NARAL Leave Me Alone

It's come to my attention through mail received that there are some who believe I’m a democrat and others who think I'm republican, while I consider myself neither. Possibly due to my subscribing and reading both liberal and conservative rags. At any rate, a bumper crop of recent alarmist mail from NARAL regarding John Roberts nomination to the Supreme Court prompted the following.

Will a Roberts appointment end legal abortion as NARAL etal claim? As I've written previously the SCOTUS is not awfully concerned whether or not we the people abort. To the ruling elite the masses breed like rabbits and legalized or not, abortion isn't going to stop that class habit. (Their flunky lawmakers might end abortion if it drastically interfered with available cannon fodder.)

The elite have always and will continue to have access to abortion; whether the rabbit people do is of no great concern to them. A more conservative court may restrict the terms of abortion, but that in itself would not necessarily end legalized abortion.

Earlier this year, justices declined to hear a challenge to the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling. It also declined to consider reinstating an Idaho law requiring girls under age 18 to get parental consent for abortions except under the most dire of medical emergencies. The Court is scheduled in October to review the Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood case, where in June 2003, the New Hampshire legislature passed "An Act requiring parental notification before abortions may be performed on unemancipated minors." Politely put, parents who obviously haven't monitored their 13 or 14 year old daughter's social life, do want notification if the girl seeks abortion. Not likely to make much impact on abortion numbers in New Hampshire or the nation. But the rightwing can feel victorious and envision the beginning of the end to legal abortion, and it gives anti-abortion and pro-choice groups a nit to pick as they beg for donations and write newletters.

At most, a conservative court, if forced to deal with the issue because of the machinations of politicians, will overturn Roe vs Wade and leave the question of abortion and reproductive rights to individual States, who in turn will either outlaw it, or legalize it with or without restrictions. California most likely would have more liberal abortion laws than Tennessee. Folks would still find abortion safe and legal, only they might have to travel further to obtain one. Similar to the days when serious party people here in the Heartland had to save money to fly to Vegas for legal gambling and sex. There are other factors that could effect the SC even reviewing Roe v. Wade, such as the AMA physicians and others who profit from the billion dollar abortion industry and are large political donors; they will not easily give up their livelihood.

According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute's information on abortion the most common reasons given are : Lack of economic support for a child and not being ready to become a parent. Women who said that “life would be changed too much” include those women who wanted to continue their education or avoid interrupting their career.

56% of women having abortions are in their 20s;
61% have one or more children;
67% have never married;
57% are economically disadvantaged;
88% live in a metropolitan area; and
78% report a religious affiliation.

In other words, these are teens seeking abortion with or without parental consent, although usually it's the parents dragging them to the clinic because pregnancy is inconvenient, unaffordable, or an embarrassment. And adult women who find pregnancy inconvenient, unaffordable, or an embarrassment. From the above stats these women are predominantly already single mother poor urban dwellers who believe in God.

I was a young woman in my 20s when abortion was legalized in the US. My stand has been pro-choice, but only up to 12 weeks. I have never considered or had an abortion but know women who have. I'm glad they were able to obtain safe, legal, affordable termination of pregnancy. But in every case I also knew the pregnancy resulted from personal reckless behavior.

Most Americans would agree to grant the choice to terminate a pregnancy in the event of rape or incest. Most would agree that early termination should be the rule. Most would agree to abortion in the rare event that pregnancy would kill the mother.

But aside from the noise and sensationalism regarding the right to abortion or the morality of it, is the fact that women would not find themselves confronted with the "choice" if they took responsibility for their genitalia. It is indeed our choice to know our body and be accountable for what we put in it, so to speak. In today's world, with oral contraceptives, the patch, shots, condoms, and/or permanent sterilization, there are too many safe, convenient, and affordable means of avoiding "unintended" pregnancy. Using abortion as birth control is hideous. What about the male's responsibility for conception you ask? Dear, don't wait for Male Hunk to exhibit anxious interest over your ovaries and uterus, most won't, or only after the fact.

Too many of my female comrades have too many excuses when they find themselves with an "unintended" pregnancy. We women know with every sexual encounter whether or not we're risking pregnancy. If you take the risk, be prepared to accept the results. If you can't accept the results, don't take the risk. Simple.

I don't buy the too frequent excuse "I can't take the pill." There are too many pills on the market for a woman to not find one compatible. They've been on the market far too long to fear taking them. Nor do I buy the "I missed a pill." 99.9 percent of the time one missed pill will not result in pregnancy, and use a rubber the 0.1 time. The same girl/woman will remember every pore on LoverBoy's face but forget to take a pill. Or worse, she can't remember LoverBoy's face or name but accepted his sperm donation. "The condom broke." In 40 years of sexual activity I've never had a condom break but folks should use condoms to prevent STD, not pregnancy. And if you can't figure out how to put a condom on correctly, or remember to take a pill, or get an injection every 3 months, if you didn't know until after the fact that pregnancy would interfere with your career or education, then for the sake of society you shouldn't breed.

Parents, teach daughters (and sons) that their behavior has consequences, traditionally known as taking responsibility for being careless and/or stupid. Teach them that creating another human life is not a solution for teen angst. Teach your daughters to respect their future. And grown-up girlfriends, stop the b.s. excuses and quite literally take a little f*cking responsibility.