Reproductive Freedom—Part of a Sane Society
Those who have been reading the blogs of "this neighborhood" and familiar with my remarks know that I have for the most part defended candidates against attacks from supporters of their opponents during the primary. I didn’t say much about issues because, well, the candidates all had views more or less matching mine.
Those days are over.
Through evolution or design of another order, what cannot be disputed is that all living species are designed to perpetuate themselves. We’re designed to have sex, and individual freedom and self control over this is part of a civilized society.
Unless commentators draw me into it, rigorous academic discourse of the abortion issue is beyond the scope of this blog. I will jump to the punch-line that it has less to do with “right to life” and more to do with suppressing the sexuality of women, in particular, young women. Dig deeper, and you find an insecurity about sex rooted deep within our religious history.
What are the easily seen, superficial signs? Well, to start, if it were truly about minimizing the number of abortions performed, sex education and availability of contraception would be seen as allies. Note that those violently opposed to abortion rights resist efforts to promote either, preferring scary sermons about abstinence. This isn’t hard.
My father is Midwest conservative bible folk who changed driving routes to avoid proximity to theaters while “Brokeback Mountain” was playing. He is solid “pro-life,” but even he will say that when a girl is raped, the thought of forcing her to carry the pregnancy to term is an abomination.
Randy Graf is on record saying that the law of the land in this country should deny an abortion to a woman even if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.
I have a daughter, and should the unthinkable scenario have her pregnant as the result of a rape, my to-do list (before “properly processing” the perpetrator) will be terminating that pregnancy and getting her the help she needs to heal. Randy Graf thinks I shouldn’t be able to do this.
According to his website, Randy Graf has a son and grandson. Perhaps if he watched a little girl, his little girl, grow into a young woman who deserves a bright future, some sanity might alter his extremist views on a woman’s reproductive rights.
Those days are over.
Through evolution or design of another order, what cannot be disputed is that all living species are designed to perpetuate themselves. We’re designed to have sex, and individual freedom and self control over this is part of a civilized society.
Unless commentators draw me into it, rigorous academic discourse of the abortion issue is beyond the scope of this blog. I will jump to the punch-line that it has less to do with “right to life” and more to do with suppressing the sexuality of women, in particular, young women. Dig deeper, and you find an insecurity about sex rooted deep within our religious history.
What are the easily seen, superficial signs? Well, to start, if it were truly about minimizing the number of abortions performed, sex education and availability of contraception would be seen as allies. Note that those violently opposed to abortion rights resist efforts to promote either, preferring scary sermons about abstinence. This isn’t hard.
My father is Midwest conservative bible folk who changed driving routes to avoid proximity to theaters while “Brokeback Mountain” was playing. He is solid “pro-life,” but even he will say that when a girl is raped, the thought of forcing her to carry the pregnancy to term is an abomination.
Randy Graf is on record saying that the law of the land in this country should deny an abortion to a woman even if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.
I have a daughter, and should the unthinkable scenario have her pregnant as the result of a rape, my to-do list (before “properly processing” the perpetrator) will be terminating that pregnancy and getting her the help she needs to heal. Randy Graf thinks I shouldn’t be able to do this.
According to his website, Randy Graf has a son and grandson. Perhaps if he watched a little girl, his little girl, grow into a young woman who deserves a bright future, some sanity might alter his extremist views on a woman’s reproductive rights.
posted by x4mr at 10:24 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home