“To the women who seek abortions, the reality of being pregnant is not something they get an abortion in spite of. It is precisely what’s driving them to seek the abortion in the first place.” Melissa McEwan of Shakesville, writing for the Guardian on the new abortion study that finds that abortion is not a significant mental health risk. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/19/health.medicalresearch
Granted, what the study did find is that if the woman was being unduly pressured NOT to have an abortion, or felt she had to hide it from friends and family, THAT increased her risk of depression afterward.
That’s right, Fundamentalist Christianity is a mental health risk.
Hey, I’m just going with what the study said. I mean, isn’t that what the anti-choice crowd keeps parroting at you when they talk about how abortions doom women to depression and suicide. Don’t even get me started on the completely bullshit “abortions cause breast cancer” theory they’ve been bandying around as well.
The thing is, and the reason I get so het up about these “wait for 24 hours and have an ultrasound” legislations, is that as Melissa says in the article, it’s like they think that all we have to do is see it’s teeny heartbeat on ultrasound and we’ll all be overcome with maternal urges and shit.
Um, no. As another study found, 73% of women who seek abortions do it because they cannot afford a, or another, baby. They are economically tapped out and it would be beyond irresponsible to bring another life into the equation. (Stealing Melissa’s link as well: http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/psrh/full/3711005.pdf)
Yeah, those frivolous harlots, wanting to support the kids they already have, or not have children until they can afford it. Stupid bitches. What are they thinking?
Ok, I think I just hurt myself typing that.
Thing is, the number of children and how early you have them, are one of the most reliable markers for poverty in women. The earlier and more kids you have, the more poor you will be/stay, statistically speaking. There are always exceptions to every rule, but they are… exceptional. The best way for women to gain any sort of economic advantage, is to limit the number of children she has and to put off having them.
Polimicks 
No argument from me. You can’t convince me that the “pro-life” movement is about anything other than punishing women for having and enjoying sex. If they really did care about the sanctity of life, they’d care about the fact that people are getting bombed in various parts of the world, that there are people starving on our streets, etc.
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Oh F’ing FINALLY. The non-breeding women get a nod.
I’m constantly frustrated by the people -usually parents- who can’t seem to acknowledge the fact that getting pregnant to some women is the equivalent of a happily single MALE getting pregnant.
DO NOT WANT.
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As a friend of mine once said, I can’t wait until we can easily, readily, and inexpensively shut off the procreative aspects of sex, so that we can finally pull the leg out from the various asshats that want to decide how people can fuck and/or/not reproduce.
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“Thing is, the number of children and how early you have them, are one of the most reliable markers for poverty in women. The earlier and more kids you have, the more poor you will be/stay, statistically speaking. There are always exceptions to every rule, but they are… exceptional. The best way for women to gain any sort of economic advantage, is to limit the number of children she has and to put off having them.”
That is the best quote regarding the not-so-secret agenda behind limiting a woman’s choice as well as abstinence only education. Thanks for putting it so succinctly.
Hope everybody got out to vote today or sent in their ballots. When I was at my local polling place at 5pm, the pollsters were notably bored and said they’d been dead all day. I will not forgive this state if they elect Dino. My health is more important then someone’s access to a hammer or Raisin Bran. I’m pretty sure you read the SLOG and will know what that statement is about.
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http://www.slate.com/id/2198114/
That’s gonna piss you off.
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Later. My blood pressure is already spiked.
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I know the feeling…
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To be fair, there really are some of the pro-life people who honestly believe in the value of Life. But they are often manipulated by the leadership of the movement, whose agenda is way more about social control than “saving lives.”
I think an abortion policy is a lousy way to deal with the social problems of unwanted pregnancies. But I’m reluctantly pro-choice in opposition to precisely the social control measures advocated by the Right.
I’m also angry with the pro-life movement, since the best way to reduce abortions is to reduce unwanted pregnancies by providing accessible sex education and contraceptives.
Abstinence only education and an anti-contraceptive stance only contribute to the problem.
Meanwhile, I’m glad I live in a liberal state…
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