Taking a few minutes to put on my rant hat, cause this is important

[kjpepper]

This has always been a difficult thing for me. Those of you that actually know the interesting tale of my existance and why I was actually born at Yale New Haven Hospital instead of in New York City as expected may understand why. I mean, I'm constantly reading those angry-making Readers Digest humanitarian effort stories that are all like OMG I am so PRO LIFE because if my parents didn't CHOOSE LIFE in ($fucked_up_scenario_29387481) then I wouldn't exist to constantly annoy you by giving it up for jesus's pro life glory.

You know, that's ass stupid. I'm guessing that considering the circumstances, I very well could have ended up not being here to bitch and whine at all of you and the Internet on a nearly daily basis. However, I was actually wanted., which I think makes all the difference. There are already too many unwanted children running around out there without taking all the means necessary to ensure that there aren't any more, by any means of birth control necessary including abortion. There are all sorts of reasons why it may be a good idea to terminate a pregnancy, both for the benefit of the mother and for the benefit of the proto-baby. However, it's nobody's business what the reason is. Abortion is a medical procedure that should be available to everyone (well everyone with a uterus) that wants or needs one, no questions asked. Don't get me started that if the majority of our school systems were actually teaching practical sex education above and beyond "Jesus will hate you if you do this so DON'T," maybe we wouldn't need legal abortion so much. But that's an entirely other rant.

The other thing that pisses me off? Pro-abortion, pro-choice, and pro-life are three distinctly different things. Pro abortion means you are for abortion in any and all situations. That is ass stupid. Nobody in their right mind WANTS to have an abortion. There is so much bullshit associated with having one, and "Dilation and Cutterage" just really doesn't seem like a fun reason to take off work next Wednesday. Even EC and RU486 are pretty nasty propositions - people are under the impression that you pop a pill and everything's magically changed to fairy farts and roses and poof no more baby. No. Both drugs make you violently sick; it's not fun at ALL. But all that aside, choosing to have an abortion is probably the most painful decision a woman ever has to make in her life. One of the reasons I'll probably never have one is because I know I couldn't handle it. So people conflating pro-abortion and pro-choice need to seriously Shut℠ The Fuck™ Up®

Pro-choice means exactly that - preserving the option of choosing to terminate your pregnancy or carry it to term. I personally, for reasons stated above and other ones, would choose not to have one, but I am rabidly supportive of having that second option there. I like to know I have the right to change my mind.

And then there's pro-lifers... I mean the real ones, not the people who say they're pro life but in reality think like I do (and by the way, need to get smacked with the WTF stick). How arrogant and self righteous do you have to be to believe that other people should be legislated into agreeing with you?

Long story short: Pro-choice!=Pro-abortion. "I wouldn't necessarily choose an abortion" is not necessarily = Pro-life. "I support abortion but I wouldn't have one" DEFINITELY != Pro-Life. HOWEVER - now this one's important, kids: "I support abortion, but only in the case of (x,y,z)" IS NOT PRO CHOICE. No. Hell, no. I don't hold with the "only in certain circumstances" bullshit, because then you get into needing to prove that you actually need one and there's a sack of shit right there. Don't even get me started on needing parental consent. Shit. I knew at least two or three people growing up who would be DEAD right now if they had to get consent from their parents for an abortion. I am fucking serious.

So yeah I'm pro-choice. What's your excuse?

Comments

[oneforellis.livejournal.com]

I am so terribly confused, but I do understand you are wearing a "rant hat" and thus I don't need to understand completely.

Is it in my body? Then I can do whatever the hell I want to it.

[lordaerith.livejournal.com]

That would be a "Pro-Choice" statement. Clear up any confusion? *G*

No, I'm not making fun of you. I totally agree with that statement. A woman's body is her own. Not the government's, not the church's, not her parent's, etc. Her own. A pro-life standpoint is, in my opinion, rather totalitarian and against what this country is supposed to stand form. Freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of choice. End of statement. If a woman decides not to have a child, regardless of the circumstances of conception, it is harming no one but herself. Therefore, the government shouldn't have a say in what happens. Period.

Any other standpoint and you might as well say you supported Hitler. Ok, that might be going a bit far, but that's how I feel about it.

Sorry, that was more of a rant than I intended it to be. I was just trying to make a little joke.

[retsuko.livejournal.com]

Word. Wordy McWordington. *applauds*

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

We're definitely on the same wavelength there. And like you, I should not get started on how sex education would fix this debate right up, because I WILL NOT STOP.

[sydneycat.livejournal.com]

I still have a vague memory of the day my sister went to the clinic. I was only 10 so the memory is not great. My parents were supportive but made sure she understood that they'd do whatever was necessary to help her if she kept the baby. She ended up deciding not to do it...the emotion and weight of it was too much for her to have an abortion. My mother had driven her to the clinic (hence the reason I was there). I think like her I wouldn't be able to make the choice to have an abortion, but if ANYONE tried to tell me that I didn't have the right to *make that choice* if the circumstances were at hand...there would be HELL to pay. Keep your laws off my body and more importantly keep your morality to YOURSELF. I'll be over here being ethical thanks. Well said Chiquita.

[nireena.livejournal.com]

thank you. you summed up my views beautifully.

[birkwelch.livejournal.com]

I always thought it interesting how both sides in this supposed debate create this virtual false dichotomy. You're pro-choice, or you're implicitly pro "no-choice." You're pro-life or implicitly pro-death. Do whatever you want or all hail the dictator. All life is sacred or you favor gunning down orphans in the street with a maniacal grin on your face. Maybe there's no way to present the case without polarizing it, but I kind of wish there was.

That being said, I've never actually heard of "pro-abortion," as it would obviously lead to the annihilation of the human race to abort in all situations. Me, I'd say I'm pro-informed choice -- I don't care what a woman's decision is and I don't question her right to make it, but for me to be supportive (as opposed to indifferent in this case) I hope she's at least thought about what it means.

Having said that, I doubt very many women have or don't have abortions whimsically.

[tobysionann.livejournal.com]

Right-wingers tend to call pro-choicers "abortionsists," as if we advocate abortions in every single circumstance. That's pretty much the same as "pro-abortion."

Sorry, it got long and geeky

[johannah-rose.livejournal.com]

Having actually taken EC twice, I must say, its really not bad. They gave me compazine to prevent nausea, and I was able to go about my business without interruption.

EC is NOT abortion. EC won't disrupt an established pregnancy (medically, you aren't pregnant until implantation) most fertilizations occur more than 24 hours after intercourse takes place (the vagina is a rather acidic environment and sperm don't have the greatest acid resistance, plus they are tiny and it can take that long for them to reach the fallopian tube. Consider also that there are only a very few days a month that an egg is capable of being fertilized and you'll see that its quite a coincidence if there is even a fertilized ovum to prevent from implanting), EC can only be taken within the first 72 hours after intercourse or it won't work.

Bottom line, might EC stop some fertilized eggs from implanting? Yes. Birth control pills will do that too (all EC is is a larger than normal dose of birth control pills). Is it likely that either EC or The Pill will do that most of the times it is taken? Hell no.

Sorry, I have a Bio degree and one of my focus areas was Embryology. People confusing EC with abortion is a pet peeve. The way I see it, if you're going to be dead set against something, you should have a solid understanding of that thing.

[chirping-monkey.livejournal.com]

I think there is a tiny bit of middle ground that you might be missing (I understand this is a rant and thus no place for middle ground). Namely, I believe it's okay to disagree with a choice that a woman makes. I DO NOT think it's okay to say that a woman is NOT ALLOWED to make any decision she wants, and she should never have to justify it to anyone, but it's still the right of others to disagree with her choice. Telling people that they're not allowed to have their opinion (regardless of how ill-informed or retarded) is as much a Hitler move as saying no abortions for anyone.

Moving it into a less controversial area, people are totally allowed to disagree with my choice of religion, but if they try and make it illegal I will light them on fire.

[kjpepper.livejournal.com]

I'm a little confused as to where I said or implied the opposition was not allowed to have an opinion?

[chirping-monkey.livejournal.com]

I am likely reading too much into it, but the tail end "I support abortion in specific case (x,y,z)" bit implies that if you wouldn't support a specific woman's choice in a specific circumstance (regardless of whether you believe it should be legal) means you need to hand in your pro-choice card.
And then I edited my response down until it became entirely too general.

[kjpepper.livejournal.com]

well, it is a little bit like saying you're a hip hop fan/expert when you only buy the edited versions of albums from Wal-mart.

[chirping-monkey.livejournal.com]

There is no way I can actually say what I mean.

I've tried like seven times. Honest, I just keep tripping up over myself. Maybe that's a sign that I didn't have a very good point to begin with.

Anyway, want to hang out tonight?

[kjpepper.livejournal.com]

lol

do you mind if I subject you to ridiculously cute children and a 1980s era Tim Curry singing?

[extrajoker.livejournal.com]

"I support abortion but I wouldn't have one" DEFINITELY != Pro-Life.

No, that's Pro-Choice. Because whoever feels that way supports a woman's legal right to choose to have an abortion, while personally choosing not to do so herself.

[kjpepper.livejournal.com]

... that's what I said? does not equal pro life. The ! isn't a typo.

[extrajoker.livejournal.com]

Ah. I thought the exclamation point was just you being emphatic. ;) There ought to be an html tag to make an equal sign with a slash through it.