(no subject)

[ksmith]

I'm not usually one of the usual suspects when it comes to commenting on issues. But. A good post today by John Cole over at Balloon Juice.

What this country really needs right now is a serious case of mind your own damned business. We’ve turned into a nation of busybodies and scolds, and people just need to back off. And that goes for the people opposed to and trying to make illegal Andrew (Sullivan)’s marriage, for people like Andrew who sound like they want the weight of the law to come down on people making tragic medical decisions that lead to late-term abortions, for the nutjobs who thought they knew better than Michael Schiavo how to handle his horrible situation with his wife, to the lunatics screaming “murder” when we do stem cell research, and so on.

pecunium said pretty much what I've been thinking.

Abortion should be rare. Not because of social stigma. Not because of cost, or a dearth of access to it. Not because the hurdles to getting one are too many, and too high.

It ought to be rare because it is rarely needed. Pregnancies should be wanted. That means comprehensive sex-ed. It means readily available birth control. It means all the social support needed to avoid unwanted pregnancy.

So if you want abortion to end, support the research, stem cell and otherwise, necessary to treat the fetus in utero so that it can repair itself before it is born. Support sex education, and access to birth control, and the entire social network that needs to be in place to ensure that some scared teenager isn't left on her own in case her family is unwilling, or unable, to help her negotiate through the maze of sexuality and wants and needs and expectations.

Not a Nanny State. Not, heavens forbid, a Daddy State. A humane, civilized state that helps its citizens take care of themselves when that help is needed, populated by people who mind their own business and keep their noses out of yours unless their opinion is requested.

Comments

[phantomminuet.livejournal.com]

I couldn't agree more. I'm essentially anti-abortion (and always have been), but I've always agreed with President Clinton's approach to the issue. The most effective way to decrease the number of abortions is to decrease the number of unwanted pregnancies, and you accomplish that outcome through comprehensive sex education, not the criminalization of conduct.

It seems an infinitely reasonable approach. I can't understand why it doesn't have broad-based support.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Because the Daddies lose control. Life's Supervisors, Judges, and Juries. Those undeserving of help should not get it, because if you were worthy, you would be like them. You never would have gotten into the mess in the first place, or you would have the money/connections to get you out.

[msagara.livejournal.com]

Word.

(I know. But I haven't used it for a long time, and I absolute agree with everything you've said. It is perfect).

[threeoutside.livejournal.com]

Hear, hear!

AND

Here, Here!

[e-moon60.livejournal.com]

How right you are.

And for those who don't 'believe in abortion'--don't have one. If you're male, don't father an unwanted child.

Women with unwanted pregnancies didn't get that way by way of a turkey baster...they didn't "get themselves pregnant"--someone else impregnated them.

[jemck.livejournal.com]

This is me agreeing with the original post and pretty much the comment thread thus far.

Also, folk may be interested to read a thought-provoking piece from Sara Paretsky recently in The Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/01/george-tiller-murder-anti-abortion)

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the link. It really is about control of womens' sex lives. It's so feudal it's laughable.

[sueo2.livejournal.com]

I have to agree with your comment that "abortions should be rare", but in addition to proper sex-education and the need for more available birth control, we need to understand two things: we may have higher reasoning powers, but many of us still give in to that primitive brain where basic species survival activities are concerned - got to address that and find a way to override our primitive hearts; and many of us tend to be lazy and don't follow through on well-laid plans (such as forgetting to take our daily pill ... which is why I support those patches and the such.)

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

I would consider that part of the social support network. Education, and the realization that sex is a basic drive that can be difficult to manage.