I Read This With My Beautiful, Perfect, Healthy Baby in the Next Room
Down Syndrome: An Abortion Controversy
The statistics in this stunned me. I was literally floored. When I was pregnant with Lukas, I was urged to take the blood test to check for DS, but I refused. I didn’t want to know. I just wanted my baby to be born and that was all. Sure, I prayed that he would be healthy, but I would have loved him regardless. On the flip side, I can also understand a woman fearing that she would be unable to love a child with DS so she aborts the pregnancy to spare herself. I just couldn’t do it. But that’s my opinion on abortion, period. I am FIRMLY pro-choice, but I don’t think that I would be able to do it myself unless the circumstances were very extreme (rape, AIDS, etc.).
I couldn’t help but think of the German Nazis while reading this. They, too did a cleansing. Mentally ill people were killed, sure after being tortured and inhumanely studied, but killed nonetheless. Himmler wanted the Arian race to rule and all other "lower forms of human life" were to be extinguished. Is that what people are doing now? Cleansing the gene pool by refusing to have a child with a genetic disorder? Again, I understand their point of view, I just couldn’t do it myself.
Also, as a pro-choice supporter, I don’t think enough people understand the gravity of an abortion. I don’t know how I feel about making a pregnant woman wanting an abortion look at an ultrasound of the baby about to be aborted, but I do feel that these women need to understand the true weight of what they are doing. It’s not just like getting rid of an infection. It’s not a "no thanks" kind of thing. We were all in the same position as that fetus once. Maybe we were all considered a burden in our mother’s wombs. I’ve never had the courage to ask my mom if she ever considered an abortion with me…..I think partly because I don’t think I’d believe her. I mean, come on. She was a teenager, and probably scared to death. I would have considered it. So as a person who was THEORETICALLY almost an aborted fetus, I just wish some people would really take to heart that action. If, after long thought they still believe it is the best choice, then go for it. I truly believe in a woman’s right to choose. I just want the choice to not be made lightly. It is, after all, a human life.
I also don’t think politics have any place in such a personal matter. This is what bugs me about the Republican party. Homosexuality is not a battle ground. It’s none of their business! Abortion…a woman’s right to choose what she does with her own body, is also none of their fucking business.
Speaking of Politics, is it me, or does anyone else get the feeling that both McCain and Obama are WAITING to see what becomes of this whole bailout thing to speak up? Neither one has said which way they would vote. I really think they want to see if it’s a big fuckup or a success. If it’s a good thing, they’ll both praise Bernanke and Paulson, but if it fails, McCain will preach that he could have had a better idea and Obama will use it as an opportunity to bash the Bush administration some more. Sheesh.
UPDATE: Ok, McCain just put his campaign on hold because he says he is needed in Washington. Smart. I wonder if it’s sincere or calculated.
Aschlie said,
September 26, 2008 @ 5:57 pm
I too think that abortion is no ones business but the mother AND father. I don’t exactly know where I would stand if the father wanted to keep the baby and the mother doesn’t…after all it is the woman who goes through birthing, BUT I think if the father wanted to keep the child and love the child, he shouldn’t just be told to shut up and not get a say. I think politics should have absolutely nothing to do with it. I also think that if you yourself are pro life OR pro choice, you can say that, but don’t enforce your idea and dictate how others feel. I also agree that it can’t be a light decision. You can’t just be allowed to be knockedup every week and decide you don’t want to keep the baby. I think it would be a VERY defficult decision, and I am glad that I will probably never have to deal with it. However, there was a time, that if I would have become pregnant, I would have thought about abortion…so that is why I am pro choice. Again, I was very lucky I never had to deal with that because I don’t know what I would have done. Now, if I become pregnant, it would have to be planned, lol…so I would keep a baby at all cost at this point in my life.
Now to the economy: I love you Somer for letting me have a say over how I feel about everything
I think McCain did what McCain has done for 30 years. Perhaps it was a “stunt.” But I really think McCain would have done the same thing regardless of being a Presidental candidate or not. If he would have been in the middle of anything except maybe a family crisis, he would have been in DC doing just what he did. The left wing crazies are making it out like he didn’t do anything, BUT, I think everyone would agree that when he goes back to his house, he’s calling every Republican in the House and the Senate and telling them what he thinks and how to get about it. NOW…I am sure one of the things I would say if I were him is, “If you want a Republican President, you’d better do this NOW…EVERYTHING depends on this!” Political, yes! But if it gets the bill passed, good for McCain. On the other hand, I watched Obama say, “Hey, if they need me, they can call me.” WTF kind of answer is THAT? This is a crisis for MANY MANY people. NOT just the rich people…people with 401Ks depend on this too! I understand that the President should be able to do many things all at the same time, but in my opinion, I would rather have a President that says, “Fuckk everything else right now. It can wait. THIS is important and I want it fixed NOW!”
Now…the debates. Do I think it hurt McCain to come back to the debate? It depends. If the bill gets passed this weekend, no. If it gets caught in limbo…maybe. I think this debate should focus on the economy, and I think there will be questions. But I think it will be mostly about foreign policy, and I think McCain will obliterate Obama. The only thing that Obama has is he’s a better talker. He could be talking about death and he’d make it sound like a fairy tale. However, Obama is going to have to think on his feet in a debate, and I really don’t think he can do that very well. He will stagger on his words very bad. I think McCain, due to the fact that he is a pro at town hall meetings, will be very good at speaking without a teleprompter. The debate starts in 4 minutes, so I guess we will know then.
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Aschlie said,
September 26, 2008 @ 6:05 pm
Also, I think this bail out thing isn’t as dreadful as the media is making it. For instance saying it could be the next Great Depression if not finalized by Monday…I think it’s a little extreme to say the least. The market went up yesterday and today…so I think we’ll be ok for another week. I HOPE it gets done by midnight tonight, but I really don’t think it’s as BAD as they say. It seems to me like the administration wants the pushed NOW. It makes me kind of scared what that means. Do they have something to hide? Are people going to be held responsible for this mess up? I think they should be. I think it is a little of everyones fault. It all started 10 or 15 years ago, and I think a lot of people HAD to know it was coming. But I think people shut their mouths and didn’t let us little people know about it because they were making huge amounts of money. If 700 BILLION is needed, I want to know where my money is going. I don’t think we should give it over and then be in the dark again. I want to know where every single last penny goes. I think Obama and McCain have very similar views on this, so I really don’t understand what the hold up is all about.
I also think that people who knowingly bought a house they knew they couldn’t afford should have to pay for it, though. I don’t go out and buy ANYTHING without knowing I will be able to afford it. Those who bought a house for 500,00 and could only afford 100,000 should be punished. But I think it is unethical for the banks to push loans knowing the people couldn’t pay for it…so there is equal blame to everyone.
Oops…the debate is on…gotta to…
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merrywifeofcanon said,
September 26, 2008 @ 8:34 pm
Jesus, Aschlie! LOL, at least I’ve been a vent for you to get your political rants on, huh? Lukas is sick so I missed the debate. I’ll catch it on YouTube this weekend maybe. But I gotta say, unless this debate is super super dramatic, I’m voting for Obama. It’s mostly because of the Veeps. Sarah Palin scares the crap out of me. Is she nervous when she is interviewed or is she really just that bad at answering questions? I’m not coming out of far left here. I gave her a chance, I ignored all the die hard Dems who want the Republican party to go down in ashes and I listened with an open mind. She isn’t fit to be Vice President of the United States. We’ve had a weak administration for too long. Obama is NOT my first choice and I’m not at all happy that he’s all I’ve got left, but it’s where my gut is pulling me. I guess we’ll see, though. I’ll write again after I’ve seen the debate.
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