Thursday, May 13, 2010

Get Your Damn Bible Out Of Women's Wombs



This is what I keep thinking about lately- a bill which is about to land on the governor's desk which would require every woman in Florida who seeks an abortion to have (and pay for) an ultrasound which she may opt out of viewing if she signs a statement indicating she did not wish to see it. Although, a woman who can provide documentation that she was raped, or was a victim of incest or domestic violence or human trafficking will automatically be exempt from viewing.

Documentation. Of rape or incest or domestic violence or human trafficking.
I can't help but wonder what sort of documentation that would be. A note from the person who forced himself on her? "I raped my daughter. She doesn't need the ultrasound."
Or
"Dear Medical Provider, This woman is one of the women I have enslaved and forced to have sex with men for money. In her position as a sex slave, she has gotten pregnant. Please give her an abortion and return her to me so that she may continue to work as a sex slave. Thank-you."

Of course this complete and utter strike against personal freedom comes from the religious right. They're hiding their real goal- which is to ultimately end the right of a woman to control her own body- behind medical excuses. It's such bullshit that I can't even find the words.

I'm so sick of people using religion to control others. It would be fine if they kept their beliefs in the church but no, they somehow get elected to public office. They use that public office to make laws. Those laws affect us all.

And where are the men in this? Where is the shaming, the you-are-a-murderer, finger-pointing for them? The ones who got these women pregnant? Oh, well, men. You know. They just like to have sex. That's normal. No. It's all on the woman. It's HER fault. She spread her legs. She didn't wait until marriage. She had sex when she knew she couldn't raise a baby if one resulted from that sex.

Here. Let me tell you about this child you are about to murder. Let me describe its beating heart to you. What? You don't want to hear about that? Well. Sign this form. We'll keep it in a file somewhere. Don't worry. No one will ever see it.
We promise. Oh. Don't forget to pay your bill.

And by the way, we won't help you raise this baby. We won't provide health care for her or for YOU, either, you sinful mother you. We won't feed her. That's your job. We won't make sure she has clothes to wear to school or a way to get to school and in fact, we won't ensure that the schools where you find a hovel to live in are capable of educating your child in a proper or safe way. No. That would be a burden to the tax payers.
But when your child grows up in poverty and ignorance and becomes a criminal to support herself or falls into addiction, we'll find a way to put her in prison. Oh yes. We love prisons.

Here. Pay for this ultrasound.
Here. Sign this form.
We're doing this for YOUR own good. Trust us. We are.

Meanwhile, the pro-life websites are heralding this proposed law as what it truly is- a way to ultimately end abortion and a woman's right to choose. They quote the Bible. They crow and strut over how they are saving millions of lives.

I'm sick and tired of having to fight for the right to control my own body, for my daughters to have the right to control their own bodies. Their own fates and destinies.

I have no answers. I only have questions.
What gives them the right to try to control others? What gives them the right to tell a woman she has to do what no man will ever have to do? What gives them the right to make a woman's choice more difficult than it already is when no man will ever have to make that decision at all? Ever.

The bible tells them so, I guess.

Look. Here's an idea: Let's have men sign a form every time they have sex. That form would state that they know that having sex could result in an unwanted pregnancy. And that if it does, they will be willing to help raise the child if the woman decides to carry it to term. And if a woman does get pregnant, she can take THAT form with her to her health care provider. Who will then contact the man who signed the form AND law enforcement so that the man can be brought in to see whatever they want him to see, listen to whatever they want him to listen to, and be aware of his obligation in the entire business whether it ends in abortion or a baby.

How about THAT, Mr. and Ms. Lawmaker?
Sound fair?

Does to me. Of course, I'm just an old woman who has no desire whatsoever to be part of the political process on the level of being elected to anything at all. Who just wants to live her life and let others live theirs based on the personal freedoms that I have always thought this country was based on.

An old woman who freely admits she is batshit crazy but who has no doubt about why she is and what it is that has driven her there.

32 comments:

  1. Exactly right and completely expressed with passion and truth.

    Can I get a hallelujah? YES, thank you very much Ms. Moon for your clarity and humanity!

    HUGS,
    Mary

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  2. They really should promote gay sex for teens. It very seldom results in unwanted pregnancies!

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  3. The legislature slipped this in on the last night. I was telling my dad about a similar one in OK and he said "Oh, I saw on the feeds they're doing something similar here."

    It really makes me ill.

    At least as far as I know the one here doesn't allow doctors to lie to you about test results so you don't even know something might be wrong until you give birth. And you can't sue them for keeping the results from you. All to prevent abortion. The OK law:
    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/28/us/28abortion.html

    I hope Crist doesn't sign it, but unfortunately he probably will.

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  4. You are so not old. Now that I've gotten THAT out of the way, I urge you to send this directly to your local paper and/or Congressman. I know you hate politics, but I think you should do it. I especially love the paragraph that describes a form for men to fill out before they have sex.

    I can not believe that we are STILL having this argument when there are still so many problems in this country of ours.

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  5. Assuming that the world is still run by men (which it kinda is, right?) and the only difference is that MEN were the ones to get pregnant, I'm pretty sure that abortions would be 'taken care of' much in the way that a common infection is taken care of. Many doctors will just phone in the script and if things go wrong or get worse, they would just see you the next afternoon and all would be disposed of without any questions......Right?

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  6. Hmm. I think you have to have an ultrasound in the UK. And that's not for any sort of religious reason. It's just part of the process.

    Having said that, here here on the rest.

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  7. Mary- Thank-you so much for saying that.

    DTG- You always have the right answer! Another reason I love you so.

    RiotGrrl- Isn't it a major pisser? I mean- where is the damn compassion?

    Elizabeth- Those other problems are too big to deal with and too politically hot. This one, though- oh- they LOVE this one. Errgghhh.

    SJ- Maybe we should start a movement? "More Gay Sex For Teens!" Yeah, the Christian Right would love that one.

    Stephanie- He is worth loving.

    Rebecca- I'm thinking so.

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  8. Jo- Here an ultrasound is required for the second trimester. Not the first. For right now, anyway. The theory is is that if you see the ultrasound, you will choose not to abort.

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  9. Right on, sista!

    You know what really pisses me off, here in beautiful St. Augustine??? There's a church uptown that puts out hundreds of little white crosses to represent you-know-what. Do they ever consider taking all this effort and money into controlling womyn's lives and INSTEAD putting it into taking care of some of the unwanted babies and children who are right here, right now?????

    ARRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH.

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  10. **SIGH** I love you.

    Agreed. To all of it. Except the part about you being 'JUST an old batshit crazy lady'. Or, maybe you are, but if so, I wanna be an old batshit crazy lady right with you :0)

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  11. I really don't understand the deal. There are already too many people. I also forgot how it is down there. I believe abortions here are covered by our health insurance - at least they used to be. Our school boards, schools, are all designed to be as equal as possible. Funding is decided by enrolment not property values. Our neighborhoods are diverse so that you get a wide range of income levels. My kids were good friends with both welfare and wealthy kids in school. The schools that lack funding tend to be rural. They are still very capable of providing a good education, they just can't afford all the extra interest classes - like music or art or tech or the like.
    I don't understand the thinking of people who, just because THEY don't want an abortion, figure no one else is entitled to a safe procedure.
    Mother's allowance here is pretty generous too.

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  12. ha. I was just about to say let's have men sign a form after seeing baby photos and ultrasounds before they undo their zippers, but you beat me to it.

    You know the sad thing is that every year there's some so called Christian far right conservative politican who has to come clean about call girl action or nooky in parked cars with mistresses. The same guys that support legislation punishing women for their part in the sinfulness.

    Or anti-gay politicans fessing up to prostitute or male prostitute hanky panky.

    jeez the hypocrisy never ends...

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  13. geez I like that idea of a form for men.......great post

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  14. Thank you, Ms. Moon. If it is any consolation, there is at least one other crazy old woman who thinks the way that you do (me). Are we enough to start our own non-tea party? A gin and tonic party, maybe?

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  15. Florida was my psychic home from the second my airplane touched down and for every minute of the following 20 years. I'm a child of the beach and tropics. I love it. But I've never understood what it is about paradise that makes for lame-brain politicians. And why does it draw masses with NO CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS?

    Right on, Ms. Moon.

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  16. Mama- you read the Bible... Does it say anything about abortion? I know it says stuff about marriage and sex out of wedlock and a woman shall obey her husband and blah-di-dah, but does it say anything about terminating pregnancy? And if so, where?

    p.s.
    I love you.

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  17. Lulumarie- Probably not. Easier to put up little white crosses.

    Justme- You don't have to be old to be batshit crazy.

    Jeannie- Which is why I would move to Canada if it wasn't so damn cold. God, y'all are civilized.

    Screamish- I know. It's hardly even news anymore when some anti-gay guy gets caught with a male...helper?

    Joyce- It'll never happen.

    Terra di Mare- Sounds mighty good to me.

    Kathleen- A lot of it is old people who move here thinking it will be easier to live here than "up north." I think. But honestly- a lot of it is just Republican redneck thinking.

    Maysie- I'm not sure. I believe that mostly Christians cite the different places where fetuses are referred to from conception as "babies" or "infants", thus making their deaths "murder," in some sort of convoluted logic. Honestly, I don't believe there is one place in the bible which states that interfering with a pregnancy is a sin. And you know what? I don't even care. But that is a good question.
    I love you too.

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  18. Mrs Moon, I have a Magnolia tree for you. I want a Magnolia tree like the one you have.....I think it's also like the ones in Steele Magnolia's, right?

    Anyway what kind are they?

    Is it listed here on this list? I'm shopping a local nursery and this is what they offer. I'm thinking Hardy Southern???

    MAGNOLIA
    SAUCER (Alexanadrina or Jane) Small growing tree to 15 feet, purple/pink tulip like flowers in early Spring #3 29.99
    #5 39.99
    #7 49.99
    SOUTHERN —Brackens Brown Beauty or Little Gem—Hardy Southern Magnolias to 25 feet #5 49.99
    #7 159.99
    #15 259.99

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  19. Rebecca- The big magnolias are grandiflora. That would be the big one in my yard and also in Steel Magnolias.
    I don't know anything about the others except for Little Gem which is sort of like a miniature grandiflora although in Florida, it grows far taller than they say it will.

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  20. I wrote a long comment and then it disappeared. All I can say now is the whole thing is atrocious. I can't for the life of me come up with any other situation where appropriate medical care has become a matter of legality.

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  21. Oh. I forgot the part about DTG's solution making me laugh out loud

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  22. Okay, I just did a little research. Although abortion was common in Jesus' time, abortion is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible. Aside from some vague references to "knowing you before you were placed into the womb", Biblical references as to the start of life seem to be upon the first drawing of breath. It does mention that if you get in a fight and you accidentally knock down your opponent's wife, thereby causing her to miscarry, you have to pay what the husband seems fair. The Bible is so wacky!
    Early Christian theologians wrote texts on how to give proper abortions, including a process that very closely resembles a D and C of today.
    Frankly, I'm tired of Christians going off book. If their Lord and Savior had no problem with it, I don't know why they are so het up about it to begin with.
    Of course, there is that thing about doctors accusing midwives of witchcraft here in the states in order to shut them down and get their business, and abortion was woman's work, so therefore abortion must be the work of the devil.
    Thank God I do not follow the words of the Bible, because I am on my period and I really do not feel like sacrificing turtles today.

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  23. Michelle- I am sorry your long comment got eaten but yes, you are right. Although it used to be illegal for a woman to get a tubal ligation, didn't it? As you might say: same-same?

    May- There you go! And no, please don't sacrifice any turtles, although if you need to, I'll find you one. But it's really bad luck.
    I adore you.

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  24. And all joking aside- I think it is a control issue. Control women and you control life. Simple as that. And as complex.

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  25. I wish that separation of church and state would occur. I am tired of having morality legislated.

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  26. Ms. Moon, it's also a control issue over the ignorant. Anti-choice rhetoric is a great rallying cry to arms for the low info crowd. Nothing whips people into a righteous frenzy quicker than religious fervor. Make them believe they are on a mission to save babies and you've got yourself an army of god's doers. Add in the subtle (or not) racial undertones and you've got a movement to be reckoned with.

    But they never take it to a conclusion, the brokers of this. It is way too effective a tool used to rally the base to lose by actually doing something about it. Pull it out when needed. Often enough to beat your people into a frenzy and to make the rational folks nervous. When the rational folks are nervous, they usually fold a bit, giving just enough to appease the real bat-shit crazies, thinking they have held them at bay by giving something up. The brokers of the crazies laugh behind their hands at both groups, knowing all are fools.

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  27. I'm soooo sick of people I don't knowing trying to dictate my life and decisions! Fuck them all!!!!

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  28. I'm so fucking sick of those "in charge" treating women like mindless children. Fuck them.

    Well expressed, Mary. I am with you 100%.

    Love,

    SB

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  29. Oh! I love your passion, Ms. Moon. And the way you express yourself is better than anyone I know.

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  30. I love your ability to write so clearly about things that are so unbelievable.

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