Wednesday, February 15, 2012

We Have Rights

 So I get carried away with certain topics sometimes, and I generally stay away from them on my blog unless they are related to ttwd; but sfp sent me an email about this one, so here we go.
I truly do believe that turning a blind eye and not standing up for what we believe in makes us compliant in the atrocities we rail against. There are times when the complacency of silence makes us no better than those who do wrong.


Reproductive rights--I have them. Yea, I know--I consider myself property, and so does Alpha. But I still have the right to choose whether I will contribute to the population of earth or not.
It is the most basic right of all--the ability to make the choice to create life or not, and when to do so.

It seems like there's always a big to-do about Planned Parenthood--don't fund them, don't buy girl scout cookies, they kill babies!! Insert collective gasp of horror here.
I think that's a crock of shit.

For one, my first checkups as a teenager? Planned Parenthood. The only way I could afford birth control (you know, so as not to be a kid having kids she couldn't take care of), thank you Planned Parenthood. So they really aren't all about abortion. Suck it up buttercup and leave your judgmental bullshit at the door.

Okay, moving on. It seems like the majority of people who try to stomp on women's reproductive rights are those who aren't in the least little bit affected by their own policies. They are usually rich enough to support a small country or, well, not women.

Humanity has made leaps and bounds in progress regarding bearing children and birth control. But it seems that too many still live in the stone age when it comes to their beliefs.

When I got pregnant with our youngest son I was entering my last semester of prerequisites to enter nursing school. I was not pleased to see two pink lines. I cried and gave some serious thought to terminating the pregnancy. Alpha voted to keep the baby, but said that it was ultimately my decision.
In the end, I couldn't do it. I decided he was our serendipitous little accident, and if he wanted to be here, I would not choose otherwise.

The point is though, I had the right to make that decision. Me. Not some old dude behind a desk polishing his specks with silk kerchiefs and living a thousand miles away from all the unwanted, homeless, abused, starving, and unloved kids that are brought into the world every year.

The choice to have children. The choice not to have children. The choice when to have children. Those are very basic rights.
I have these rights. And so should every woman.

If you don't agree with me? Well you have that right. But you don't have the right to choose for me or anyone else.

16 comments:

  1. Well said lil, I also benefited from Planned Parenthood as a teenager, it kept me from being an unwed mother who had to rely on others for support.

    I've said for a long time if men had children it would not be an issue. Men would never tolerate someone else telling them what they could or could not do with their bodies. Yet they still insist on trying to tell us ladies.

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    1. faerie, interesting how the first person to tell you you Can't do something is the last person to actually have a clue or be impacted by it huh.

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  2. Right on. I have always said abortion wouldn't be as much of an issue if men were the ones who got pregnant. My body is mine - and not some person who doesn't know me from Adam making decisions for me. What I choose and how I choose is my right and I will have to live with whatever decision is made. Not some bureaucrat.

    OMG, I'll get off my soapbox now. You triggered a nerve - it has been an issues with me for some time. I was around long before Roe vs Wade and and I saw the sometimes not so pretty consequences of an unwanted pregnancy or a botched back alley abortion.

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    1. sunnygirl, sorry to have triggered a nerve. And you are quite welcome to soap-box-away here.

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  3. I'm trying so very hard not to get on my own little soapbox in your comments section lil so I'll just say, well bloody said!!

    Dee x

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    1. Dee you are always welcome to join me on my little soapbox!

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  4. Well done lil! -- thank you so much for telling your story!

    sfp

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  5. Lots of us benefited from planned parenthood it would seem. i wonder how many forget that when they are older and no longer need their services. thanks for writing this.

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    1. gg, I hadn't really thought about how many of us have benefited from Planned Parenthood until reading all the posts yesterday.
      And forgetting doesn't usually pay off does it?

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  6. Beautiful post - well said! I love the "collective gasp of horror."

    I was a Planned Parenthood teen too. Lots and lots of us out here...

    hugs,

    aisha

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    1. aisha, thank you. And there seem to be far more of us out there than I realized. I guess it just goes to show how out of touch the people who make policies really are.

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  7. Excellent post!
    butterfly

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Play nice.