Google loves to feed you ads when you use their products based on the words that they think you're interested in. So while checking my "frum feminist" email account, Google fed me an ad for, "Feminist T-Shirts" on Cafe Press, and I decided to check it out. Those T-shirts reminded me why people have such an aversion to feminists. There were the okay ones that read things like, "Feminism: The Radical notion that women are PEOPLE," and great ones that say, "Violence against women will not be tolerated".
Then there were the obnoxious ones like, "I'll be post-feminist in the post-patriarchy," and, "FEMINIST and not afraid to say it!"
And then there were the abortion ones. The ones that make it sound like only evil, selfish, biggotted, racist men could possibly be anti-abortion. The, "Against abortion? Get a vasectomy" one. The, "Hell hath no fury like a woman denied her right to choose by a handful of greedy, self-important, white men." And the horrifying, "If I want a baby inside me, I'LL EAT IT!" one, which I can't even begin to understand.
Why must someone who is anti-abortion be evil? Can't a woman, or a man, be pro-life without being woman-haters?
If a woman doesn't want to have a baby - fine. That's her choice, and in that case, I am pro-choice. But abortion just because a woman doesn't want a child takes a woman from, "I don't want a baby," to, "I care more about myself than about the life inside of me."
It sounds to me like these women have a problem with people who are anti-abortion because when they hear, "Abortion is murder!" they hear, "You care more about yourself than about your baby and that makes you selfish and uncaring." Not wanting to be the bad "guy," they go and find someone else to blame for their "choice".
If a woman wants to care more about herself than about her baby, she should just admit that she doesn't want a baby instead of blaming the people who care about the life inside of her. She needs to get over that complex that tells her, "They're out to get me because I don't want a baby and they say that I have to have one!" and realize that no one wants her to have a baby. They just don't want her destroying any.
How about this T-shirt logo: "Against abortion? DON'T GET PREGNANT!"
If you don't want a baby, crazy-feminists, just don't get pregnant. Then the pro-lifers won't bother you and you can live your life in peace without fear of evil monsters who are "out to get you."
actually most people who have abortions, DO want the baby. they just feel they can't.
ReplyDeleteMost common reasons for abortion:
-financial worries
-feel overwhelmed by their already existing children
-are convinced by society that they are "Too Young" (usually with some justification)
-issues about the baby's father
PS BTW, in Judaism, abortion is not considered murder.
In fact it is doubtful whether a first trimester embryo could be termed a baby at at all.
So why condemn someone for caring more for herself than for a child that doesn't yet exist?
a day in planned parenthood:
ReplyDeletehtt://kisarita.blogspot.com/2008/10/choice.html
Abortion in Judaism is not a simple, "It's not considered abortion," issue. It depends on the point in time of the pregnancy and on the situation that the mother is in. Getting an abortion simply because it's inconvenient to have a baby is, however, against Jewish law.
ReplyDeleteWe're talking about a religion that requires married women to purify themselves after every menstrual cycle to mourn the missed opportunity for life.
So when you speak of a child "that doesn't yet exist," Judaism include a mere lost egg in that equation, because even if it isn't a child, it's a potential life.
Your list of most common reasons for abortion should be prevented by preventing the pregnancy in the first place, in my opinion. Abortion should NOT be used as birth control.
even planned parenthood would agree with that.
ReplyDeletethe question is, what to be done once already pregnant?
this is not to trivialize "potential life"- surely there is no greater gift. however, I'm sure you would agree that condemning women for caring more about themselves than about "potential life" has a different ring than "their child" doesn't it? That's why it's an important distinction to make.
ReplyDelete-Ki"S
PS I happen to believe that many of these reasons for abortions (financial for example, or age) could be resolved by increased communal and family support for the mom.
ReplyDeleteIS THE FRUM COMMUNITY WILLING TO TAKE THIS ON, ESPECIALLY FOR WOMEN WHO GOT PREGNANT WHILE UNMARRIED?
I don't think so....
Honestly? I think that it's up to Halacha to decide if an abortion should be allowed, and I'm almost positive that halacha does not allow abortion where neither the mother or the child are in danger.
ReplyDeleteIn a case where the alternative is abortion, the frum community SHOULD help these women. But you're probably right - they probably don't. The frum community, in general, doesn't like to admit that things like pre-marital sex might be happening in their own backyard, so dealing with the consequences is not their priority.