At this very moment we have a prominent Republican candidate for President who is basically calling for an end to women's prenatal testing. Yes, Rick Santorum believes that such testing leads to INCREASES the number of abortions in the country. At the same time we have another Republican, Virginia's Gov. Bob McDonnell, calling for mandatory prenatal testing as a way of DECREASING the number of abortions! He wants to force women in Virginia to have prenatal testing as a way of preventing abortion! So we have two Republican MEN seeking the exact opposite with a subject that is really a personal matter to WOMEN. Both of these men are part of a concerted movement that aims at pushing the country back decades to a time before labor unions, before medicare, before social security and before women's rights! It is a dual-sided movement with one side going after the social construct while the other goes after the economic sector which is led by a huge anti-worker movement. They believe that they are out to save "American values" and if they can break the back of the American worker, save American capitalism.
They are trying to achieve those goals by approaching the country from a 'theocratic' point of view. They would love to have the Constitution replaced by the Bible! And their actions show the little regard they actually have toward the Constitution which establishes our court system. It is our Supreme Court that has decided that abortion is legal and a personal choice for the woman to deal with. But these folks want to subvert the Supreme Court and have promoted intimidation, coercion, and bullying as ways to subvert our legal system and legal judgments. Some states such as Texas, regard a fetus as a 'child' in cases where a pregnant woman may be the victim of a crime. Which is fine. But we have to be REAL and accept the fact that a woman who became pregnant five minutes ago is not exactly carrying a 'fetus'. If this was the case then EVERY pregnant woman out there would be filing their tax returns as TWO people. So that if my wife got pregnant yesterday I could suddenly claim three dependents today on my tax returns! Are pregnant women in Texas claiming two dependents on their tax filings? Probably not! And why not? If it's so obvious that its a "baby" why didn't the Supreme Court designate a pregnant woman are two-people? Because we have to deal in the real world! And the fact is that an egg is not a hen or a chicken! It's an egg! Frying an egg does not constitute animal cruelty!
Obviously at some point in time we have to accept the existence of a fetus and deal with the social consequences of abortions. Millions of us hate abortions! Not because we feel that what happens at conception constitutes a "baby" but because an abortion has a tremendous psychological affect on the woman. What affects the woman the most and what has a permanent effect on the woman's psyche is guilt.
This is especially a problem with women who abort their pregnancies after the first trimester. But we must look at the other side of the story! There are women who simply can't have children. Others whose pregnancy are the results of rape or incest. Forcing women to have babies can very well be as devastating to some women as an abortion itself. So we must all deal with this subject in a very careful and realistic manner and not just wacky laws written by men, of men, for men to promote some theocratic agenda. Conservatives always talk about "Government money" and how it should not go here or there especially not to Planned Parenthood. Guess what folks? There is no such thing as Government money! It is OUR money! Tax payers money! And there are millions of tax payers that want money to go to all kinds of organizations including Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood is an organization that arose out of mostly conservative criticism of unplanned families. If you are a baby boomer then you remember all the criticism of poor large families. The message was that 'if you can't afford children, then don't have them'. With the development of contraceptives planning a family became a do-able act. But as we all know the 'right' is always criticizing the poor and blaming the poor for everything. The same folks that want 14 yr old girls to have babies are the same folks who are against welfare programs that will help those same 14 year old girls. So what is this whole thing really about? The answer is simple: SEX! These are people that have a problem with sex and with how people engage in recreational sex! They feel sex is dirty, sinful, and something that should be avoided. Santorum claims that contraceptives are "dangerous". That's because some young people might actually have sex for fun! Recreational sex is a terrible thing to Mr Santorum! He is so concerned about it. Where was Rick Santorum when hundreds of little boys were being molested, used, abused, sodomized and having their lives ruined by members of his own church!?! He seems to be more concerned with the pill and condoms than with perverts behind the robes!
So this is really all about recreational sex! Proof of this attitude could be seen in how Rick Santorum spoke about contraceptives in this weeks Republican debate. You may have noticed that his entire talk was on the dangers of contraceptives and unwanted pregnancies! It was a very weird approach to an issue since contraceptives PREVENT pregnancies not CAUSE them. Perhaps Mr Santorum does not know that condoms are worn to prevent pregnancies or the transfer of sexually transmitted diseases. And that the "pill" does not cause unwanted babies. It prevents them. What is most telling is that he is not really interested in truth or reality but only in promoting his anti SEX theocratic message.
So if you are a couple you can share a home and even share a bed as long as you do not engage in sexual activity. Sexual activity can only take place when you are trying to have a child! Otherwise it is off-limits. It is the world according to Father Santorum! And as to Bob McDonnell and Virginia's right-wing political apparatus? It seems the word "personal" might be missing from Virginia's social lexicon! Abortion, prenatal care, ultrasound tests, contraceptives, etc are personal issues for women and couples to deal with. We don't have to worry about Muslims bringing Sharia law to America! Conservatives are doing that for them! So what can we expect next? Perhaps Mr Santorum and Mr McDonnell will team up and bring us a new 'anti-masturbation' bill. Although it may not apply to the 'mental masturbation' rhetoric they have been feeding the American people.