The political debates have been all aflutter with talk of women's reproductive rights. The only thing is, I have seen almost no women involved in the debates. If you have been watching the news, you have undoubtedly seen what I am writing about. The demise of the fan base of the Susan G. Komen foundation for withdrawing funding from Planned Parenthood; the attempt by some Congressmen and women to de-fund Planned Parenthood all together; the asinine comments from Rick Santorum regarding his dislike for pre-natal screenings. The list goes on. Here is my take:
If you do not actually have a uterus, you don't get to tell me what to do with mine. Period. I don't care who you are; if your anatomy is different from mine, please shut the hell up. If you have never had cramps, sensitive boobs, a menstrual cycle or watched the Miracle of Life and wished you were a guy for the entire film, just so you would NEVER have to go through childbirth- you don't get a say in what I do with my uterus; what testing I get done pre or post natal; whether or not I populate the entire north side of Chicago. Nope, so shut your damn mouth. Chances are that you will NOT be the reason that I get knocked up, so what is it to you what I do with my body? Just because you are rich, male and (slightly) educated does not mean that little ol' me, not rich (momentarily), female and more than slightly educated has to follow your plan for women everywhere. That is so not going to happen.
For the women that have so much to say about us
heathens non conservatives... yo, bitter Betty: keep your eyes on your own panties. I don't tell you what you should do about what goes on in your pants, so how about we just keep this relationship reciprocal? Do I say anything to you when you declare that you and your (obviously gay) husband want to bump uglies in the missionary position with all the lights off, while each of you are thinking about someone else? Nope. Do I rub it in your face when you preach to the whole world that abstinence is the only thing that we should teach our children as one of your children gets knocked up? Well, yes.. because that is too good to pass up. But hey, if you want to have a child and a grandchild the same age and you are able to financially take care of both, then I say, have at it. But what I need you to do is worry about the people under your own roof. Worry about those genitals... and stop your fascination with mine.
What I do (or don't do, for that matter) is absolutely none of your business. I have made it 34 years without needing your input on my life, in general; I have no children, but even if I did-- I get to choose IF I have kids and how many. Not you, not your religion, not your pastor/reverend/minister/pope, and not our President. And for the love of God, definitely not the lackeys in Congress. Those people cannot pass legislation for their own states to keep their constituents in their homes, with jobs with food on the table for the family members they already have. They can't seem to get anything done except argue over whether or not the President is a citizen and who is at fault for the economic disaster that is our economy. I would argue that Congress and politicians in general have so many other things to worry about besides whether or not I get genetic testing done to see if my child is developing properly, a sonogram to hear my child's heartbeat for the first time or exactly who will pay for that. They should not be concerned with whether or not I get birth control from planned parenthood, or go there for a pap smear because I don't have insurance. Since most (fiscal) conservatives believe that social programs should be done away with, why would they care if someone aborted a baby they couldn't afford? Conservatives don't want to pay for that child. Let them tell it, they want to do away with welfare programs all together, so who is going to pay for these children that EVERYONE should have because the pro-lifers say so? If there was no WIC, how would those babies eat? If abortion wasn't legal, where would all these babies go? Surely not into the already crowded foster care system. With celebrities routinely running to other other countries to adopt babies when hundreds of thousands of poor American children wait to be adopted every year, sure no one is going to say "carry that child and then place it up for adoption." Not in good conscience. Not for EVERY unplanned pregnancy in America. I mean really, this is the real world, not your homogeneous utopia.
How about this: Congress, you stick to doing nothing. You guys do it well and you are getting paid handsomely to do so. Keep your mouth closed about shit that does not affect you, namely, what a grown woman does with her body. The country has enough problems to keep you occupied, I promise. Concentrate on getting re-elected... for some of you, that will be a hassle, trust me. Presidential hopefuls: I mean, I guess that I understand that you have to appeal to your voting base, but how many of the people voting for you don't have mothers, sisters, wives, daughters who will be negatively affected by what you are proposing? What would you do if people actually listened to the dangerous propositions that you are advocating? What will you do then? You have Rick Santorum saying that he doesn't believe in pre-natal care (he later when to change it to "genetic testing" in pre-natal care... his advisers just let him say whatever), he also said that he doesn't believe in abortion at all... in any case. He actually said in the case of rape, there should be no abortion option and that women should "make the best out of a bad
situation."Yeah, that jackass will never speak for me. His extreme views alone, are enough to put women's rights back to the dark ages. How about he keep his hands off my uterus? I don't know you. You don't know my struggle... keep your hands off my reproductive organs. We have done well thus far.