tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37507520.post5333333230449028743..comments2023-09-26T08:20:15.098-05:00Comments on Criss writes...: Abortion, pregnancy, and slaveryCriss L. Coxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04664903417376487387noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37507520.post-28284652141291835342009-03-30T10:51:00.000-05:002009-03-30T10:51:00.000-05:00Lulu,Thank you for your comment! I wish there were...Lulu,<BR/>Thank you for your comment! I wish there were a way to make people of my generation understand the things your generation, and those before you, saw and lived. Even though we still have a fight to fight, we have it so easy compared to women 30+ years ago. And we need current and future generations to understand this, so we don't go back to the way things were.<BR/><BR/>You said it better than I could. Thanks for reading. :)Criss L. Coxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04664903417376487387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37507520.post-25572912275904435142009-03-27T23:47:00.000-05:002009-03-27T23:47:00.000-05:00Criss, I am late reading this post but wanted to t...Criss, I am late reading this post but wanted to tell you how much I appreciate it. I am an old-timer to this fight and can happily say now that pregnancy, wanted or unwanted, is something I no longer worry about.<BR/><BR/>I came of age shortly after dependable contraceptives and legalized abortion became accessible. Before the anti-abortion side had organized and while news stories of women being permanently disabled or worse yet dying of back-ally abortions were still fresh in people's minds.<BR/><BR/>I understand the sentiment, but I still cringe when people reduce this subject down to a moral issue or a scientific issue. It may be both but far more importantly, it is a fact of life. Women have looked for and found ways to terminate unwanted pregnancies for thousands of years and will continue to do so as long as they can become unwillingly pregnant. If abortion were illegal tomorrow, women would still get abortions. Women of means would get safe ones and women without means would take their chances on back alley abortionists or do-it-yourself remedies, and the odds are strong these will end in tragedy.<BR/><BR/>Women of my age tend to look back and marvel how far we have come. But reality is this: Men are usually physically stronger than women. Men can, if they want, have sex and impregnate a woman whether she is a willing partner or not. Men do not carry a child to term and physically go through childbirth. Men can usually avoid the responsibility of parenthood if they want. And men still control the ability to legislate, regulate and morally decree that a woman does not have the right to decide what course of action is best for her and for the parasite she is supporting. (I'm speaking in broad generalities - I actually like or love most men.)<BR/><BR/>Worse yet, women of my generation have allowed the funding of such ridiculously ineffective programs such as "abstinence only" to the detriment of frank and practical sexual education that drives home the fact that sexual activity can't be separated from biological results.<BR/><BR/>For these failures, I am really, really sorry. I only hope your generation (and my daughter's) does a better job. Thanks again. Great post.Luluhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09783860201792277373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37507520.post-74868036372329008552009-03-27T08:50:00.000-05:002009-03-27T08:50:00.000-05:00Hmmmm... This is such a controversial subject and ...Hmmmm... This is such a controversial subject and one that I doubt everyone will ever agree on. I'm pro-choice (definitely NOT pro-slavery ;) and nothing gets my blood boiling more than a man who bleats on about how criminal/sinful/evil abortion is, when he'll never, ever be in a position where he has to make that difficult and agonizing decision. I'd like to see our friend Mike explain his theory to a young rape victim who has been impregnated by her attacker.MissNjhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04564464419668394422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37507520.post-69560077862085724442009-03-26T12:36:00.000-05:002009-03-26T12:36:00.000-05:00"That power should not be held by the government, ..."That power should not be held by the government, especially one with no medical degree."<BR/><BR/>LOL! I think I might borrow that line...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17055016069862054255noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37507520.post-91385356093351210232009-03-26T09:45:00.000-05:002009-03-26T09:45:00.000-05:00LindsRay,You can separate a 1-year-old, even a 1-s...LindsRay,<BR/>You can separate a 1-year-old, even a 1-second-old, from the mother. You cannot separate the fetus from the mother. We all agree once the child is born, it is a person. Killing it, once it is a person, is murder. Abusing or neglecting it is also a crime, as is throwing it in a Dumpster because you never wanted it in the first place.<BR/><BR/>Whether the fetus "wants" or tries to kill the woman is not the point, she's going to die whether it was "intentional" or not. The woman, whom we all agree is a person, should have a right to make her own health care decisions.<BR/><BR/>The point I make in this post is that the power issue is there, due to the nature of pregnancy, regardless of what the abortion laws are, so that's a silly argument to make against legal abortions (if the woman can't do it legally, safely, in a doctor's office, she'll find some other way, even if it's starving herself to starve the fetus).<BR/><BR/>My argument is that each woman should have the power to decide what happens to her body. That power should not be held by the government, especially one with no medical degree.<BR/><BR/>My argument also is that women be granted this power by having access to birth control, all forms of it. It should be accessible and affordable, and women should be educated about their options and choices, so that we don't have to get to the point where we need to have the abortion conversation.Criss L. Coxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04664903417376487387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37507520.post-35393094757136612122009-03-26T09:25:00.000-05:002009-03-26T09:25:00.000-05:00I am rather loathe to write this, but if you make ...I am rather loathe to write this, but if you make the comparison of a woman and child being tied to each other, than in essence you're supporting not only abortion, but the right to kill a 1 year old as well. Would a toddler survive on its own? No. Would you go to prison for killing that toddler? Yes. <BR/><BR/>My point is that slavery is not about control or even ownership, but power. Do you honestly think that the power of that baby is the same as the power the mother holds? Are they physically and spiritually linked? Absolutely. Can a baby kill its mother? Absolutely. Does the baby ever make the concious choice to do so? No. <BR/><BR/>A parasite never purposely kills its host. To do so, it risks its own survival. The host is the powerful one.<BR/><BR/>Long story short - abortion is about power. Who gets to hold that power is a different story, but that's the heart of the issue at its core, and I think that's where we agree.Lindseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09594314318272558351noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37507520.post-58935126067000220642009-03-25T20:21:00.000-05:002009-03-25T20:21:00.000-05:00Laura,What I meant by "slaves to our bodies" was t...Laura,<BR/>What I meant by "slaves to our bodies" was that we <I>would</I> have to control our sex drives, and abstain from sex pretty much completely -- unless I am ready to conceive a child. (How is my husband going to feel about having sex only twice until I hit menopause?)<BR/><BR/>Some might argue that women could use the rhythm method, which is faulty at best, and only has a hope of working if you have a body that runs like a Swiss clock. So women with irregular periods are condemned to a life without sex? (Except for those two times they do it to conceive a child?)<BR/><BR/>I know that "slaves to our bodies" is a little extreme, but I don't think it's inaccurate. Women should be free to have sex (as often as men are), especially when men are so keen on asking for it.Criss L. Coxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04664903417376487387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37507520.post-24762000841225386672009-03-25T18:19:00.000-05:002009-03-25T18:19:00.000-05:00I'm not sure that I'd go to the "making women slav...I'm not sure that I'd go to the "making women slaves to their bodies" extreme. To me, that sort of implies that we have no control over our own sex drives. However, I'm really glad that you made the point that woman and fetus are not separable and that one depends on the other by its very nature. I'm especially enamored of this line: "The life of the one is deeply affected by the existence of the other, and the potential life of the other depends on the choices made by the one." Beautifully accurate.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17055016069862054255noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37507520.post-59090156356510718612009-03-25T09:54:00.000-05:002009-03-25T09:54:00.000-05:00Stephane-- and then there's the side many of us ta...Stephane-- and then there's the side many of us take that, while we may see the problem with the act of abortion itself, we see the alternative (that women will always seek abortions, if made illegal will have to do so by unsafe means that risk many more lives) as even more immoral and wrong. And thus, as with so many of these issues, it gets incredibly complex no matter how much people try to simplify it.Marcyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00792375260633790983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37507520.post-51317264053362807622009-03-24T22:48:00.000-05:002009-03-24T22:48:00.000-05:00The problem with the moral debate is that not ever...The problem with the moral debate is that not everyone agrees -- for some, it IS a scientific debate, nothing else. For some, it is a moral issue but they see the problem from different angles. You are right that it is impossible to change someone's mind on these issues, which is why the law should allow each woman to make her own choice, based on her own personal morals.Criss L. Coxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04664903417376487387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37507520.post-80346568044242223112009-03-24T20:20:00.000-05:002009-03-24T20:20:00.000-05:00You know... I think this is the most compelling ar...You know... I think this is the most compelling argument I've seen for abortion. The fact that the mother and the fetus are one organism until they separate makes a lot of biological sense. <BR/>BUT... this is a moral debate (not a scientific one) and I feel that it is impossible to change someone's mind on these issues.Stéphanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10770799632803092130noreply@blogger.com