Life Happens & that’s why I’m Pro-Choice (Updated 2x)

A brand new term has begun here at Beach University, with all the attendant excitement and lofty goals for productivity. I, however, barely got anything done last week (week 1 of the quarter) because one of my oldest, dearest friends has been in the hospital – the ICU – for about two weeks. She’s been intubated for at least part of the time. She had complications after a c-section: infection, abscess, and distended belly. The baby’s four weeks old and she pretty much hasn’t had any normal time with her baby in her home. Her husband isn’t sure when she’ll be out if the ICU, let alone when she might get out of the hospital. It is BAD. I’ve cried. I’ve prayed. I’ve cursed the Gods for doing this to her. I’ve begged them to make her well. I’ve looked at pictures of her beautiful son over and over and over again. I’m stuck in Beachville waiting for a time when her husband says I can come see her.

My dear friend has a beautiful, healthy baby boy and she could still die because she gave birth to him.

So life happens.

She had great plans to have a natural home birth, but the baby was just too big and her labor was just too long, so she had a c-section – and thank the Gods western medicine gave her that option because she or the baby or both might have died otherwise. She had a pulmonary embolism while still in the hospital after the c-section and now she’s spent about two weeks in the ICU, close to death, as a result of complications from the c-section.

Now, my friend and her husband not only WANTED this child, they PLANNED this child. They decided they wanted to have a baby and she got pregnant shortly after they decided it was time to start trying. Many women, however, did not intend to get pregnant or can not continue the pregnancy for any number of reasons.

Pregnancy, labor, and child birth are literally life-threatening to women and I think we in the western world forget that. Women, even in America, regularly die from pregnancy and childbirth complications. Forcing a woman to continue a pregnancy, carry a child to term and deliver the baby is literally putting her life at risk and no one should ever be required to put her life in jeopardy against her will. Period.

I don’t give a shit what your religion says about it or what you believe. In America we do not have a national religion and our Constitution expressly forbids requiring religious allegiance to a particular religion. I give a shit about women who can, do and will die from pregnancy & childbirth complications and I care about the women who have, can and will die from unregulated abortions by untrained practitioners if abortion is made illegal in the United States.

The issue of woman continuing or terminating a pregnancy is NONE OF YOUR DAMN BUSINESS. Period. It is a decision she has to make on her own, with the advice of a doctor and her chosen confidants.

Pregnancy is potentially lethal to women. Women should not be forced to put their lives at risk. Abortion must remain legal and accessible. Period.

I’m pro-family. I’m pro-child. I’m pro-choice.

UPDATE:

C is out of the ICU, has almost all her tubes & IVs out, can move around, talk and HOLD HER BABY!!! Today I called while she was holding a sleeping baby, so I “only” talked to her hubby, but I could hear her…. Of course, I’m not about to believe that she’s really ok until I can see her and poke her (call me Doubting Thomas, whatever). So now I’m waiting for the call from them telling me it’s time for the week-long help with the new baby visit that I promised them before the baby was born.

In conclusion: Thank the gods for modern medicine.

UPDATE THE SECOND:

C was back into the hospital with more complications. She wasn’t there very long, but for the love of all that is good an holy, hasn’t she had enough? She is back out of the hospital again, but as I noted above (and it came true) I’m not going to think that she’s actually better until it’s been 2 months and I’ve seen her and poked her.

36th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade!

That means it’s Blog for Choice Day across the Internets.

Why do we need to preserve a woman’s right to a safe, legal abortion?

- Because pregnancy and childbirth are literally potentially life threatening to the mother and a woman should have a choice about risking her own life.

- Because there are not enough social and economic support services to support women and children through pregnancy, childbirth and raising kids. Women are over-represented in the lower economic brackets.

- In America we separate Church and State. That means your religious objections to abortion can not legally be applied by the state.

- Whether you are pro-choice or anti-choice, the Pro-Choice movement wants you to be able to make educated and informed decisions about birth control, pregnancy, childbirth, keeping the baby, adoption and abortion.

- Because it’s MY BODY and it’s MY CHOICE. Women have the right to make their own decisions about their own bodies. Period. That applies to girls under 18 who get pregnant, too. Parental consent laws are a BAD BAD idea.

Dear Sarah Palin, John McCain & All Voters

A vagina does not make you a feminist. Selecting a woman as your running mate doesn’t make you a feminist.

You can’t fool me, John McCain. I was a Hillary Clinton supporter and this little shenanigan isn’t going to cut it. I DON’T VOTE FOR ANTI-CHOICE POLITICIANS. Barack Obama is the best candidate on women’s issues, family issues, education, the war, the economy and John McCain doesn’t deserve my vote. He doesn’t deserve your vote, dear voters. I was a Hillary Clinton supporter and I cried when she suspended her campaign. But this isn’t about one woman. It’s about all women.

No self-respecting supporter of Hillary Clinton can justify voting for the McCain-Palin ticket. If you supported Hillary Clinton because of her experience, her values, and her record on the issues, you simply CAN NOT vote for John McCain. He is the opposite of everything Hillary Clinton stands for. It would be sheer lunacy. It would be moronic. It’s not about one woman. It’s about all women.

AND THIS from Palin’s introductory speech as VP candidate: “It was rightly noted in Denver this week that Hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America. But it turns out the women of America aren’t finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all.”

You can’t fool me, Sarah Palin. You are no Hillary Clinton. You are an anti-choice, anti-gay, conservative pretty face for the “old boys club” you spoke so disparagingly about. You have no experience in international policy experience. You’ve been in office as governor for what? Two years? Before that you were mayor of a town with like 9,000 people and on the local PTA. YOU ARE NOT QUALIFIED TO BE NEXT IN LINE TO THE PRESIDENCY. You lack Hillary’s experience and you hold virtually opposing views to Hillary. You and John McCain represent a giant glass blower, re-sealing all of Hillary’s 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling. The McCain-Palin ticket is a giant step backwards for women. We don’t need just ONE women in ONE office. We need equal rights, equal pay, control of own reproductive systems, access to birth control, access to safe & legal abortion, access to financial and medical support for us, our families, our children.

A vagina doesn’t make you any less conservative. Selecting a woman as your running mate doesn’t make you any less of a conservative. Selecting a woman as your running mate doesn’t make you good for women. I don’t need you, Sarah Palin. I’d rather have two men (OBAMA – BIDEN) in the white house and a better reality for all American women than see one woman take office and screw the rest of us out of our rights. It’s not about one woman’s victory, it’s about all of us.

“A woman voting for John McCain would be like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders.”
-Cecile Richards, President, Planned Parenthood Action Fund