In this deeply personal and important post, FDL's Christy talks about the core of a woman's right to determine what happens to her own body.
Being pro-choice is to be compassionate and honest about the world around us, and to value the life of the mother just as much as the life within her -- and to trust the women and others involved in each circumstance to weigh all of the issues involved. Because that is what they already do. Most of the women that I have ever known who faced unenviable difficulties in these decisions chose to have their child where it was medically possible. Which is...a choice.
Pretending otherwise is simply to lie. And of those who choose to have an abortion, who am I to judge them when I've had to make that choice myself out of medical necessity? There are any number of reasons that I would never, ever choose to have an abortion, but again, that would be my choice. And after reading this, I needed to say that out loud.
Christy puts a face on that "life or health of the mother" exception that gets bandied about so carelessly these days. Here's another of those faces, via Ridenbaugh Press:
On the subject of abortion, Palin, the Republican nominee for vice president (by which you also have to say, possible future president) has famously said that were her daughter raped and impregnated, "I would choose life" - taken as a statement that she would not allow her underage daughter to have an abortion....
That in hand, consider this bulletin (sorry, no available link) today from the Idaho Falls Post Register:
A St. Anthony man has pleaded guilty to raping and impregnating his girlfriend’s 10-year-old daughter. Guadalupe Gutierrez-Juarez entered the plea today as part of a deal with Fremont County prosecutors. In exchange for pleading guilty to one felony count of rape, prosecutors dropped two other rape charges. Gutierrez-Juarez and Isabel Chasarez were arrested earlier this year after the victim gave birth at a local hospital.
A question Charles Gibson might consider asking Palin: What should the legal penalty imposed on that 10-year-old girl - incarceration or otherwise - have been had she wanted/been allowed not to bring that rapist’s child to term?
You could also ask what opportunity a 10-year old has for access to abortion services in a small town like St. Anthony, Idaho.
These are the extreme stories, the stories that will become more common if the Bush/McCain/Palin war against women continues unabated. From limiting our access to birth control to vowing to overturn Roe v. Wade and getting ever closer to the SCOTUS majority that would do it, women's reproductive rights are more endangered than ever.
Not all the stories are so extreme or so disturbing, but no woman's life and life choices is less critical than Christy's and that poor child in Idaho. If there's anything to make the mothers, sisters, daughters--and yes--fathers, sons, and brothers in this country think twice about their vote this fall, it should be that 10-year-old girl.