Thursday, May 5, 2022

You Don't Have To Be Pro-Abortion To Be For Reprodutive Freedom

 

 

Back in the early '90s while working in the communications department of a non-profit, I remember answering the phone and hearing a man ranting on the other end. He said he was from the Family Research Council__which is against contraceptives being legal and available. 

He was angry that the foundation supported reproductive health initiatives, including long-lasting contraception.

Since the current Supreme Court's leak of their initial draft of overturning Roe v. Wade, I'm reminded of those extreme viewpoints that don't just want to limit reproductive freedom in their own families but want everyone in our country to have to live by their extremist views.

You don't have to be pro-abortion to be for reproductive freedom. Healthcare includes deciding whether and when you are going to start a family. Yes, sometimes "accidents" happen. Some women decide to continue their pregnancies in such cases; others do not.

The fact that others do not want to continue being pregnant means that they may make a decision to end the pregnancy via abortion.

Although I personally have never had an abortion, I am committed to the need to keep abortion access legal in our world. In the end it is the would-be/won't be mother to decide if to become a parent.

Yes, some choose to have the baby and make it available for adoption. However, no one should be forced to do so.

In the end women will do what they must. It is ethical to keep abortion legal so that more lives of pregnant women can be saved.

Whether you think abortion is a sin or unethical, you must acknowledge that saving the life of the pregnant person...some too young to safely deliver, is paramount.

If you don't believe the pregnant person gets to decide, then you are on the side of forced birth...on the side of rapists. If you believe that a female is a vessel to impregnate, then you don't see her as a person. You see her as a less-than.

You can embrace the idea of others making choices that you think you yourself would never, because it is the ethical thing to do.

The angry man who blasted reproductive freedom on the phone was all about controlling others. He was a true believer. A fanatic. Thankfully, he was not in a position to make that decision for everyone else.

Keeping abortion access safe and legal__and encouraging people to choose when to have a family by making contraceptives available__will make its necessity more rare. 

Get out the vote!


Sunday, March 22, 2009

In a Nutshell

You don't have to espouse a religion to be a good person. And using religion to spur hateful or hurtful acts against others is an abuse of power. Each person must question, think and act with consciousness...with humanity. We are all related. Let's honor one another's stories and build a better future for all...decent people everywhere.

Right on.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Hey...

I'm wishing everyone everywhere peace and tranquility.

Spent the day baking cookies; just me and my dog listening to the radio...madrigals, etc. It was transcendent...or at least peaceful. Out the window I saw snow, icicles and birdies coming to the feeder. Idyllic.

The boys were visiting their auntie in Connecticut. It was therapeutic all-round. Rolling out dough. Making menorahs/hanukkiahs, dreidels, suns, moons, stars, trees, sleighs, candy canes, little bears and ginger-bread men. When the boys came home, they helped eat the rejects. Of course, they'll get the good ones, too.

Tonight the cookies are ensconced in their tupperware (who invented that, really?), and tomorrow we'll frost them.

I just really needed today. I'm glad that we were technically snowed-in. Perfect. Now the fire's crackling in the fireplace. It's like a ski lodge. I'm happy. Thanks.

Be well.

Happy Solstice, everyone!

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Two Great Women



They did good...better than good. They dissed Palin to her face (if you call the truth a dis)...and were brilliant...especially the RAP about shooting a "mother-humping moose."

Take that all you MILFboys!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Superiority is Delusional

Some folks hold America apart as superior based on the Manifest Destiny myth which drove "white" settlers and missionaries west to conquer the land and its people. But this is a myth. Some folks' viewpoints narrowed in whom they thought should have rights. Others' losses were their gains; Native Americans were denied U.S. citizenship until the 1920s.

Still other people acknowledged the common threads that bind all American people together despite our specific heritages. That is the beauty of this land.

America is a blend of nations. Westward settlers of yore mixed and married with Native Americans, and it's important to acknowledge the positive cultural contributions of those that were here before us. We should be proud of those roots; we don't need to perpetuate the delusion of "white" superiority or an evangelical focus on Armageddon. Freethinking people of other or no faiths have an equal place in America.

Most recently big differences in the America's self-portraits were displayed at the two political conventions. One showed an amalgam of all America; the other resembled a frat party for the old "Westward, ho!" tale.

To move toward a more perfect union, our nation should embrace the common sense values of Native American teachings. These include balance; hunting is for sustenance, not to decimate an entire species. We might be stewards, but we are also students of many teachers in this world if only we open our eyes. In the end if there is a Creator, s/he is the Creator of all of us on the planet and beyond. Let's treat one another with respect and stop the missionary-as-superior act. Enough! We're all family.