Thousands of reproductive rights advocates protest of Ireland’s abortion ban, after Savita Halappanavar died when a hospital refused to terminate her pregnancy.
images via Broadsheet
And nobody else sees the irony of people protesting the death of a woman, who, had she lived, intended to kill her child?
Somehow, it’s more wrong for this woman to die than it is for over a million babies to die every year in the United States alone?
I refuse to apologize for the fact that I believe that every life is precious, and no mere human should be able to decide who is or isn’t valuable enough to live.
Hey, just a moment to say:
- Requiring photo ID is not voter suppression. Anyone can get one. And I don’t see anyone kicking a fuss about having to use photo ID to write a check, buy tobacco, get into an R-rated movie, sign up for your utility bills (yeah, as an aside, how is it that you have to have a photo ID to get a utility bill, but your utility bill can be a form of ID when you vote, but the people who want to not have photo ID at the polls are the ones using their utility bills as ID instead… how did they get these utility bills to begin with…???), or anything else. I am SO DONE with people acting like their rights are being infringed because they are expected to have a FREE state-issued photo ID to vote.
- Not having early voting is NOT voter suppression. We managed to get along just fine with one voting day for DECADES. My dad has voted in every election that I can remember. He works an hour away from our house, but somehow has managed to make it to the polls at some point on Voting Day EVERY YEAR (often twice a year, if he votes in the spring elections). I do not freaking buy your story that you are being oppressed because we expect you to show up at your polling location at some point during a TWELVE HOUR PERIOD. If you are going to be out of town, plan ahead, and vote absentee. It’s that simple. It’s worked that way forever. The new trend of early voting turns election day into a farce, as merely your last chance to vote instead of your TIME TO VOTE.
- A billboard that states “Voter Fraud is a Felony” is NOT voter suppression. It’s a statement of fact. If it makes you uncomfortable, maybe you have a guilty conscience. There is nothing about those five words that in any way should keep away honest voters. You wouldn’t see anyone saying that a billboard that says “Shoplifting is a Crime Punishable by Imprisonment and Fines” was preventing people from going to the store, and I’m tired of people acting like clearly stating that voter fraud is a felony is somehow preventing innocent people from going to the polls.
[x]
men aren’t told to carry around weapons
men aren’t told to go to self defense classes
men aren’t told to only go out in groups
men aren’t told not to go out at a certain hour of the night
men aren’t told that they shouldn’t have a few drinks
men aren’t told that they shouldn’t wear certain articles of clothing
do you see where i’m going with this
Here are a few facts of life:
1. The majority of men are physically stronger than the majority of women. This is through no fault or effort of their own; it is simply the Way Things Are.
2. Of those men who are stronger than women, there are a few horrible men who, instead of using their strength to protect the weak, use it to take advantage of those weaker than them.
3. Because of these two facts, most women are urged to take extra precautions for their safety. Not because they are stupid or in some way inferior to all men, but because they are probably physically weaker than most men, and may come across a stronger man who is also a bad man.
And I guess I don’t really understand why this is insulting. Yes, in a perfect world, no woman would ever have to fear any man. But this isn’t a perfect world, so use some common sense.
To me, it’s just as simple as normal preparation for the day. If it’s cold, I grab a coat. If it’s hot, I wear a t-shirt. If I’m going to be gone all day, I take a snack. And if I’m going to have to walk out to my car in a dark, deserted parking lot, I’m going to take some Mace and a friend.
Do you really get upset whenever someone gives you some common-sense advice? No. So get over this whole concept that women have to take some extra safety precautions: Women DO have to take extra safety precautions, and that’s just the way it is.
Obviously, I’m not saying that any man is justified in his attacking a woman or whatever, but people don’t sit around complaining about how they have to lock their car doors so someone doesn’t steal their stereo: you just accept that while the vast majority of people going past your car would never steal your stereo, you have to plan for the worst-case scenario.
In the same way, the vast majority of men would never take advantage of a woman, but you have to plan for the worst-case scenario.
I’m sick and tired of women griping about this, and really wish that they would just grow up, shut up, and use some common sense. IT IS NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL.
(Source: thepoopqueen)
It doesn’t mean I’m religious.
Because I’m not.
It doesn’t mean I hate LGBT community.
Because I am a supporter.
It doesn’t mean I force women to give birth.
Because I never will.
Take what you want from my blog, but never assume I’m just your stereotypical pro-lifer. It is VERY possible to ask questions, state your opinions in a civil manner on this blog. I am respectful and I enjoy answering all questions received!
Thanks for following! :)
-speakfortheweakLet me tell you some things.
I used to investigate child abuse and neglect. I can tell you how to stop the vast majority of abortion in the world.
First, make knowledge and access to contraception widely available. Start teaching kids before they hit puberty. Teach them about domestic violence and coercion, and teach them not to coerce and rape. Create a strong, loving community where women and girls feel safe and supported in times of need. Because guess what? They aren’t. You know what happens to babies born under such circumstances? They get hurt, unnecessarily. They get sick, unnecessarily. They get removed from parents who love them but who are unprepared for the burden of a child. Resources? Honey, we try. There aren’t enough resources anywhere. There are waiting lists, and promises, and maybes. If the government itself can’t hook people up, what makes you think an impoverished single mom can handle it?
Abolish poverty. Do you have any idea how much childcare costs? Daycare can cost as much or more than monthly rent. They may be inadequately staffed. Getting a private nanny is a nice idea, but they don’t come cheap either. Relatives? Do they own a car? Does the bus run at the right times? Do they have jobs of their own they need to work just to keep the lights on? Are they going to stick around until you get off you convenience store shift at 4 AM? Do they have criminal histories that will make them unsuitable as caregivers when CPS pokes around? You gonna pay for that? Who’s going to pay for that?
End rape. I know your type errs on the side of blaming the woman, but I’ve seen little girls who’ve barely gotten their periods pregnant because somebody thought raping preteens was an awesome idea. You want to put a child through that? Or someone with a mental or physical inability for whom pregnancy would be frightening, painful or even life-threatening? I’ve seen nonverbal kids who had their feet sliced up by caregivers for no fucking reason at all, you think sexual abuse doesn’t happen either?
You say there’s lots of couples who want to adopt. Kiddo, what they want to adopt are healthy white babies, preferably untainted by the wombs and genetics of women with alcohol or drug dependencies. I’ve seen the kids they don’t want, who almost no one wants. You people focus only on the happy pink babies, the gigglers, the ones who grow and grow with no trouble. Those are not the kids who linger in foster care. Those are certainly not the older kids and teenagers who age out of foster care and then are thrown out in the streets, usually with an array of medical and mental health issues. Are they too old to count?
And yeah, I’ve seen the babies, little hand-sized things barely clinging to life. There’s no glory, no wonder there. There is no wonder in a pregnant woman with five dollars to her name, so deep in depression you wonder if she’ll be alive in a week. Therapy costs money. Medicine costs money. Food, clothes, electricity cost money. Government assistance is a pittance; poverty drives women and girls into situations where they are forced to rely on people who abuse them to survive. (I’ve been up in more hospitals than I can count.)
In each and every dark pit of desperation, I have never seen a pro-lifer. I ain’t never seen them babysitting, scrubbing floors, bringing over goods, handing mom $50 bucks a month or driving her to the pediatrician. I ain’t never seen them sitting up for hours with an autistic child who screams and rages so his mother can get some sleep while she rests up from working 14-hour days. I don’t see them fixing leaks in rundown houses or playing with a kid while the police prepare to interview her about her sexual abuse. They’re not paying for the funerals of babies and children who died after birth, when they truly do become independent organisms. And the crazy thing is they think they’ve already done their job, because the child was born!
Aphids give birth, girl. It’s no miracle. You want to speak for the weak? Get off your high horse and get your hands dirty helping the poor, the isolated, the ill and mentally ill women and mothers and their children who already breathe the dirty air. You are doing nothing, absolutely nothing, for children. You don’t have a flea’s comprehension of injustice. You are not doing shit for life until you get in there and fight that darkness. Until you understand that abortion is salvation in a world like ours. Does that sound too hard? Do you really think suffering post-birth is more permissible, less worthy of outrage?
“Pro-life” is simply a philosophy in which the only life worth saving is the one that can be saved by punishing a woman.
FLAWLESS COMMENTARY ABOVE. COMPLETELY AGREED. I’d love to see speakfortheweak reply to this, though we all know she won’t.
Can’t not reblog this. -Joe
I hate this perspective. This perspective says: “Until you fix every single social problem in the world, it’s okay to murder the inconvenient.” This perspective says: “Until you create a world in which a child will be raised in a perfect setting, that child would be better dead.” This perspective says, “If you’re pro-life, it means that you hate women, especially poor women, and never do a thing to help them,” WHICH IS A LIE. This perspective says, “If I’m pro-choice, it’s because I love women and devote my entire life to making sure the lives of the poor and underprivileged are as close to perfect as I can personally make them,” … also a lie.
I am so tired of pro-choice people acting as though being pro-choice automatically makes them lovers of humanity, because they’re willing to allow—and even encourage—a woman to murder her own child in order to make that mother’s life “easier.” I am also INCREDIBLY SICK AND TIRED of being accused of hating women (even though I am one) because I am pro-life. I am tired of people telling me that I am close-minded and cold-hearted, and then being told by those same “open-minded” people that there is no way that I, a simple social conservative, could ever understand “real life,” in which, apparently, there are only abortions because I’m not willing to stand on the street corner handing birth control and condoms to ten-year-olds.
Literally, I am shaking with anger as I type this. Anger at a world that can find any excuse—ANY—to justify killing an innocent. Must less using the excuse that it’s okay, because that child is better off dead anyway. Who are you to make that kind of decision? Who are you to tell me that I’m on MY “high horse,” while you sit on yours, deciding who is or isn’t worthy of life, as though you are some kind of god?
Do you think that all I care about is a child in the womb? That once that child is born, I no longer care what happens to him or her? Thank you for being so open-minded and judging me without bothering to research your position. (While studies vary, the vast majority agree that religious people are far more likely to give money and time to charity than their secular counterparts.)
Here is the point: Yes, there is much wrong with the world. Many people suffer, and suffer deeply and unjustly. But one does not rectify wrongs by committing more wrongs; killing those who are completely and totally innocent of any wrong-doing whatsoever is no way to improve life or encourage justice. That mindset says that those whom society deems weak and worthless should die: a poor, struggling, single mother should look long and hard at those who encourage her to kill her baby, for it is but a short step to deeming her as the next weak link. (Scoff if you will, but abortions are already being performed on those who are not going to be born physically or mentally “normal,” and also on babies that are not the sex the parents desired. Are you really going to sit there and tell me that we are very far away from killing babies after birth who don’t fit our criteria? Can you explain to me how aborting babies that don’t fit our desires is somehow morally more acceptable than killing the mentally retarded in Nazi Germany?)
Abortion is not the answer to poverty; it isn’t even AN answer to poverty. Using it as one says that the easiest way to end poverty is by killing the poor.
Let me tell you some things.
I used to investigate child abuse and neglect. I can tell you how to stop the vast majority of abortion in the world.
First, make knowledge and access to contraception widely available. Start teaching kids before they hit puberty. Teach them about domestic violence and coercion, and teach them not to coerce and rape. Create a strong, loving community where women and girls feel safe and supported in times of need. Because guess what? They aren’t. You know what happens to babies born under such circumstances? They get hurt, unnecessarily. They get sick, unnecessarily. They get removed from parents who love them but who are unprepared for the burden of a child. Resources? Honey, we try. There aren’t enough resources anywhere. There are waiting lists, and promises, and maybes. If the government itself can’t hook people up, what makes you think an impoverished single mom can handle it?
Abolish poverty. Do you have any idea how much childcare costs? Daycare can cost as much or more than monthly rent. They may be inadequately staffed. Getting a private nanny is a nice idea, but they don’t come cheap either. Relatives? Do they own a car? Does the bus run at the right times? Do they have jobs of their own they need to work just to keep the lights on? Are they going to stick around until you get off you convenience store shift at 4 AM? Do they have criminal histories that will make them unsuitable as caregivers when CPS pokes around? You gonna pay for that? Who’s going to pay for that?
End rape. I know your type errs on the side of blaming the woman, but I’ve seen little girls who’ve barely gotten their periods pregnant because somebody thought raping preteens was an awesome idea. You want to put a child through that? Or someone with a mental or physical inability for whom pregnancy would be frightening, painful or even life-threatening? I’ve seen nonverbal kids who had their feet sliced up by caregivers for no fucking reason at all, you think sexual abuse doesn’t happen either?
You say there’s lots of couples who want to adopt. Kiddo, what they want to adopt are healthy white babies, preferably untainted by the wombs and genetics of women with alcohol or drug dependencies. I’ve seen the kids they don’t want, who almost no one wants. You people focus only on the happy pink babies, the gigglers, the ones who grow and grow with no trouble. Those are not the kids who linger in foster care. Those are certainly not the older kids and teenagers who age out of foster care and then are thrown out in the streets, usually with an array of medical and mental health issues. Are they too old to count?
And yeah, I’ve seen the babies, little hand-sized things barely clinging to life. There’s no glory, no wonder there. There is no wonder in a pregnant woman with five dollars to her name, so deep in depression you wonder if she’ll be alive in a week. Therapy costs money. Medicine costs money. Food, clothes, electricity cost money. Government assistance is a pittance; poverty drives women and girls into situations where they are forced to rely on people who abuse them to survive. (I’ve been up in more hospitals than I can count.)
In each and every dark pit of desperation, I have never seen a pro-lifer. I ain’t never seen them babysitting, scrubbing floors, bringing over goods, handing mom $50 bucks a month or driving her to the pediatrician. I ain’t never seen them sitting up for hours with an autistic child who screams and rages so his mother can get some sleep while she rests up from working 14-hour days. I don’t see them fixing leaks in rundown houses or playing with a kid while the police prepare to interview her about her sexual abuse. They’re not paying for the funerals of babies and children who died after birth, when they truly do become independent organisms. And the crazy thing is they think they’ve already done their job, because the child was born!
Aphids give birth, girl. It’s no miracle. You want to speak for the weak? Get off your high horse and get your hands dirty helping the poor, the isolated, the ill and mentally ill women and mothers and their children who already breathe the dirty air. You are doing nothing, absolutely nothing, for children. You don’t have a flea’s comprehension of injustice. You are not doing shit for life until you get in there and fight that darkness. Until you understand that abortion is salvation in a world like ours. Does that sound too hard? Do you really think suffering post-birth is more permissible, less worthy of outrage?
“Pro-life” is simply a philosophy in which the only life worth saving is the one that can be saved by punishing a woman.
First off, there are actual physical and physiological differences in the ways men and women are aroused. For instance, check out this article for a brief overview on how men are sexually aroused (it links to the contrasting article for women from there).
But, in brief, it is scientifically proven that men are aroused visually (primarily). And while I’m not saying that that is in any way an excuse for a man to rape a woman, or to objectify her in any way, I *am* saying that, historically, that is the reason that modesty is more important for women than for men.
I’m really tired of women acting all shocked and indignant about this. All of a sudden, all the women are freaking out about how restrictive their lives are and how they don’t understand why they get “objectified” when they walk around with their boobs hanging out of their shirts. I mean, seriously. If you aren’t dressing immodestly to draw sexual attention to yourself, why ARE you? And you can say all day that it’s just “the principle of the matter,” but the truth is that women dress like sluts because they like the attention. They don’t want to be raped or molested, but they like the way guys look at them when they’re dressed that way.
Instead of asking why women can’t go around half-naked, maybe we should be asking why they want to. And instead of pushing the boundaries of immodesty, maybe we should be responsible adults and simply dress decently. I’m not saying that everyone has to wear shapeless sacks, but I am saying that it is very possible to dress in a way that is modest, yet flattering and feminine.
This isn’t a free ticket for men, either. While they may not be able to help the physical feelings of arousal that come from seeing half-naked women, they are able to control their response to those feelings.
But to me, in a world where people are actually looking to help one another out, women would dress modestly for the sake of the men in their lives. It’s like setting a glass of ice cold water in front of a thirsty man and then telling him that it’s just for looking, not for touching or drinking. If you aren’t offering a drink, why put the glass of water there in the first place?
Oh, look at this clever poster mocking people who think that sexual abstinence is a good way to prevent pregnancy.
Except, ironically, flotation devices serve to save and protect life, while abortion destroys it.
I also like the way that pro-abortion people manage to constantly classify abortion as “birth control,” and thus place it in the same moral category as all forms of birth control besides abstinence: in my book, taking the Pill or using a condom is NOT the same as killing a baby.
As always, a seemingly clever analogy really just masks the true question: if a baby is living and growing inside of your womb, do you have the right to kill it?
Abortion is about choice. But while choosing to not use a flotation device could only possibly lead to death, abortion does so by definition.
(Source: defranco)
Am I the only person who realizes that this is completely fictional? Just ridiculous hyperbole someone has made up? The amount of notes, and the comments below, amaze me. Do you really, truly believe that this is the secret agenda of people who are pro-life?
No sane person is interested in locking women up for nine months so that they can be forced, at their own expense, to bear children who will then be turned over to their rapist fathers. Seriously?
What sane people believe is that two wrongs do not make a right; killing an innocent baby does not cancel out the fact that it was conceived by rape, and no baby should have to die because a man was horrible enough to rape a woman.
People like myself are not “pro-rape” or “anit-woman.” We simply believe that murdering a baby should not be a problem-solving option. It has nothing to do with “devaluing” women; it has everything to do with finding value in every life, because, as Dr. Seuss so wisely taught us: A person’s a person, no matter how small.
Mitt Romeny’s plan for women and your daughters….
holy shit this is terrifying
hell no
I still don’t understand why Mitt Romney has a lot of supporters
http://www.gallup.com/poll/154559/US-Presidential-Election-Center.aspx
i am being legitimate when i tell you all that if romney wins i will flee the country
I’m legitimately terrified that this is such a close race. If you’re an American of voting age and not opposing Romney this election, you’re damning our country.
I legitimately will leave this country if he is elected. This is so not okay.
I have been raped, and that rape resulted in a pregnancy scare, and reading this just literally made me have a panic attack thinking of if I had been pregnant, and not only having to see my ex who raped me again, but the thought of him having paternal rights over my child in any way.
I actually feel sick right now.
This makes me want to puke. I am literally nauseated after reading this.
that is BEYOND fucked up.
Dear god, please vote
(Source: pirateking001)
It annoys me a bit when people choose to complain about things that fit what they want to complain about. And I realize that that sentence isn’t really very coherent, so I’ll try to illustrate:
Whenever there is a white criminal who perpetrates some dreadful crime (e.g., the Aurora shooting) but doesn’t get shot on sight, everyone goes on these rants about how racist everyone was because if that guy was black then he would have been shot right there with no question asked, etc. etc. etc.
But today I saw a news clip when I was on delivery, and I wasn’t paying very close attention at first, so I don’t know where this took place, but some dude was being served an eviction notice and he didn’t like it so he shot the guy serving the notice and a couple of other people who happened to be around. And the police (allegedly) shot and killed him. AND HE WAS WHITE. But nobody cares about him; I don’t see any ranting tumblr posts with thousands of notes about him—he doesn’t fit the stereotype that everyone wants to complain about.
Whatevs. It just annoys me that if this guy had been black everyone would have been all like, “Oh, he was only shot because he was black!” completely ignoring the fact that he was actually shot because HE WAS KILLING PEOPLE, but since the guy was white, everyone is like, “Well, yeah, they should have killed him because he was killing people.” And yet I’m the racist one…
I just realized that Facebook emphasizes everything about our culture that I hate.
It is self-centered. It is shallow. It separates us from people rather than bringing us together. It causes rifts by allowing people to instantaneously share every thought in their minds.
Most importantly, it disrupts the natural ebb and flow of relationships. Friendships aren’t meant to last forever. (Well, a select few of them are, but on the whole…) The people with whom you went to high school, were in 4-H, went to a camp, took a college class—those people were meant to, on the whole, be transient relationships. They were important for their season, but then should die away naturally and quietly. It is not humanly possible to sustain all the friendships one has ever had.
Yet this is exactly what Facebook tries to make us do. The girl who sat next to you in English, the guy with whom you worked on a communications project, the mom of the dude you dated for a month when you were a sophomore in high school—instead of passing quietly out of your life, they’re still there, checking your status updates, liking your pictures, commenting whenever you express an opinion.
And because we spread ourselves so thin, and devote so much time to keeping up appearances and staying in touch with all 679 of our Facebook friends, we have lost the meaning of true friendship. Because we’ve read all of her statuses for the last week, we assume that we know how she’s doing, and so we never bother to call. Since we’ve seen that he’s been at the gym every night this week, we assume that he’s doing well, so we don’t bother meeting up for a cup of coffee and a Saturday morning catch-up. We no longer send out individual announcements to say that we’re engaged or married or having a baby or moving: one mass status update, and it’s all taken care of.
I’m just done with all of that. If people want to be my friend, they’ll have to find me, through email or my phone or stopping by my house. And if I want to find out how someone is doing, I’ll have to give them a call instead of just going to their Wall.
And it’s gotten worse and worse. When I first joined Facebook, almost ten years ago, actually, when I was in college, it was still rather small, and it made (sort of) sense. It was a good way to stay in touch with friends who were heading off to college, and a way to connect with fellow students and classmates on campus. There was a group of us who were really close, and we would start crazy Facebook groups and try to get people to join them, and had all manner of fun.
But the advent of Facebook on the mobile phone pretty well destroyed it as far as I’m concerned. It was bad enough before, and now that people have the option of updating at any moment anywhere, it’s dreadful.
Because the truth of the matter is, I don’t care. I don’t care who is eating lunch where, or how everyone feels about this year’s presidential candidates, or that someone bought a new pair of shoes. I don’t care about the intimate-yet-shallow details of the lives of hundreds of people.
Here’s the thing: I love my husband the most out of everyone in the world. And Tom does not text me every time something happens at work. If Tom informed me of his movements like the majority of people I know on Facebook, his texts would read:
7:45AM: Tom McCafferty is on Route 33.
7:46AM: Whew! Traffic is crazy today! [includes picture of traffic]
8:02AM: Tom McCafferty is at work.
8:03AM: A little late to work today because of traffic, but I finally made it! [includes picture of Tom giving a thumbs-up in front of his work]
8:53AM: Super busy today! [includes picture of all the cars in paint shop waiting for him to paint]
9:31AM: Awesome wife sent me an awesome snack today! [includes picture of container of fruit salad]
10:02AM: Totally rockin’ to classic Zeppelin this morning! [includes favorite Led Zeppelin track]
11:16AM: Cannot believe how hot it is already this morning! [includes picture of phone screen with weather conditions]
12:05PM: Tom McCafferty is at Kroger.
12:06PM: Just picking up a few extras for lunch! [includes picture of groceries on belt]
Etc., etc., etc.
Point is, Tom doesn’t text me like that all day, and I realized: if I don’t care about those kind of up-to-the-moment details about my husband’s life, I sure as heck don’t care what a couple hundred other morons are doing every second of every day.
I guess it really hit home when we went out to dinner and a concert with my brother-in-law and his wife. Super nice people, but they literally had to update to Facebook the entire time that we were out. I know, because I checked their Facebook pages when we got home, thinking that perhaps I had misjudged them, and they were actually, I don’t know, texting their children to make sure they were okay or something. But no, there was our entire evening, moment by moment, with me tagged at each stop. (Tom has never succumbed to the madness of Facebook.) Literally, they had each updated 5-10 times in the three hours that we were out.
So anyway. Here’s the point: I deleted my Facebook account, and I’m super glad that I did. I haven’t updated very regularly over the last couple of months anyway, and didn’t even bother with one last “Hey I’m deleting my Facebook account” post. No one has messaged me to see why I’m not on Facebook very much, so I figure they won’t miss me when I’m gone. It’s not that I’m saving loads of time, because my Facebook time has dwindled to almost nothing anyway, usually less than five minutes a day before I start wanting to throw up from boredom/horror/frustration. It’s just that now I’m no longer even associated with a program that I think emphasizes, adulates, and encourages the worst parts of our society.
