women in the US a year simply because they think it will encourage sex. I don't know about you, but just because I have a vaccine against tetanus doesn't mean I'm going to stab myself with a rusty nail. Or start hanging out in small pox infested areas of the world. I don't even know what vaccinations I have. Getting a shot when I'm 2 or 6 or even 16 is not going to make me more likely to have sex. There's a heck of a lot of other things that I can still catch, like a baby. Which brings me back to my original train of thought.
I do not want to have a child. I do not want to be pregnant. As I have written recently, there are people who think that if I'm having sex I should be playing Russian roulette. "You play, you pay." They are also saying I have no recourse in ridding myself of the pregnancy once it occurs. Finally, they are saying that once I am forced to carry the child to term it's still not my decision as to what happens to my own body. "It doesn't matter if you will die carrying this child to term. You should have thought of that before you had sex."
Good lord. This all just makes me sad. Especially since I have so many more resources than other women do. I live in a liberal area where the pharmacist encouraged me to contact my insurance company to protest when the birth control I wanted wasn't covered. There are no grim reapers walking back and forth in front of my local Planned Parenthood like there were when I lived in Texas. And I have a close family who would rally around me and probably spoil the unwanted bundle of joy to death. But most women are not in my situation.
And it makes me even more sad when I realize that it is all falling on the women's shoulders despite the fact that it takes two to tango. What is the appropriate punishment for the men who were their "partners in crime?" A hidden scarlet letter? Bullshit. I think that the father should be held as accountable. But that won't happen.
I could go on but I'm going to stop now because I'm getting depressed. I leave you with this -
What the fuck are these people thinking?! Aaaggghh!!!
Thanks Media Girl for the heads up on the article.
Comments
...as for the comment about fathers not being held accountable, here's something I stumbled on after a quick search on Google. - I even gave you two sides to be fair.
As for playing Russian roulette, I know this. However, because of current laws and where I live, I am better able to avoid the bullet. My reference to Russian roulette was toward those who want to take off the safety and fully load the gun by abolishing abortion, birth control, and sex education. There's a big difference between the game I'm playing - where I'm taking responsibility for my actions - and the game they want me to play.
As for fathers and accountability, I think it's wrong for a woman to mislead a man into fatherhood. However, when the fault is with both, i.e. the woman and man were using the right precautions but they ended up being an unfortunate statistic anyway, why should it be just the woman who is made to suffer? I'm not talking about carrying a pregnancy to term and the financial fallout. I'm talking about the physical and mental issues that she is going to have to face. She's the one who may die if society forces her to carry the child. She's the one who has to walk the gauntlet in areas where the abortion protestors are rampant. She's the one who will wear the public scarlet letter if lawmakers have their way. Nice men, of which I know a few, will walk that gauntlet with her. However, they do not HAVE to. If you are a man and your sperm manages to fertilize an egg, no one ever needs to know. If you are a woman and a sperm manages to fertilize one of your eggs, you are going to need to take action. What that action is is being severely limited. And if that man who contributed the sperm is a nice guy and is sticking around, it is going to affect him as well.