Next time you go to the clinic....

I was lucky, in that when I decided to become sexually active and needed to go to my local Planned Parenthood, I never had to deal with protesters. My local PP doesn't perform abortions, and thus is skipped over by the prolife leaders.

However, I've heard stories- plenty of horror stories- and they often include prolifers handing out propaganda (termed "literature" by their side). It got me thinking- why don't we hand out literature?

I know there are people who are going to the clinic not for an abortion, but for things like birth control, STD testing, pap smears, etc. Why not next time you're due for an appointment, print out some literature before you go? When an anti comes up to you and offers you what they have, ask to trade. You can easily throw out the pamphlet inside if you don't want to read it/ keep it.

I don't know if it would do any good- the people outside the clinics are probably beyond reasoning with. At the least, maybe they'll get mixed up and hand out OUR material instead of their own. =)

Regret after Abortion: The Prochoice Perspective

Regret. It's an awful feeling. There are a lot of reasons for people to regret doing something. And there are a lot of events, activities, choices and actions that people regret. But what about abortion?

Prolife likes to shout from the roof tops that women regret abortion. Prochoice loves to quickly counter with the idea that most women do not regret their abortion (Phew).

However, this is sort of an unintentional cover up. Even if most women don't regret, that means there are some women who do regret their abortion. As prochoicers, we should be able to address that.

There are many reasons why a woman might regret her abortion, including:
1. She was forced to abort.
2. She thought abortion was murder, but had an abortion anyway.
3. She wanted to keep the pregnancy, but aborted for someone's reasons.
4. She was coerced to abort (by threats from a boyfriend, from her parents, etc).
5. She wasn't fully informed.
6. She made a choice that didn't work out for her.


And many more. Some are simple reasons, some are not. Some are reasons that could have been avoided, some are not. But for whatever reason, the woman regrets her choice.

We must be able to point out that regret is not the end of the world. There are more women who suffer postpartum depression after labor than women who regret after an abortion, but we would never say that we should stop getting pregnant and having babies on a species scale. Just because someone regrets something, does not make that something inherently evil. For example:

Say I have a car, but my job is three blocks away. So I decide to sell the car. Two weeks after the car is sold, I am promoted and moved to district headquarters, which is a half hour drive away. Suddenly, I regret selling my car.

- Was selling my car inherently evil or bad? No.
- Was selling my car the wrong choice at the time? Not necessarily.
- Should I tell everyone else to stop selling their cars, just because I regretting selling mine? Absolutely not!


Now obviously, selling a car and abortion have their differences. But the point is that regret is a legitimate feeling after having an abortion (or a baby, or adoption) and people should be able to find help and healing after any of these experiences without trying to terrorize other people.

So next time prolife says "women regret abortion!" say "Here's an excellent group that can help her find healing: http://www.4exhale.org/

The Catholic Church and Women

The Christian Bible was put together after the life of Jesus was over. Between Jesus's life and the creation of the Bible there were many people who wrote about Jesus and his teachings. Not all of these writings, also called gospels, made it into the Bible.

Recently, I read one such non-canonical gospel called the Gospel of Thomas. It's supposedly a collection of things which Jesus said. Now, before going any further, I have to point out that this is a gospel which has been translated through multiple generations, and we cannot prove 100% that anything written inside the gospel is actually true. However, there are a number of quotes found in the Gospel of Thomas which are also in the gospels of Matthew and Luke.

The point of this blog is about the Catholic church and it's treatment of women. The Catholic church is loudly against abortion, loudly against sexual education, loudly against contraceptives, loudly against women's sexuality. On top of that, women are not allowed to be priests or bishops, and seem to be wholly silent (or silenced?) in the Catholic church.

So when I ran across a quote at the end of the Gospel of Thomas, it struck a nerve with me.

"Simon Peter said to them, 'Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of life.'"

Wow.

Simon Peter, I have confirmed, is the same St. Peter who became the "rock" of the Catholic church. Which means the Catholic church came into being by someone who thought women were "not worthy of life."

Now I understand that men were the center focus in Biblical times, and women were most certainly not considered the same as they are today. But to go so far as to say they are not worthy of life? Whether this is physical life or spiritual life, it is still a huge deal.

Unfortunately, this history has not disappeared. The Catholic church is still fighting against women. They fight to stop women from being able to make choices about their body and their life. They fight to make abortion illegal, which causes it to be unsafe, in turn making more women die and face irreversible damage to their bodies.

The Catholic church cannot be pro-women if it started out against women and continues to be against women.

Please read before you say something stupid.

Dear prolife, I'm sorry but I'm very tired of hearing your same flawed arguments over and over again. Let's set some things straight.

1. Human (adjective) vs human being (noun).

I've gone over this one before, but unfortunately no one seems to understand. Human used as an adjective can mean either a whole human being or parts of a human being. For example, human hair, human arms, human eyes, human heart, human toes, human females. When you say something is human, it does NOT automatically make that thing a human being / person. If someone says "prove the fetus is a human being" you cannot reply "well if it's not human, what is it? Zebra? Banana?" This is FLAWED. They did NOT say a fetus is not human, they asked you to prove it is both human AND a human being.

2. If the fetus is alive, it must be a human being.

Um, no. My arm is alive, my arm is not a human being. My cat is alive, my cat is not a human being. This is just stupid.

3. If the fetus is alive, then killing it is murder!

Again, no. A cow is alive, but if you kill it for meat, it is not murder. When you cut your grass (which is alive) it is not murder. When you wash your hands, it is not murder. Alive =/= murder.

4. If the fetus is a human being, then killing it is murder!

Okay, this one *almost* makes sense, but it still is flawed logic. All one has to do is consider soldiers, police officers, and the death penalty to realize that just because you kill a human being does not mean it was murder. What is the point of things like "manslaughter" and "self defense" and "death penalty" if all killing is murder?





Please consider these facts before you make your next post.

Christian Prochoice links

What Does The Bible Say About Abortion?
Why abortion is Moral
What the Bible says on abortion
Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
Why abortion is Biblical
Abortion and Catholic Thought: the little told history
When does life begin?
'God is prochoice' nun says
Anti-Choicers don't have a biblical leg to stand on
Sex and Religion
The bible tells us when fetus becomes a living being

We think the same.

I know Prolifers think the same way that I do as a prochoicer. I know prolife and I think the same thing of each other: "They're just ignorant to the REAL facts! If only they'd see the truth, they would change their mind."

We can't both be right, though. We can't both have the truth backing us up. So how can we tell who's right and who's wrong?

One good way is to look at sources. Where do the statistics and facts come from? Over and over again, pro-life uses pro-life websites. Pro-choice does use some pro-choice websites, but we also use a lot of medical websites, science websites and pregnancy websites. We use the websites of universities, websites about US law, and other websites completely unrelated to abortion.

Who is more likely to be lying? A pro-life website pushing a pro-life agenda, or a pregnancy website for happily pregnant women? Why would a cancer website, which wants to reduce/end cancer, lie about abortion increasing breast cancer risks? The simple answer is: they wouldn't.


Another good way to compare pro-life to pro-choice is to look at their use of language. Pro-life is constantly complaining about the use of the word "fetus." Why? What exactly is wrong with the word fetus? Fetus is a legitimate term which is defined as "the unborn young from the end of the eighth week after conception to the moment of birth, as distinguished from the earlier embryo." It's just a name. So why does pro-life fight so hard to destroy the word fetus and call it a baby instead? There's no medical or legal reason. The only reason they have is emotional appeal. When people think baby, they think cute, cuddly little bundle of joy. By making people think that when they think about a fetus, they abuse people's emotions.

Another example of this is the word murder. Abortion is clearly not murder, and it never has been murder. Yet pro-life use the phrase "abortion is murder" continuously. Why is this? Because they're trying to pull at people's emotions. Murder has a connotation, and by using that word pro-life can manipulate people's emotions and ideas.

This needs to stop- if pro-life is really the right side, they should be able to convince people with truth instead of emotional manipulation. If pro-life is right, they should be able to provide non-biased, neutral websites and sources which support their stance. Their failure to do both of these things proves that pro-choice is in the right, and pro-life is in the wrong.

Silent Scream is a lie.

I assume you heard someone talking about "the silent scream"? Here is the truth behind it. This was taken off of the NIH (National Institue of Health) website, so it is impartial and neither pro or anti abortion. It is simply medical fact.

Claim:
The 12-week fetus experiences pain.
Facts:
At this stage of the pregnancy, the brain and nervous system are still in a very early stage of development. The beginnings of the brain stem, which includes a rudimentary thalamus and spinal cord, is being formed. Most brain cells are not developed. Without a cerebral cortex (gray matter covering the brain), pain impulses cannot be received or perceived. Additionally, experts find that newborns at 26-27 weeks' gestation (24-25 weeks' fetal age) who survive have significantly less response to pain than do full term newborns.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
Statement on Pain of the Fetus
We know of no legitimate scientific information that supports the statement that a fetus experiences pain early in pregnancy.
We do know that the cerebellum attains its final configuration in the seventh month and that mylenization (or covering) of the spinal cord and the brain begins between the 20th and 40th weeks of pregnancy. These, as well as other neurological developments, would have to be in place for the fetus to receive pain.
To feel pain, a fetus needs neurotransmitted hormones. In animals, these complex chemicals develop in the last third of gestation. We know of no evidence that humans are different.

Claim:
The 12-week fetus makes purposeful movements (e.g., agitated movement in an attempt to avoid suction cannula).
Facts:
At this stage of pregnancy, all fetal movement is reflexive in nature rather than purposeful, since the latter requires cognition, which is the ability to perceive and know. For cognition to occur, the cortex (gray matter covering the brain) must be present, as well as myelinization (covering sheath) of the spinal cord and attached nerves, which is not the case.
An example of the reflex withdrawal without pain occurs in an anencephalic (absent brain) newborn. Another known example of the reflex movement at this stage of human pregnancy is thumb sucking in utero.
What is termed "frantic activity" by the fetus is a reflex response of the fetus resulting from movement of the uterus and its contents induced by operator manipulation of the suction curette or the ultrasound transducer on the abdomen. This same type of response would likely occur with any external stimulus. A one-cell organism such as an amoeba will reflexively move or display a withdrawal reaction when touched.
In addition, experts in ultrasonography and film technology have concluded that the videotape of the abortion was deliberately slowed down and subsequently speeded up to create an impression of hyperactivity.

Claim:
Ultrasonogram depicts the open mouth of the fetus.
Facts:
The mouth of the fetus cannot be identified in the ultrasound image with certainty. The statement that the screen identifies the open mouth of the fetus is a subjective and misleading interpretation by Dr. Nathanson. His conclusion is not supportable.

Claim:
The fetus emits "The Silent Scream."
Facts:
A scream cannot occur without air in the lungs. Although primitive respiratory movements do occur in the later stages of gestation, crying or screaming cannot occur even then. In fact, a child born prematurely at 26-27 weeks' gestation (24-25 weeks' fetal age) cannot scream but occasionally emits weak cries.

Claim:
A fetus is indistinguishable from any of the rest of us.
Facts:
A fetus of 12 weeks cannot in any way be compared to a fully formed functioning person. At this stage only rudiments of the organ systems are present. The fetus is unable to sustain life outside the woman's womb, it is incapable of conscious thought; it is incapable of essential breathing. It is instead an in utero fetus with the potential of becoming a child.

Claim:
Fetal head at 12 weeks requires the use of "crushing instruments" for extraction.
Facts:
At 12 weeks' gestation (10 weeks' fetal age) and even 1-2 weeks beyond, instrumentation other than a suction cannula is not required when abortion is properly performed. Cannulas for aspiration abortion come in varying sizes, and the larger sizes are adequate for withdrawing the contents of the uterus.


So to sum it up, Prior to atleast 24 weeks, it is medicaly impossible for a fetus to "feel" anything. That is not an opinion, it is medical fact. The parts of the nervous system and brain that we must have in order to feel something are not there. They have not developed yet.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Abortion-1320/know-truth.htm