Really Kinda Sick Of This Whole Abortion Thing...

[badstar]

But hey, there's an empty soapbox and hey, I got a thing or two to say that doesn't seem to get addressed very much otherwise.

edit: I wrote this on a lunch break. It is imperfect, it is flawed. It in no way constitutes my entire body of thought on the matter. There may be some less than perfectly coherent spots. Some specific aspects of the issue I haven't addressed. If anyhting I say doesn't make sense to you or seems incomplete, please feel free to ask me to clarify or give more complete thought.

With all this talk about abortions being banned....why does not one even bother to discuss the prevention of getting pregnant in the first place? It seems like no one wants to even discuss what causes and prevents pregnancy to begin with

(Please note: the following does not in any way have anyhting to do with cases of rape, incest, life in danger, baby going to be born massively incapacitated, etc...I am talking about girls/women getting pregant and just...not wanting a baby. But please, do read everything before you bitch me out for not being 100% gung-ho abortions for all on demand all the time all the way.)

Birth control folks! No it's not 100% but damned if it doesn't decrease your chances of getting pregnant significantly. And you know what? If you use multiple methods...it cuts those remaining chances! The pill and a condom. Topical spermicide. Diaphragm. Whatever. There are options. If something happens...you forgot the pill, the condom breaks...whatever...go to your doctor. Get the fricken morning after pill. (Yes, I know about issues with its availability in certain areas, not everyon has the money for it, etc. That's another rant for another time. My lunch break is only so long.) but do something. don't have sex without at LEAST one form of birth control. guys, wear a condom. Every time. Girls, pick your method.

Oh yeah and there's the other one, the one that always works. Don't have sex. People seem to lose sight of the fact that one of the primary functions of sex is...drumroll please...TO MAKE BABIES. So yeah, There's always that risk that the mission will be accomplished. If you can't or are not willing to take the risks...give it some serious thought before you go home with that hot guy from the club and drop trou. Girls, you HAVE the final say, you HAVE control over your bodies. If someone forces you to have sex...it's a crime.

Abstinence-only sex ed has got to be one of the most irresponsible ideas I've ever heard of. No matter what you tell them, threaten them with facts, statistics, risks etc...it's gonna happen. If people are going to do what people are going to do, lets make sure the right information on how to effectively minimize pregnancy and disease gets out. Preach abstinence all you want in schools- I have no problem with that as long as it's fact based (i.e. "Abstinence WILL keep you from getting pregnant." not "Having sex before marriage is evil so don't have sex.") Emphasize it all you want, but give the correct information on risk reduction. It's not safe sex. It is safer but nothing is absolutely foolproof. ('Cept abstinence, y'know?)

And abortion is not a means of birth control. Well, okay if you want to argue literalisms it is. But it should not be used along the lines of condoms and the pill.

I have mixed thoughts on abortion in general. Yes, it is killing a living being. I'm not arguing that it can survive independently, or does life begin at conception or birth...but you cannot refute that the baby is *alive* What I think needs to be done though...is as some people put it, make it safe and RARE. Reduce the number of unwanted/unplanned pregnancies before they happen...take some "control over your body" already.

Comments

[fuego.livejournal.com]

i'm just trying to say that if people used birth control properly, it would cut down on the need to even consider abortion...

and yeah...abstinence only education...most irresponsible thing i've ever heard of...but it just can't be said too many times that you will not get pregnant if you don't have sex. that's all i'm trying to say there. but it should be said like that "you can't get pregnant if you don't have sex" or...that idea..there shouldn't be any "don't have sex til you get married cause god doesn't like it" in pubic schools.

[chironcentaur.livejournal.com]

I agree, but I feel I must speak for all the women out there who don't want children. What is the option for us, to remain virgins all our lives? Is that really feasible? Abstinence only education doesn't even take us into consideration, it just assumes everyone wants to get married and have kids. So those of us who want the former without the latter don't have the knowledge to prevent these pregnancies we don't want to have, and thus abortion becomes our only option and the vicious cycle continues.

[fuego.livejournal.com]

i hear that...I mean..I don't want kids, definitely not at this point, no idea if i'll change my mind...

...i didn't really make it very clearn, but when im talking about telling kids that they wont get pregnant if they dont have sex...i realy am referring more to sex ed classes for junior high and high school students...and again, i'm not talking about *abstinence-only* as the way to go in schools, just trying to say that they should know without any question that if they don't have sex, they won't get pregnant, contract certain diseases...blah bah blah...

[chironcentaur.livejournal.com]

I know, I was just venting on some of the gigantic holes in abstinence only thinking. Needless to say, its a subject that pisses me off a great deal.

I don't want kids, never did and never will. And I am, thank the gods, a lesbian so pregnancy isn't even an issue for me. But there are still plenty of straight women that don't want children and I remain concerned for them, since I know how I would feel (and what I would do) were I in their position.

[sumbitch.livejournal.com]

BTW, "abstinence" does not prevent sexually transmitted diseases. From the abstract of a 2005 study:

Pledgers are consistently less likely to be exposed to risk factors across a wide range of indicators, but their STD infection rate does not differ from nonpledgers. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15780782&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_docsum)

[fuego.livejournal.com]

I'm saying that it should be very clear that the only way to absolutey guarantee that you won't get pregnant is if you don't have sex- not to mention prevent trasmission of certain diseases, but to give the appropriate, correct information so that if kids do choose to have sex, they can protect themselves the best. i apologize if i specific enough on that. and as i said before in the post...writing a rant on my lunch break does not afford me the time to say everythign i would say if i had 3 hours to sit down and address every single point i coud think of.