Women's Rights, Right To Life, and Any Other Pro-Choice Label You Can Think of....

Ok. So abortion rights is back in the spotlight supposedly because of New Hampshire making a law requiring doctors to notify in person a minor's parents 48 hours before an abortion. This is how I feel about this whole issue.
1. Men should have no say regarding this issue at all. Why? Because, I'm sorry that God didn't give you the absolute power to sustain a life for not only nine + months, but also have the capacity to nourish a baby for over a year after birth but as you have no ability to perform this delicate yet amazing task, you cannot decide who will or will not amongst those of us who can.
2. Those people screeching about girls who use abortions as a form of birth control are literally talking out of their bee-hinds. It is humiliating enough to have a gynecological exam, uncomfortable as well. But you cannot begin to fathom the emotional, psychological and physical pain one experiences having something that is inside your body, a part of you in every sense of the word, ripped out from between your legs. I have two children. The option was given to me by my now ex-husband to "not have" my second son. Yeah, right. That choice was always mine and never his, but being the control freak that he was, he allowed me to consider it because frankly, we were exceedingly poor, I had come to realize that he was not the person he pretended to be, and the first kid was totally infringing on his drinking time. Anyway, I didn't consider it. I wasn't a Christian at that time so, now, it wasn't a religious move. I looked at my first child and thought - what if there was no you? No brainer. I had my second son, my marriage crashed onto the rocks and I see my sons as my best accomplishment ever. When a person has an abortion, and believe it or not ALL women young, old, poor, rich, black, white, etc. feel these things, the ghost of that choice haunts you. It lurks behind the face of every child near that age, on every anniversary date, in every wee little outfit in the mall or precious tiny nikes at the shoe store. The memory of that child is in every stroller and swing. People who act like they understand have no concept.
3. When you restrict public education about sex, guess what? Kids don't know as much as they should about it! Isn't that an incredible revelation? I mean, think about it....you don't teach math, and kids can't add. Whoa...sorry head rush. Anyway, as much as we want to keep our adorable pre-teens and teenagers asexual, too bad. These guys are married off as full blown adults in other countries. These guys are SEXUAL! Not equipping them with as much info as possible is setting them up to fail. And with the way parents are working so much and not talking to their kids, kids as usual are talking to each other. And really, you should hear some of the stories expressed as fact! It would make your hair stand on end.
4. Now, do I have to say this? Abortion legislation is targeting the poor. People with money can buy their way around laws, we all know that. They can go to another country, order the morning after pill online or have someone "help" them out. Just like with child abuse. Just because you have money doesn't mean you don't abuse your kids, you just have the means to cover it better. That's all. Plain and simple. My last case as a child advocate involved a doctor and his wife, the nurse. And these kids had suffered for years, horrific abuse. But the parents had the means to move around and wiggle out by hiring lawyers and pointing at the kids. Pathetic. They got away with it again in the case I was involved in. This is what educated people do when they have the resources, they have too much to lose otherwise.
5. This legislation is sexist. It targets one segment of our society and restricts them more aggressively than others. How about, instead of attacking the end result we go for the instigation? Any male who has sex without a condom will be fined. That'll keep that puppy wrapped.
6. The cliche applies, morality cannot be legislated. Sure punishments can be assigned to things we know to be wrong - rape, murder, kidnapping, theft, etc. But it appears to me that again, we are punishing instead of really using our heads and thinking about the roots of all this. It goes back to something I have mentioned before. Parenting. Parenting classes being a part of the K - 12 educational curriculum and a comprehensive national health program are the two most important things this country needs to do to fix itself. If you have no example of how to parent, if you have no education as to how to parent, if you have no feeling of worth in this society because you cannot afford medical maintenance and therefore, don't have a working knowledge of your body - you are set up to fail.
9. Here's an important one. How much of an issue would abortion be if there wasn't a rightwing/neocon block on the morning after pill? If girls who had made a mistake - which having sex without a condom definitely is - but a girl that has been raped, made the wrong choice, whatever...how much better would it be for everyone?
8. Any time the political picture is looking bad - Iraq, immigrant issues, members of congress getting million dollar homes from special interest groups - hot button topics suddenly jump to the forefront. Last time I made an effort to comment on a rightwing site about, I think, Katrina the immediate response was something about being an abortionist and a "millions of tiny fingers pointing at me from heaven asking me why..why did I hate them?" interesting imagery but typical of the slap and dash style of the rightwing neocon - a hard smack out of nowhere across the face and then off they go! One is left with a throbbing cheek and stunned expression of "where the heck did that come from?" Stay on task people.

Reproductive rights are a women's issue. Let's turn away from all this ranting and raving and fervent prayer. If you start talking to your kids when they are little. If you keep a constant communication with them about everything - no matter how embarassing. If you teach them to respect themselves and others. And you educate them not only with pertinent materials but through example - they will have a much better chance of getting to adulthood successfully.