Abortion

I said before that I don’t agree with abortion but also realize that as a man I will never understand the considerations that might lead to one.  I also said that all men should shut the hell up about it since they only demonstrate their ignorance and wish to keep women “in their place” by telling them what they can and can’t do with their bodies.  South Dakota’s recent abortion law is the conservatives’ way of forcing the issue to SCOTUS now that the high court is in their pocket (according to them anyway).  Essentially, the war is now on in America to protect the rights of women, and conservative troglodytes want nothing more than to make the uterus a state controlled interest.  It’s sickening at best.

What of the woman raped who will face irreparable emotional, psychological and societal harm if forced to carry to term the offspring of her attacker?  Must she sacrifice her own well being to ensure the birth of a rapist’s child?

What of the woman who will suffer irreparable physical harm if forced to carry a child to term?  Must she sacrifice her own health and longevity just to satisfy the misguided religious dogma of the Right?

What of the woman who will die if forced to give birth?  Must she sacrifice her life and leave her child motherless in the world because cretins with nothing better to do wish to control her body?

What of the drug addict who will cause irreparable harm to her child because her body is so damaged that it cannot support the healthy development of a baby?  Must we inflict a life of hardship and health woes upon that baby to ensure the sensibilities of people not involved in its care are not offended?

What of the unwanted child who will be abused, neglected, or even abandoned?  Should we refuse that mother-to-be the right to an abortion and ensure her child suffers intolerably simply because those who will never face such a dilemma made the decision that they should control her body?

Too many conservatives are blinded by their own selfish desires to even consider the impact to women.  Instead, they believe the state should control reproduction.  And don’t be daft by calling abortion an unnatural medical procedure.  What’s natural about hip replacement?  And chemotherapy and radiation treatment?  And antibiotics?  Medicine is by its nature an unnatural thing: it is the interference by humans in the naturally occurring health problems of the species.  If you get flesh-eating bacteria, why not let nature run its course?  Instead, you rush to the doctor to get antibiotics designed to kill a naturally occurring infection.  If you get cancer, why not let your body’s natural dysfunction run its course instead of filling your body with chemical toxins and dosing it with radiation to stop the abnormal cell activity?  No, abortion is no more unnatural than the medical procedures you seek on a daily basis, so don’t be stupid and don’t expect us to believe such gibberish.

Again, I say that every man seeking to control abortion should shut the hell up.  You have no clue what it means to even consider an abortion.  You will never face the decision.  You will never understand what it means to be faced with an unwanted, unhealthy, deadly, or forced pregnancy.  Your opinion is proffered like so much selfish want that disrespects every woman who has or will face the decision.  It offends them and it offends the sensibilities of every man strong enough to admit this is a path he will never travel.  I assume that were your daughter or wife to be raped, your view of abortion would change if they were forced to carry that child to birth.

As for state interest in abortion, there is none.  What purview has the state in what a woman does with her body?  What national security is gained by forcing women to birth children they do not want or that will cause bodily harm or death (to mother or child)?  What social or medical reason can you give to ban abortion that does not rely entirely on your personal sensibilities and desire to control reproduction?  Is our country not already full of unwanted, abused and unhealthy children?  Do you see a need to inflict more upon the general population than the glut we already see?

I am disgusted by anyone who thinks they can offer sound reasoning as to why abortion should be banned.  I do not believe in your religion, so dogma has no place in the discussion.  I do not believe that excessive population by way of forced childbearing is in the best interest of our country or planet.  I do not believe that as a man I should have any say in what women can and can’t do with their bodies.  I do not believe that the state has inherent jurisdiction in the medical care of anyone.

No woman should have to lose nine months of her life carrying an unwanted or forced pregnancy.  No woman whose life is in danger should be forced to carry a child to term.  No woman should be told that getting pregnant is a no-option situation regardless of the circumstances.  And most importantly, no woman should be told by any man what to do with her own body.

Men have no jurisdiction here.  Religion has no jurisdiction here.  Anyone not facing a pregnancy that might spur consideration of abortion should not be allowed into the debate. — and that negates all men from participation.  Abortion needs to be left just the way it is: a decision between a woman and her doctor(s), and possible her significant other if one exists.  It is not the state’s right to interfere with that any more than it was the state’s right to interfere with the Schiavo situation or assisted suicide.

I realize that I am harping on common sense not shared by advocates of overturning Roe v. Wade.  It is too much to ask that this caveman mentality be set aside in favor of leaving the decision up to the woman facing pregnancy.  Conservatives see the recent SCOTUS shuffle as their chance to turn back time and force women into alleyway abortions, clothes hanger mutilations, and forced reproduction.

While I may not like abortion, I see the need for it, I understand there will always be situations beyond the control of a woman under which she will become pregnant, and I respect women enough to know that it can never be my decision to force upon them.  My sensibilities, however well intentioned, never can be allowed to deny anyone the medical care they seek.  The state never can be allowed to inflict its will upon any part of a human body.  There is no religious or state interest in this debate, and Roe v. Wade should never be overturned.

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