My Comment Is Awaiting Moderation
Fresh when it gets here from
Julie Barrett
Saturday, June 15, 2013
And yeah, I know why. I used the s-word. Not the one you think, but slut. Oh, noes. In the comment section of our local paper, there is the inevitable highly-charged discussion of abortion. Our governor added it to the special session. The inevitable response from the knee-jerk, far-right (not the logical right, mind you. It does exist, but they get drowned out) is "oh, she shouldn't spread her legs, then." What of the man? As my momma always told me, it takes two to tango. Someone actually told me it's the woman's responsibility because she's the one who gets pregnant. I dared ask that if they want the state to stop abortions, then they had darned well better be prepared for the state to raise their kids. Hoo, boy, did that set off a firestorm. One of the far-right knee-jerkers (a woman, apparently) asked me who I spoke for. I typed out the following. I don't know if the comment will ever get out of moderation. So here goes:
[Name redacted], I speak
for the women who are forced/coerced into having sex. The woman who are told spread 'em or I'll beat the you-know-what out of you and the kids. That's not choice. I speak for the couple who walked into the Austin
abortion clinic with a dead baby inside of the wife after having been
sent by the OB and had to endure the indignity of a transvanginal
sonogram and a 24-hour waiting period.
I speak for every human being who sees a vast disconnect in the
culture that wants to do everything it can to make sure that baby makes
it into this world, but won't do a damned thing to ensure the continued
health and safety of that child. I speak of churches and government.
I speak for the teenagers who were told "just don't do it" in sex education class and had no access to proper sex education.
I speak for the men and women who would like affordable birth
control and are told by an iill-informed, ignorant culture that birth
control equals abortion. And besides, any woman who wants cheap birth
control must be a slut, right?
I speak for the rational, logical folks who believe that a decent
eduction (not just sex ed, but a proper, all-around education) and
access to inexpensive birth control will do more to reduce the abortion
rate than any sonograms, 24-hour waiting period, or slut-shaming
tactics.
And I also support the men who behave responsibly.
Filed under: Politics
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