Today is the dreaded day in every prochoice high school and college students calandar. That's right. Its the day when the crazy anti choice students put duck tape over their mouthes with the word life written on it and run around handing out fliers to anyone near them with all of their antichoice propoganda printed on it.
Now while I am so grateful for the fact that they are on our campus protesting peacefully instead of standing outside of the local planned parenthood abusing and harrassing the women who are mostly going in for pap smears and bc pills, not abortions, I still get annoyed at this. Every year on october the twentieth I get to know exactly how many people hate women and our existence.
Something that I would lie to point out however, is how few women participate in this. I have seen three women with duck tape over their mouthes. Three. I have seen over 50 men with the duck tape over their mouthes. I think that speaks to something. First, why is it any business of men what we do with our own bodies? Its not. We are the ones who have to carry these children inside of us for nine months if we do not have an abortion. We are the ones who have to go through child birth. We are the ones who are more than likely going to be the main care givers for these children.
Why is it that men get to make those decisions for us? Its not their bodies. Its not their lives that are changed forever by the birth of a child. Its ours, and its not fair that men should even think about passing judgement on a woman for the choice that she makes. So, I want an answer for why men get involved in this and what they think gives them the right to lord over someone elses body
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can you squirt them with a water spray bottle?
not one shaped like a gun, more like what you would water a gun with or train a cat- just to keep them a certain distance from you at least.
If one came into my space, within 3 ft of me and tried to harass me with their flyers, I would go off on them. Not in a loud way, but in a quite, and compassionate way. I would give them a picture of a woman who bled to death from her home abortion and tell them they are contributing to the shaming and killing of women's rights and ultimately, killing women, if they get their way.
When my son was in High School and recruiters inevitably tried to recruit him (he's an artist and looked "high risk youth" to them), he handed them photos of children who were maimed and killed in various wars the U.S. participated in.
He offered to recruit them to an army of compassion.
He did it twice, once in 9th grade and once in 10th grade. They NEVER approached him again.
I can't say I support treating people who disagree with you like misbehaving pets.
I can give 3 reasons:
1) Men have no choice in the BIRTH of a child, but are expected to support the child that the mother chose to have;
2) Public funds are used to pay for abortions; as long as that is done, men can complain about the laws that permit it; and
3) They have a moral objection and believe they are acting to protect the defenseless.
-Jut
1) If men don't want the women they're having sex with to have babies, wear a condom. With proper use they really are 99% effective.
2) Public funds are NOT used to pay for abortions, as per the Hyde Amendment, which bars Medicaid from covering abortions. Many private insurance companies don't provide coverage for abortion either.
3) I have a moral objection to people dictating to me what is and is not morality. My particular religious views are very different from Christian religious views, and within my particular religion, there are acceptable circumstances under which an abortion must be performed, namely, to save the mother's life. I am pro-choice because I don't rank some women's lives over others, and believe that every women who takes her reproductive health care into her own hands is saving her life.
3b) You know who else is defenseless? Children. Victims of domestic violence. Murdered gay men, lesbians, and transgendered folks. Where's their campaign?
Lauren,
1) You are holding men to a standard that you do not hold women. I admit, there is an imbalance in the relationship. However, there is no imbalance in the outcome (as far as support goes).
2) Public funds may not be used for them per se, but Planned Parenthood receives federal funds, do they not? Even if those are not to be used for abortion, those funds can offset funds that otherwise would be used for something else. Regardless, you have proven my point. The Hyde Amendment is perfectly appropriate for men to speak up on, if they do not want funds going to pay for abortion. And, I will leave aside any number of State-Funded programs that may be out there. I do not know about the funding in the 50 states, but, as long as the government funding is an issue, it gives men a particular interest (just as any legislation is the proper topic for comment by citizens in a democracy).
3) That is fine that you have a particular moral view. The question was: why it is any business of men's what we do with our bodies. All I am saying is that my moral viewpoint gives me a reason to speak.
3b) Red Herring! First of all, you are saying that people can not choose to help one group they feel is helpless if they do not help all of the helpless groups.
As for your examples, do you really think they are defenseless? The government has WIC and AFDC and Child Protection Agencies to protect children; there is the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Does not NOW advocate for victims of Domestic Violence? The National Center for Victims of Crime? The National Coalition against Domestic Violence? The many shelters around the country. Someone must have campaigned for Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Murdered gay men, lesbians and transgendered folks? The Human Rights "Campaign"? Pflag? Fflag?
That is fine if those are the victims you want to help, but don't get upset when people have different priorities.
-Jut
NOOOOO!!!!
1) Telling men who dont want children to keep it in his pants or "just wear a condom" is BS. Men should be able to decide whether or not they want parenal responsibility within 9 months of being informed of his impending or pending fatherhood. If he chooses not to be a father that means 1) no name on the birth certificate 2) no financial, societal, physical, emotional, mental responsibility to the child. Parenthood should be a CHOICE for everyone not just people with wombs.
I think the world would be a better place if no one was forcd into parenthood or parental responsibility and every born child was wanted.