Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Who are they fighting against?

The Wing nuts think abortion is some kind of deep philosophical divide in this country between upright, Christian fundamentalists, who believe in the revealed word of the crucified Sky God and effete, liberal secular relativists. It's a crock. Here's a quote from Business Week magazine.

"The Guttmacher Institute focuses on sexual and reproductive health research, policy analysis and public education. The study, based on an analysis of a nationally representative survey of women obtaining abortions in the United States, also found that in 2008: 58 percent of all abortion patients were in their 20s; 45 percent were never married and not living with a partner; 61 percent were already mothers; 42 percent were living below the federal poverty line; 36 percent were white; 59 percent had at least some college education; and 73 percent had some religious affiliation."

The women getting abortions aren't liberal relativists. They are young women, of modest means. They already have children. It seems to me that the decision to have a child or abort mostly comes down to economics. They can't afford another child. To have one would strain already fragile economic resources and make employment for these women more difficult. Most of them, even if they are married or in a stable domestic relationship do not have the option of being stay at home mothers. They already have at least one child. They know what the experience of having another child will be like. Sounds like an informed decision to me.

Liberal relativists are mostly too old to have children. Those that are not, take adequate birth control measures. I bet the abortion rates are much higher for the young adult girl children of Wing Nut Fundamentalist Christians than for those of secular humanist relativist couples. When the Wing Nut "Prayer Warriors" jump out of the bushes in front of abortion clinics, screaming murderer and shaking large color pictures of dead fetuses at the young women entering, who exactly is it that they are fighting against?

Poor, young women, often members of a racial or cultural minority, already hard up against it and looking at more of the same. Nice.

Is this the way they really want to expand and energize their political base? I think in the end, it will be a poor choice.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your distorted view of abortion protesters (who are not permitted by law to get as close as you claim - and are frequently assaulted by abortion workers) notwithstanding, we're fighting against the evil of infanticide referred to as abortion.

Aborting a baby because you (think you) can't afford it is an unthinkable, horrifying excuse. Why not give it up for adoption? Millions of couples get denied adoptions.

I have four children. Each time my wife was pregnant, we looked at our bank account (E-5/6 pay, one income only) gulped, and trusting in God to provide, we brought a new life into the world. I don't regret it.

And provide He did. We sacrificed, and didn't let selfishness rule our lives. We used hand-me-downs from nephews, and the last kid. We saved and paid cash for new "toys" (TVs, sound, computers, etc.). We bought the best cars for our money within our budget. But we always had decent clothes on our backs, good food on the table, an actual house to live in (except for my last tour when we lived in housing), and two cars in the driveway.

Yeah, maybe we didn't go to Disney every year, and visited relatives in lieu of vacations. But we never went without what was truly needed, and our money went way farther than it should have by all accounts.

Oh yeah. We took in other peoples kids when their parents couldn't take care of them.

Don't use the shibboleth of "financial burden" to justify murder. If you truly can't afford a child, give it up for adoption.

reddog said...

I guess my point is, snarky as it may be, that liberals really don't have very many abortions, even compared to YOU people.

We just believe that everyone gets a choice, one that YOU people seem to take advantage of as much or more than anybody else.

I understand how you believe and I respect that but why should you or anyone get to dictate how anybody else lives? As an American, the very thought of that should be chilling and you're the ones going around always spouting that Land of the Free stuff and calling everyone else Commies. Shame on you.

Live your life, let others live theirs.