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12.10.09 - 11:56 AM
No More Back Alleys
The city of Berkeley made a pointed statement on abortion Wednesday by sending coat hangers - a symbol of illegal abortions - to 20 Democrats in the U.S. House who voted to restrict federal funding for abortions in the health care bill. The 20 Representatives are here
"The coat hanger represents the time when women had to have abortions in back alleys," said councilmember Susan Wengraf. "I don't want my granddaughter to go through what my grandmothers had to."
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9 Comments so far
Show AllI don't want my granddaughter to go through what my grandmothers had to."
ummm...while I appreciate their position, and do support a womans right to chose what to do with her own body, and whatever cluster of cells it contains....
If your Grandmothers had a back alley abortion, then you would not have been born, and would not be here to have a daughter, who would subsequently need a back alley abortion.
mujeriego December 10th, 2009 3:20 pm -- I knew someone would say this. First, the idea that "you would not have been born" is based on the belief that the fetus has some kind of identity, call it a soul if you want, from the moment of conception. That's not provable by science; it's a religious belief. I can equally believe, as I do, that any identity of the fetus must await the development of a brain that can remember.
Therefore, it's a religious belief that someone saved "your" life by not having the fetus that eventually developed into "you" killed at an early stage. I'm entitled to reject that religious belief. Therefore, that belief should not be the motivating factor of any law.
I suspect my mother may have had several abortions, thus depriving me of brothers and sisters-and possibly a life of poverty. She was busy, and kind of a courtesan you might say, but an admirable woman in other respects.I'm glad to have been born, but if I hadn't, it wouldn't have been a problem, would it.Second guessing history. personal or in general is a waste of time.I mean, what if Hitler had nuked New York?
You may have heard of multiple abortions.Several women I know have had more than one, and have also had kids, duh. I was an aider and abettor in a few, and the old days suck.Really suck.
If the prolife community truly wants to reduce the number of abortions to the barest minimum possible, birth control research is the key. Abortions will never be eliminated. Not even by outright ban will eliminate abortion as the coat hanger demonstrates beautifully. Research into birth control that is effective, convenient, and accessible to all women is the key to preserving the maximum number of quality lives.
Crafty
tour right crafty except for one small detail. while they don't
want women to have abortions they also do not want anyone to have birth control
either. then when the baby is born they don't want any social programs to
help the baby as well. there is no continuity to their argument and it
has holes large enough to drive a truck through!
The reality is that the law against abortion was never and can never be enforced. I am old enough (73) to remember when abortion was supposed to be illegal. I have never seen a woman arrested for having an abortion.
The terrible truth is that safe abortions were always available for those who could pay for them. Those who couldn't pay either had children they didn't want or couldn't afford to support or else had a dangerous abortion.
I grew up in a poor neighborhood. Although I don't know of anyone there who had an abortion, I do know many depressing stories of people who either entered into unhappy marriages or just had a child. Later, when I finally made it to the middle class, I was shocked by the number of people there who talked about having an abortion in terms of cost and safety. None of them ever mentioned the legality of it.
How would a law against abortion ever be enforced? Will every miscarriage be investigated? If women of child-bearing age who go out of the country first have to have a pregnancy test?
Even 'safe' abortions performed in doctor's offices were not always that safe.Simply paying money to a doctor did not gaurantee that the aftermath might not be truly scary.I remember one young woman who was picked up in a car and driven blindfolded to the doctor's office, and, returned, blindfolded again, to the same pick up point after the deed was done.It was done by a recommended doctor, known to certain girls at her college. She had to check into a hospital later that evening.The whole experience was terrifying.
Berkeley, the all American city has sent a message.
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