November 2, 2012

• A Complicated Question With A Simple Answer

  Abortion. Is there a more controversial topic in America? In all my years of blogging here I don’t think I’ve dedicated an entire post to it or been very vocal about my opinion or where I stand. But, let me just make clear my position. I am pro choice. In this day and age there is no other logical and reasonable belief to have. Oh, don’t get me wrong, the pro life crowd can make a compelling argument with a lot of valid points. But the reality is that making abortion illegal is kind of like when we had prohibition; at this point, the cat is out of the bag, making it illegal is not going to prevent abortions it is just going to make it more dangerous and unsafe. Look, nobody wants to have an abortion. When you get down to it, nobody is “pro abortion.” But, people have freedoms in America and the choice to have an abortion should be between the parents of the fetus and nobody else. How can the government tell you what is the right thing for you to do? They can’t and should not be able to.

  In spite of the fact that abortion has been legal for 40 years, it still remains a debate especially when it comes to presidential election years. And this year is no different. One of the big debates about abortion this year is with regards to rape. You have several Republicans out there making some pretty outrageous and honestly, stupid claims about unwanted pregnancies from rape. Since most of you probably know about those statements, I won’t take the time to repeat them. Instead though, I would like to focus on the Republican stance of being against abortion even in the case of rape. Suppose abortion were illegal and a lady got pregnant as a result of being raped. She is forced to keep the child she doesn’t want. First of all, that kid already has many odds stacked against him or her. Republicans claim to be all about family and how each child deserves a mother and a father. But, if a lady is raped and as a result she becomes a single mother, by the Republicans own thinking, the child does not deserve this fate. Furthermore the mother may grow to resent the child for how he/she was conceived and also might not be able to afford to take care of the kid. And because it is rape, the chances of getting child support are pretty much an impossibility. Also, Republicans are staunchly against so called government handouts to the needy. Yet, this position is supposed to be pro life?

  But, the question that I have for pro lifers out there is a complicated one that they will probably never have to answer and one I  will never have to answer. When that child gets old enough and finally asks, “where is my dad?” how the hell does the mother answer that? How the fuck is she supposed to tell the child that he/she was the result of a violent crime against her? When that inevitable question is eventually asked, neither the government nor any Republican is responsible for answering that question for the mother. And suppose the mother works up the courage to be forthright and honest with the child and tell the truth, it would nearly be impossible for something like that NOT to fuck the child up mentally. If Republicans and pro lifers are truly “pro life” and care deeply about family values than somebody is going to have to explain to me just how the fuck this is a family value?

  I know some on the pro life side would say that the mother does not need to keep the child; that she can give the child up for adoption. While this is technically true, how can you ask the mother to suffer through a nine month pregnancy with the potential of complications (and even the death of the mother in extreme cases), other issues that arise because of pregnancy such as missing time from work,  all because she was raped? In addition, there is the cost of a pregnancy which again would be made more complicated by the Republicans stance against Obamacare. Yet in their eyes this is “gift from God.” Doesn’t sound like a gift at all to me; it sounds more like a punishment.

  All things considered though, I still have to believe the biggest issue how do you answer the question from the child “where is my dad?”

  • 3:40 pm
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