Why is it that self-righteous, "conservative" men are so completely convinced that the understand the motivation of women who choose to terminate pregnancy?
I'm not 100% sure, but I think Mr. "I value all life (except in instances of war, the death penalty, Gitmo, poverty, etc.)" Huckabee stated on the Daily Show tonight that more than 80% of abortions are performed because women find their pregnancies to be "inconvenient"-primarily a barrier to their social lives or too expensive. (he actually said 93% are completely "elective") He then compared abortion to euthanizing the elderly against their will! Thank you Jon Stewart for reminding Huck that the elderly aren't living inside of anyone's body!
On behalf of all women- those who have chosen to have abortions, and those who haven't- I would like to provide Mr. Huckabee with an alternate (informed) point of view.
If it's convenient for you, follow me beyond the jump!
First, allow me to offer a little bit of background. I am a 37-year old mother of one beautiful, 11-year old son. My husband and I have been together for 17 years and we are productive, responsible members of our community.
After a very difficult first pregnancy and delivery, my husband and I discussed our options and determined that we would not have any more biological children. We would consider foster care or adoption if we decided we wanted a larger family. I looked into tubal ligation which was not a feasible option at that time. I then encouraged my husband to consider having a vasectomy but, ultimately, we decided to rely on other forms of contraception.
Then, seven years ago, I became pregnant, despite using birth control as directed. I knew immediately that I would have an abortion and I remember feeling greatly relieved that safe, legal abortions are accessible in our community. My husband and I talked about it but we had already decided years before that additional pregnancies would pose a great risk to our family. My doctor agreed that there could be serious medical complications for me if I decided to try to carry the fetuses to term (there were twin embryos). For me- for my family- terminating the pregnancy was the right thing to do. Soon after, my husband did get a vasectomy (thank you, Honey) and we no longer need to be concerned about additional unintended pregnancies.
Now, to address Mr. Huckabee's assertion that most women who undergo abortive procedures do so because it's more "convenient" than having a baby:
Convenient means easy, expedient, simple. I assure you, Mr. Huckabee, there is nothing easy, expedient, or simple about this procedure or this issue. But, because you and people like you have insisted on creating "culture wars" over matters of personal choice, women who choose abortion are demonized and health care providers who perform abortions are threatened and, too often, hurt or killed. (Another grand irony of the "Right-to-Life" philosophy)
Manipulation, obfuscation, and righteous indignation have become the hallmarks of any discussion on the issue- tonight's Daily Show being a prime example of that. Jon Stewart attempted to draw attention to some of the absurdities of the analogies Mr. Huckabee attempted to draw and was met with "Preacher Mike's" insistent moral certainty that "all life has value." It's a convenient platitude, Mr. Huckabee, but disingenuous coming from a pro-war, pro-death penalty politician.
All life does have value- including mine, and my husband's, and my son's. I chose to honor my family by not jeopardizing my ability to care for them continuing a high-risk pregnancy. It was not an easy or convenient choice. But it was the right choice. “Right” defined against moral absolutes in the midst of an imperfect world," as you said in your book, Character Makes A Difference.
I hope that you will stop trivializing the choices of women who are compelled to terminate pregnancies for any number of reasons that you may not understand but should respect.
Thank you.
UPDATE: Here a link to the full video- BTW, the Daily Show editors, under intense time pressure, chopped this interview up in a way that ended up misrepresenting most of Jon's counter-argument to Huckabee's "pro-life" rhetoric. The full interview is much more coherent. Please watch and comment. My attempt to embed didn't work. Please take the time to visit the Daily Show website to view the entire interview:
http://www.thedailyshow.com