Anti-Abortion is Not Pro-Life

On November 8th, 2011 in the General Election for Mississippi, there will be three Ballot Initiatives to vote on. 26 - to redefine "person" in our constitution, 27 - to require voter ID (ie disenfranchise voters) and 31 - to restrict the use of eminent domain.

The Anti-Abortion movement likes to present itself as "Pro-Life" when nothing could be further from the Truth.

Let me explain.

To me, "Pro-Life" entails compassion, consideration and caring.  "Pro-Life" extends to all life, not just humans.  "Pro-Life" is a realization that we are all connected - humans, plants, animals, fish, insects.  To be "Pro-Life" you must be anti-pollution, anti-poverty, anti-hunger, pro-education, pro-wildlife and pro-environmental protections.  To be "Pro-Life" you must value life and care about quality of life.  To be Pro-Life, you must want to protect the rights of minorities and people who are not like you, whether by sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, race, language or size.

Anti-Abortionists often support the death penalty, are against helping the poor, don't support a good education for all, are against environmental protections, are hateful toward others who are different and don't care about a child that has already been born.  "They're born now, they're on their own," seems to be their motto after the live birth.  I see most Anti-Choice stances as being more about domination and control than any actual concern for life. Some even seem to have some sort of revenge motive - as if they feel slighted by the world and want more to suffer as they have.

They are systematically destroying women's health rights.  They are on a campaign that will increase poverty, increase hunger, increase abuse, increase neglect and increase prison populations.  When I see these people, I see monsters.

If anyone is truly "Pro-Life" and want to put an end to abortions - well, that is never going to happen.  If they want to reduce abortions, I have a few suggestions.

• STOP trying to pass legislation, stop trying to outlaw abortion, realize that there are going to be times when women WILL abort, legal or not and its best to have it done safely and professionally. 
• Put all that money into outreach.
• Partner with Planned Parenthood to offer real alternatives - 
• Pay pregnancy medical and life expenses
• Help arrange and pay for adoptions (that won't cost the adoptive parents the normal $30,000+)
• Real (not abstinence only) Sex Education to prevent unwanted pregnancies
• Quit trying to end a symptom, try to stop the Causes. 

IF you are really about promoting life, then stop trying to control other people.  IF you are really about personal responsibility, then let people take responsibility for their own actions to do what they believe is the best and right thing to do.

For further reading :

GOP proposes "let women die" bill

Personhood Colorado - the one that started all this nonsense and haven't (so far) changed their stance that it would outlaw "the Pill" because of it's tertiary effect.
American Life League - If you think extremists won't try to take advantage of Mississippi 26 if passed, take a look at these monsters.
Clarion Ledger article - This rag is so right-wing its crazy, but this article is spot on.
RHRealityCheck article - Although the author thinks that 'the pill' would never act as an abortificant - and 90% of the time it doesn't - he presents valid points about the anti-choice movement.  There are also more RHRealityCheck articles to browse.
A Letter to the Sun Herald - interesting to read the comments too.


I also had to share (most of) a comment on that Idiot Gregg Harper's Facebook wall about him supporting the "let women die" act...

Gayle Biedenharn Walker

As a former social worker, I can assure you that many children are neglected or abused because their parents-frequently a single parent- are unable or lack proper emotional and financial resources to care for them. I support a woman's right... to choose whether to bear a child. This state as well as many others does not provide needed social and financial resources to care for these children. If abortion or other forms of birth control are unavailable or prohibitively expensive, then women are forced to bear children that they may not want. The result in many cases is that children lack proper supervision and emotional support. They may drop out of school, join gangs in their search for a sense of belonging, or begin a life of crime and drug abuse. To me, this is a much more important moral issue than the "protect life" amendment.

Okay, I'm going to go ahead and post this before it becomes a novel.... :)

Addendum :
A brave "anonymous" poster on my No on 26 post called me a murderer and said that I should move to a different state to continue my 'murderous work.'

I commented on the post to the coward, but I have more to say.

First off, I am not an abortion doctor, I don't provide abortions.  I do not promote abortion. Nobody is eager to have/perform/experience an abortion. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a sick and twisted individual.