My day started out in its usual way today. Got up. Got myself some coffee. Went into my office and sat down at my computer to read the news.
Nestled among the celebrity gossip, articles of newly elected Republicans beating their chests and shouting out their warped ideas for governing, and the latest financial news, there was a small article on abortion. Of course, being a Progressive woman, I opted to check the article out.
It was a good read, short and to the point, about the stigma placed on women who've been known to have an abortion and the reasons why so few women talk about the procedure once they have it done. It mentions throughout the article how many women actually choose abortion (1 in three, to be precise), and how anti-abortionists would be surprised to find out how many women they know who have had one.
Right below the article the comment section started. I usually don't read the comments when I'm first waking up, but I couldn't help but read the first one, since it was in my direct line of vision. To say it was ignorant, at best, is a gross understatement.
A man (of course), trying to paint all women with the bright red harlot brush, starts off by complaining about Planned Parenthood and how all they do is push and prod all women who go to one into having an abortion. He goes on to state their name is a misnomer because they don't plan any types of parenthood,they are baby killing centers, and all women who choose abortion are selfish bitches who need to have their legs sewn shut. After denigrating women in a variety of ways he ends with the heartfelt words that every unborn child absolutely has to be born because....his own personal emotional comfort level.
Well, being a woman, and actually KNOWING what goes on at PP facilities, I just HAD to answer.
My response is below the rust colored turd in the punch bowl-
Dear Kenny,
Have you ever been to a Planned Parenthood facility? Do you have any idea what actually goes on in one? From your answer I'd say no to both questions. Let me enlighten you a little bit. First off- of the many women who use PP's services, only 3% of them are there for an abortion. The rest of the women who go to a PP facility are there for cancer screenings (breast and cervical, ovarian,and uterine), low cost birth control, wellness checkups for low income women, and YES, actual family planning services.
Planned Parenthood provides prenatal vitamins, wellness checks on pregnant women and new babies, helps to connect women who have pregnancy complications and reproductive health issues with local OB/GYN's, and some even provide day care for new mothers who need to work. A lot of mom's bring their daughters to PP for their first cervical scan and pap smear, for their first serious talk on birth control and sex, and for wellness checks. They talk to these girls about the necessity of regular checkups for reproductive health, what pap smears and mammograms are for and their rates of prevention if done regularly. They talk to them about being prepared when they make the choice to be sexually active and the different types of birth control, it's effectiveness, and how it's properly used.
The women who use PP's services for abortion come from all walks of life. There are the women who already have several children and cannot afford to have another one, women who find themselves pregnant from rape, women who find themselves pregnant while in an abusive relationship and know they will never get away from the situation if they have a child with their abuser, the teenager who is a victim of incest, and the list goes on.
Yes, there are a very small percentage of women who use abortion as their main form of birth control, but they are a very small minority. The majority of women who CHOOSE to have an abortion have legitimate reasons to end their pregnancies. If it was visibly obvious that a woman had had an abortion, you'd be surprised at how many women you know who had taken that option. It's the woman next door, your cousin or sister, the lady who checks you out at the local store and always greets you with a smile. It's the widow who found herself pregnant just days or weeks after her husband passed away, the woman who will die by bringing a baby to term, and the woman who knows it's not the right time for her to have a child.
Whether you believe it or not, PP doesn't advocate for abortion. They talk to women about ALL their options- from having the child, to giving it up for adoption when born, to the various options available to them if they make the CHOICE to abort.
You make big talk about women being selfish when they choose abortion, but it's not selfish for any of the women I mention here. The reasons why women choose that option is their business, not yours. What they decide to do with their bodies is none of your business either. Abortion won't go away if it's made illegal again, it will just get more dangerous and expensive for women to have them.
Roe v. Wade wasn't about the wholesale slaughter of babies. Roe v. Wade was about women's health. Before that Supreme Court decision thousands of women died every year from back alley abortions, many were rendered unable to have children, and many ended up with life-threatening illnesses and complications. All Roe v. Wade did was bring a common procedure out of those back alleys and made it one of the safest and easiest procedures for women to undergo.
Maybe the next time you want to spout off and make yourself look foolish and ignorant, you'll go and get some facts about the subject, and not only learn something, but also keep your uninformed mouth shut. Your right to feel all masculine and comfortable doesn't trump and has nothing to do with my, or any other woman's, body. ~~~
I could have gone on at length about what an ignorant piece of excrement he was and how his position was that of a selfish and self-centered egoist and misogynist, but I was still on my first cup of coffee and, having a busy schedule making a woman's dream wedding ring come true, I don't have time to deal with butt waffles and their stupidity today.