Abortion

Important Hearing on Women’s Reproductive Health in Tennessee, Wed, March 11, at 3:00 P.M.

On March 10, 2009, in Liberate Your Radio from The Right, by Mary Mancini

Click to embiggen (pdf).

During Monday’s show, Freddie and I – *deep breath* in response to the desire by some legislators to take the easy way out by making complex issues appear in stark black and white so they can present them cynically to their constituents – had yet another difficult conversation about women’s reproductive health in Tennessee. We were also joined by one of our smarty-pants listeners:

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I’ve also written about the absolute need for exceptions in any law pertaining to reproductive health choices and better legislative options for addressing the issue of abortion – like preventing unwanted pregnancies by providing education and resources.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, March 11, at 3:00 pm, in room 16 of Legislative Plaza, the conversation will continue at a Public Hearing [pdf] in front of House Health and Human Resources Committee. Please consider attending the hearing so you can both stand against the most cynical of legislators and their divisive bills and support women’s reproductive health advocates.

The bills to be discussed are as follows:

HJR 0061 JUDICIARY: Constitution – right to abortion. Adds new provision to Article I to provide that nothing in Constitution of Tennessee secures or protects right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion except in cases involving rape, incest, or health of the mother. (H: Fincher)

HJR 0066 JUDICIARY: Constitution – right to abortion. Adds new provision to Article I to provide that nothing in Constitution of Tennessee secures or protects right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion. (H: Maggart)

HJR 0088 JUDICIARY: Constitutional amendment – right to or funding of abortion. Adds new provision to Article I to provide that nothing in Constitution of Tennessee secures or protects the right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion. Gives the legislature the authority to enact, amend, or repeal statutes regarding abortion, including circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest or when necessary to save the life of the mother. (H: Curtiss)

HJR 0132 HEALTH CARE: Constitutional amendment – vasectomy rights of married men. Adds new provision to Article I of the state constitution to provide that nothing in the constitution secures or protects right to a vasectomy. (H: Camper)

HB0025 – FAMILY LAW: Paternity testing for birth certificates. Requires paternity testing before a father can be listed on a birth certificate. Requires department of human services to pay the costs of the paternity tests for parties who are financially unable to pay. Broadly captioned. (S: Jackson; H: Hardaway)

HB0436 – HEALTH CARE: Standards for ambulatory surgical treatment centers. Requires that any physician’s office that performs abortions be classified as an as ambulatory surgical treatment centers. Requires the department of health, through the board for licensing health care facilities, to promulgate rules and regulations that contain certain minimum standards for the maintenance and operation of ambulatory surgical treatment centers. (S: Beavers; H: Shipley)

HB0445 – CRIMINAL LAW: Informed consent for abortions. Requires that the informed written consent of the woman be obtained prior to an abortion, providing for 24-hour period of reflection after the woman receives the information needed for an informed consent. Establishes requirements for a physician or other health care professional to follow in order to obtain informed consent from the woman. Establishes an exception to informed consent and waiting period requirements when necessary to protect the life or health of the woman. (S: Herron; H: Maddox)

HB0638 – FAMILY LAW: Viable human fetus as victim of child abuse. Revised definition of “child” to include a viable fetus of a human being for purposes of child abuse and aggravated child abuse offenses. (S: Burchett; H: Maggart)

HB0807 – HEALTH CARE: Stillborn deaths to be placed in vital records. Requires each fetal death, 500 or more grams or 22 or more completed weeks of gestation, to be placed in vital records. Gives parents the option of naming the stillborn child on such records. (S: Bunch; H: Campfield)

HB0819 – HEALTH CARE: Death certificate to be issued for abortions. Requires a death certificate to be filed with the office of vital records for each abortion performed in the state. Requires death certificate to state that the fetal death was due to an abortion. (S: Bunch; H: Campfield)

HB0862 – FAMILY LAW: Inception of human life. Defines “inception of human life” to mean the moment of human conception. (S: Gresham; H: Mumpower)

HB2106 – FAMILY LAW: Tennessee Pregnant Women Support Act. Authorizes the department of health to apply for federal grants to fund the collection of data regarding the number of abortions performed in this state, the characteristics of those seeking abortions, the reasons why women choose abortion, or any other information applicable to supporting pregnant women in this state who may be seeking an abortion. Requires the department of health to create a hotline as well as pamphlets for doctors’ offices to provide interested women with information about public and private health care services available to women during and after the birth of a child. (S: Herron; H: Fincher)

HB1756 – FAMILY LAW: Disposition of Family Planning Funds. As introduced, establishes a new methodology for disposition of family planning funds that disburses funds to public women’s health services programs before other providers are funded. – Amends TCA Section 68-34-105. (S: Johnson; H: Hensley)

Any legislation, including SJR127, HJR61 and HJR66, which attempts to begin the process of amending the State Constitution would be doing so in historical violation of the document’s purpose to expand rights, not take them away.

In addition, there are already a number of Tennessee laws which already regulate abortion, including parental consent, a ban on late-term abortions and patient informed consent. You can read about the effects of these laws in an open letter to Rep. Debra Maggart that was written by one broken-hearted Tennessee woman.

And, as I stated earlier, with the number of abortions in Tennessee is declining the focus of our legislature should be on how to prevent unwanted pregnancies by providing education and resources.

Before 3:00 PM tomorrow, please contact by phone or email each committee member. This is especially important if your representative is on the committee. You can find out who your Rep is at the Capitol website. Don’t forget to put your zip code in the subject line of your email.

Chair and Vice Chair of the House Health and Human Resources Committee:
Rep. Joe Armstrong rep.joe.armstrong@capitol.tn.gov
Rep. Joey Hensley rep.joey.hensley@capitol.tn.gov

UPDATE: Righteous anger from Aunt B and the interview with Family Action Council’s David Fowler that she’s so pissed off about.

Here’s a Good Example of an Exception (Part 2)

On March 8, 2009, in Liberate Your Radio from The Right, by Mary Mancini

Here’s an open to letter to Rep. Debra Maggart (R-45) for you to read while waiting for Wednesday’s House Health and Human Resources Committee public hearing to convene. The hearing is being called to discuss the many resolutions and bills introduced this session that focus on the reproductive health care of only half the population of Tennessee.

This past summer, our second daughter, Jenna, was diagnosed in utero with Trisomy 18, a chromosomal disorder doctors deem as incompatible with life. An ultrasound showed she also had a cystic hygroma (a fluid filled pocket on the back of her neck), a clubbed foot, very little brain matter, kidney malformations and other problems. My husband and I decided after a lot of soul searching to end the pregnancy. This was the hardest decision we had ever made. Jenna was very much wanted and very much loved. My strongest desire was to keep her from pain.

While we were waiting for our amniocentesis results, I did a lot of research on Trisomy 18 and the options available to us if she did have it. We wanted to end the pregnancy through a labor and delivery abortion at our hospital with our doctor. I wanted to be able to hold her and take pictures of her and make memories that would have to last us a lifetime. I thought I would be able to do this since abortion is legal in this country. Imagine my surprise when my doctor informed me that because I was almost 20 weeks pregnant, we would have to travel out of state to an abortion clinic to do so.

As I am sure you know, all second trimester abortions have to be performed in a hospital, and all doctors and hospitals have the right of refusal, meaning they can refuse to perform certain procedures if it goes against their moral beliefs. There are no exceptions for life of the mother, poor prenatal diagnosis or rape or incest. Because of these laws and the political climate in this state, many hospitals will no longer perform the procedure. Read the rest…

(Hat tip: Dru Fuller)

Tagged with: Abortion • Debra Maggert

Here’s a Good Example of an Exception

On March 5, 2009, in Liberate Your Radio from The Right, by Mary Mancini

From the NY Times:

A 9-year-old girl who was carrying twins, and whose stepfather is suspected of raping her, underwent an abortion on Wednesday despite complaints from Brazilâ€™s Roman Catholic Church. The stepfather has been jailed since last week, the police said. Abortion is illegal in Brazil, the country with the most Roman Catholics, but judges can make exceptions if the motherâ€™s life is in danger or the fetus has no chance of survival. Fatima Maia, director of the public university hospital where the abortion was performed, said the pregnancy, which was in its 15th week, posed a serious risk to the girl, who weighs 80 pounds. But Marcio Miranda, a lawyer for the Archdiocese of Olinda and Recife in northeastern Brazil, said the girl should have carried the twins to term and had a Caesarean section. “It’s the law of God: Do not kill,â€ he said in comments reported by the newspaper O Globo.

Tagged with: Abortion

Rep. Camper Fights the Powers that Snip

On March 1, 2009, in Liberate Your Radio from The Right, by Mary Mancini

Rep. Karen Camper (D-Memphis, itchin’ for a Fight in the 87th) has proposed House Resolution HJR132 in response to HJR61 by Rep. Henry Fincher (D-Cookeville) and the heath of the mother and HJR66 by Rep. Debra Maggart (R-Hendersonville):

Nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to a vasectomy. The people retain the right through their elected state representatives and state senators to enact, amend, or repeal statutes regarding how and when a vasectomy may be obtained, especially related to situations involving the knowledge and consent of a spouse when the person requesting the vasectomy is married.

A heated discussion is going on this morning at a Kleinheider joint, and Aunt B., as usual, brings it.

What this bill does is shed some much needed light on who in the state of Tennessee is trusted to make decisions about their own reproductive health (men) and who is not (women).

Tagged with: Abortion • Debra Maggert • Henry Fincher • HJR132 • HJR61 • HJR66 • Karen Camper

Proposing a Constitutional Amendment to Infringe on Women’s Reproductive Health is Not A Solution

On February 23, 2009, in Liberate Your Radio from The Right, by Mary Mancini

Keeping that Pesky Stork at Bay

Freddie and I had a conversation on this morning’s show called, “Don’t they have anything better to do?,” in which we tried to figure out why Republicans, who are in complete control of both the Tennessee House and Senate for the first time since Reconstruction, have nothing better to do than introduce legislation that infringes on the reproductive health of women. Is that what Tennesseans voted them in to do, we asked? Or did we want something to be done about our bottom-of-the-barrel health, safety, and public service statistics?

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You know what we mean. Every time a study is released that statistically ranks the states, Tennessee is always in the bottom half and most likely in the bottom third. For instance, Tennessee is 37th in Child Abuse Fatalities, 39th in Children in Poverty, 40th in High School Graduation, 48th in infant mortality, and 49th in violent crime

Well, we didn’t have to wait too long or look too far for answers. Colby Sledge gave us the skinny in today’s Tennessean – Rep. Mumpower and his wobbly majority have a culture war agenda and they’re not afraid to use it.

And so, tomorrow it begins. Resolutions HJR61 and HJR66 – proposed amendments that would constitutionally take away the right to abortion in Tennessee – will be heard at 4:00 p.m. in the House Public Health and Family Assistance Subcommittee.

So why are there two resolutions? Well, even though both begin with “Nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion,” HJR61 by Rep. Henry Fincher (D-Cookeville), calls for exceptions for rape, incest, and the heath of the mother and HJR66 by Rep. Debra Maggart (R-Hendersonville), does not. The Democrats call their bill “compromise legislation that they hope brings hot-button topics closer to the political center.” The Republicans say theirs is “not to lay the groundwork to ban abortion altogether, but rather to begin efforts to restore regulations rendered null and void” by a 2000 ruling by the Tennessee Supreme Court affirming a womanâ€™s right to private health care decisions.

Since 2001, this kind of resolution, which has passed 4 times in the Senate, has failed in the House subcommittee. But Democrats no longer control the committee – it’s now split 4-4 – and newly-crowned Speaker of the House and legislative committee tie-breaker Kent Williams (R-Elizabethton) has said he would swing his mighty gavel and vote to pass the anti-abortion resolution – without the exceptions.

A pox on you Speaker Williams.

And a double-pox on you Rep. Maggart. “No exceptions?” How did you even conceive of “no exceptions?” I must request verification that you are, indeed, a woman because sponsoring legislation like this as a woman can get you kicked out of “the club.” And while we’re at it, I’d like to see your birth certificate, too.

More disturbing still is that both the Democrats and Republicans know that a Constitutional amendment – with or without exceptions – will do nothing to reduce the number of abortions performed in Tennessee. Which begs the question, are they really looking to do that?

Did you know that although Tennessee is ranked 20th in providing family planning public funding (publicly supported contraceptive services and supplies), we’re ranked 42nd in family planning laws and policies (whether laws and policies are likely to facilitate access to contraceptive services and information), 30th in family planning service availability (how well states meet existing need for subsidized contraceptive services and supplies), and 40th in births to teen mothers ages 15-19.

Disconnect, much? If the members of the Tennessee legislature wanted real solutions, they would do two things. First, they’d be honest and admit that there are already a number of Tennessee laws which regulate abortion – including parental consent, a ban on late-term abortions and patient informed consent. Then, they would focus on researching and providing the most effective education and resources that would actually, you know, reduce the number of unintended pregnancies.

Between now and 4:00 PM tomorrow, please members of the House Public Health and Family Assistance Subcommittee as well as your state representatives, and ask them to put their valuable time and energy into real solutions for Tennessee’s problems.

Tell’em the newly enlightened Sarah Palin and her daughter, Bristol, sent you.

UPDATE: Today’s meeting of the subcommittee has been postponed. They will reschedule to hear all bills pertaining to reproductive health rights at one time. I will keep you posted.

Tagged with: Abortion • Bristol Palin • Debra Maggert • Henry Fincher • HJR61 • HJR66 • Sarah Palin

Feminist.Org’s Eleanor Smeal Redefines the Conversation, Bristol and Sarah Palin Run With It

On February 18, 2009, in Liberate Your Radio from The Right, by Mary Mancini

The anti-choice movement still refuses to compromise (check out this one-sided Talk of the Nation round table discussion for proof) – which is unfortunate because they are now moving us even further backwards – away from “safe, legal, and rare” and towards demonizing birth control! Additional evidence of the no-uterus crowd’s war on contraception was seen more recently with the trivialization of an affordable contraception provision contained in the economic stimulus package and the demonization of President Obama’s reversal of the Global Gag Rule.

One of Liberadio(!)’s recent guests, Eleanor Smeal of the Feminist Majority Foundation, insists, and rightly so, that this cannot stand. We have to get the conversation back to one that is reasonable and rational she said, let’s stop making the lives of women a political football and move the conversation towards the importance of freely available and affordable contraception, women’s health issues, and reducing the number of abortions.

Little did Ms. Smeal know when she spoke to us at the beginning of the month, that her agenda would be advanced by Fox News, Greta Van Susteren, Bristol Palin, and Bristol Palin’s mom.

Bristol Palin – who discovered herself pregnant at 17 – now understands from personal experience that abstinence only is “not realistic at all” and that the pregnant one is the one who ultimately makes the difficult decisions:

VAN SUSTEREN: Did you read any of the tabloids?

BRISTOL: I’ve seen some of them, and I think people out there are just evil because they don’t know what was going on at all.

VAN SUSTEREN: What didn’t anybody get? What didn’t people understand?

BRISTOL: That — there’s a lot of things. They thought that, like, my mom was going to make me have the baby, and it was my choice to have the baby. And it’s just — that kind of stuff just bothered me.

VAN SUSTEREN: And in terms of your mother making you have the baby, I mean, the whole issue of, I guess, the right — the right to life and choice and things like that.

BRISTOL: Yes. Yes.

VAN SUSTEREN: But this is your issue. This is your decision.

BRISTOL: Yes. And would have — doesn’t matter what my mom’s views are on it. It was my decision, and I wish people would realize that, too.

And Governor Sarah Palin, who has a definite populist appeal, now understands – also from personal experience – the consequences of abstinence only education and that not everyone who finds themselves pregnant at too young an age is lucky enough to have Bristol’s support system:

VAN SUSTEREN: Well, you know, but it’s — I mean, you look at this, and it’s joy in this family. You know, and some families aren’t…

SARAH PALIN: Oh, yes.

VAN SUSTEREN: You know, some families don’t have the broad family support. I mean, she’s got the brothers and the sisters and the parents and the grandparents.

SARAH PALIN: We have five (ph) generations helping right now. And Bristol — maybe she got to talk to you a little bit about that, that we have a very large network of family, so a lot of support. And Bristol’s in — maybe she’s a bit of an anomaly in this situation, in that she has a lot of support. She has it perhaps easier, if you will, than other young mothers. But many, many, many young parents have been successful in raising their children and have raised healthy, happy, contributing members of our society.
…
VAN SUSTEREN: So it’s not just an issue of abstinence. That’s one issue. But once we get beyond that — you know, because when you have the discussion of abstinence, it’s almost — I always sort of feel badly because there’s a wonderful child here and talking abstinence sounds — I mean, it sounds…

SARAH PALIN: (INAUDIBLE) naive (INAUDIBLE)

VAN SUSTEREN: Well, it doesn’t even — it doesn’t even sound naive, but it doesn’t sound very nice because this is a wonderful young boy.

SARAH PALIN: Yes.

VAN SUSTEREN: You know, I mean, and so I hate to have that topic…

SARAH PALIN: I hear (ph) you.

VAN SUSTEREN: You know, the bigger topic is, OK, now the situation — the bigger question is, like, now — you know, how to make it go right.

SARAH PALIN: Exactly. Exactly. So you get behind that, that ideal of, yes, abstinence, you know? Hey, don’t get pregnant. Well, get beyond that when it happens, and then you deal with it. Life happens. Life happens and you deal with it, and Bristol’s dealing with it wonderfully.

In the Palins, who have the country’s collective ear and seem to now get that there are no absolute, clear-cut, answers to reproductive health issues, Ms. Smeal might have found just the spokespeople to fulfill her wish of leading the abortion conversation out of the wilderness and back to the “reasonable and rational.”

As an aside, though, I do have to wonder why Governor Palin couldn’t muster up enough empathy before Bristol’s pregnancy to figure out why people in the real world – too many, in fact – find themselves in these situations all the time. Was it her lack of imagination? No natural curiosity? Hubris? Blind faith? Pure political calculus? But I digress…

Elleanor Smeal is quite an able spokesperson for what is reasonable and rational, as you can tell by the following audio gleaned from her recent appearance on Liberadio(!), but she just might find that it’s the Palin women, and not she, who will be invited on the TV and radio. If she’s smart, she’s already picked up the phone.

Eleanor Smeal on:

Global Gag Rule and its Reversal – The Global Gag rule meant that family planning groups around the world couldn’t talk about abortion if they received aid from the US. That meant less gynecological services for women (70,000 women die of botched abortions in the third world and over 500,000 die of maternal illnesses). It also meant the cutting off of condom shipments to 20 countries during the time of a full-blown AIDS epidemic in Africa. Link to mp3 (1:58)

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The United States Restored Partnership to United Nations Population Fund – We are just one of the donors but by cutting off aid we caused much suffering. Link to mp3 (0:58)

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On the Abortion Debate – How to make progress with a group who now wants to make birth control controversial. Which begs the question, wouldn’t access to birth control reduce the number of abortions? Link to mp3 (1:36)

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On Sarah Palin’s Feminist Cred – Does she have any? How could she not! Link to mp3 (0:46)

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An “I Probably Shouldn’t Be Telling You This But” Moment
The signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Act was the first time women’s rights advocates have been in the White House in 8 years. Link to mp3 (0:54)

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What She’s Hoping to Work Very Hard to Get Accomplished During the Obama administration – A convention to eliminate all forms of discrimination around the world, the paid family medical leave act, and then some. Link to mp3 (2:16)

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Listen to the Full Interview
Link to mp3 (12:30)

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Tagged with: Abortion • Abstinence Only • Bristol Palin • Contraception • Eleanor Smeal • Feminist Majority Foundation • Global Gag Rule • Sarah Palin • United Nations Population Fund • Women's Health

Doctor, The Mother’s Life is in Danger! Quick, Call El Rushbo!

On February 16, 2009, in Liberate Your Radio from The Right, by Mary Mancini

It’s a tremendous leap from “[t]he national coordinator for health information technology shall undertake the development of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure that provides appropriate information to help guide medical decisions at the time and place of care” to “Barack Obama wants old people to die,” but leave it to Tennessee’s own Steve Gill to make the jump. And he’s been making that same jump for over a week now, ever since Rush Limbaugh picked up former New York Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey false claim that provisions in the economic recovery act would allow the federal government to determine what is and is not “unnecessary care”:

But the bill goes much further on page 442. It explicitly says that the government will be delivering information to your doctor at bedside, quote, â€œto guide decisions at the time and place of careâ€â€”at the time and place of care. So, in fact, this is going be a two-way system. Your medical treatments will be stored in the medical database but the government will also be communicating with your doctor at the time and place of care.

Freddie and I talked about what a load of hooey this was on the show this morning – McCaughey left out one tiny, but crucial, word and oh, by the way, she gets paid by the very people who want to stop healthcare reform at any cost:

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But our Aunt B. (can we call you “our Aunt B.?) of the Tiny Cat Pants wrote in with another salient point:

I was listening to you on the way into work talking about the weirdness with the Republican talking point about the Dems wanting there to be some kind of live-chat between your doctor and Obama during your appointment in order to determine what kind of medical treatment you should get. And I loved it! But I just wanted to say that you missed, I think, the most obvious weird thing–the Republicans really do want half of us to have to okay our medical procedures with the government. You’re going to tell me that they wouldn’t love some system whereby when a woman wanted an abortion, the doctor had to text Rush Limbaugh and discuss her case with him to see how to procede? So, how come what’s good for the gander isn’t good for the goose?

Shhhhhh, Aunt B! Don’t give them any ideas! Come to think of it, maybe that’s what they’re afraid of? Monitored medical records might mean a whole mess of skeletons tumbling out of the closets of the “No Uterus” crowd, which would undoubtedly mess up their very deft use of abortion as a political football.

So, Rush, Steve, et. al, which is it? Medical privacy for everyone – including women – or not?

UPDATE: Another email from a loyal listener:

This is the dumbest argumnent I’ve ever heard. Evidence-based medicine is one of the most basic changes that we can make to fix the healthcare system. This isn’t: we’re going to tell you how to treat your patient. This is: we’re going to see what actually works and what doesnt’ and give you the results so that you can have the most effective information possible. Are they against the CDC?? This is so dumb. I want this opposition engraved on their tombstone so that for all of eternity they will be remembered as dumb.

Have the heard the one about the birth certificate?

UPDATE: Don’t forget to read about my Aunt B.’s powerful female bits. How powerful, you ask? So powerful that elected officials feel the need to regulate them.

Tagged with: Abortion • Department of Hypocrisy Department • Health Care • Rush Limbaugh • Screaming Tightie Righties • Steve Gill

Misconceptions: A Reflection of Values

On September 1, 2008, in Liberate Your Radio from The Right, by Freddie

Let me start by saying I understand fully that there’s nothing I, or anyone else seriously interested in the following issues, will be able to do to avoid the attacks by the Bill Hobbses, the Robin Smiths, the Steve Schmidts, and the social conservative commentariat of the world, who will tear apart anyone who is not an evangelical for going anywhere near the issue of the recent revelation of a political pregnancy. But the shredding of the cynical veil of ignorance and arrogance these people wield is long overdue, and if I can so much as nick a thread, I will have contributed to a necessary discussion. So let’s begin untangling this narrative.

One could feel the crackling political romance begin a scant 6 months ago when they met. As if in response to McCain’s profound POW virility, his selected vice presidential candidate’s daughter (to name her would, of course, be to become part of the DailyKos liberal blogosphere smear machine that loves nothing better than to destroy the lives of young mothers everywhere) shortly thereafter found herself pregnant. And this was, of course, no fault of her own. From strict parenting and conservative values straight to the heroism of young motherhood and proper decisions, like marrying the young father. The messy stuff in the middle is just a trap for stupid liberals who just like attacking life!

Let’s review the turn-backs, shall we?

Bristol is only pregnant because the liberal blogosphere is so mean!
That’s right. If we only could’ve delayed public knowledge of this celebration of life till after the election, the world would see it for what it is: a triumph of humanity and the miracle of life.
Abstinence-only is okay because pregnancy isn’t punishment
Life is a miracle! In fact, to quote top McCain spokesperson Steve Schmidt, “Life happens.” Why, we barely even need sex at all! Liberals would have us believe that pregnancies could ever be unwanted. They not only hate pregnant people, they hate children. In fact, they hate life itself! Why do liberals hate America?!
The best-laid plans don’t go awry; they go to a happy, supportive village.
Yes, from the Palins themselves, we have this:

“Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned.”

That’s right. Because when one has values, one doesn’t need planning, even though if the values had worked the on the first pass, then we wouldn’t need to promote our values so much right now. Because if we don’t promote our values vigorously at the moment, people might notice that these values only work for us, the well-off and comfortable, and not so much for the 20% of Americans in poverty. But, really, in the end, they’ll just have to work a little harder. And they can always talk about their values!
When liberals have sex, it’s really bad. Like, morally reprehensible and completely unforgivable.
Remember when Bill Clinton committed adultery? And John Edwards? And how that ruined a presidency and then terminated a political career? And remember how Newt Gingrich was in the middle of an affair as he was taking down Clinton and how Rudy Giuliani and John McCain were embarassingly unfaithful husbands and were finalists for the Republican nomination and how McCain ultimately won? Well, that’s because Republicans actually understand sexual morality, so they don’t really have to live it. But because Democrats are morally inferior creatures, they must not be allowed anywhere near public office because they’ll force the Palins to get abortions!

The Palins don’t need to communicate to the world that premarital sex is wrong because it turns out, secretly, we’re all human! *wink wink* Get it? It’s only wrong in the Bible! Not when we conservatives actually do it. (But when Democrats do it, watch out!!!)

We have our tinniest foil hats on the case right now to reveal the scandal that both of Obama’s daughters are pregnant!!!

(Beat.)

Okay. To borrow a phrase from Bill O’Reilly, “Fucking thing sucks!”

In reality, Sarah Palin’s outlook on life is to leave teenagers everywhere, both male and female, unequipped to deal with their own biology. And let me be clear: My biggest pet peeve from some promiscuity-accepting progressives is hearing, “Teenagers have sex!” Right. We just have to accept that. There’s nothing we could possibly do to demagnetize these raging skin-covered hormone balls! If I were one, I’m sure I’d be having sex right now! With the closest post-pubescent human near me! That said, failure to combine biological instruction with moral and even, really, social instruction is a recipe for failure. And for some reason, we’re content to keep cooking it.

I think a common failure of progressive discussion of sexual issues is founded in liberation rather than deliberation. Too often, the discussion assumes that all teenagers will try to have sex and that we should at least ensure that they’ll get it on safely. I reject the implicit anti-abstinence assumption in these discussions, especially after learning that teen intelligence was correlated with decisions to wait to have sex. I firmly believe that if we tackled this discussion aggressively and talked about morality, culture, and health, we would get somewhere with our ability to have mutually acceptable (and often different, but better understood) sexual mores as a culture.

Ms. Palin’s social conservatism, on the other hand, is itself a tacit promotion of promiscuity. When, for instance, will we get to the part where her next youngest daughter learns that what her older sister did was considered morally wrong? That doesn’t seem to show up in the public statement anywhere. Where is her actual leadership on abstinence other than in forcing the families of others to have no dialogue about anything else regarding sexual activity? This is, by their request, a private moment of celebration for the Palins. There’s no disappointment; only support. Is disappointment and punishment a private matter while support and unconditional love can be public?

I’ve already alluded to Kathryn Jean Lopez’s celebration of unplanned pregnancy as an unpunishable state. There is no accountability in the post-Bush world of conservatism. There are only transitive values. The collapse and failure of those values that have consequences (like, say, pregnancy) don’t matter because the values now apply to the consequences. And when those values fail (like, say, underfunded children’s services), we get to transfer the values neatly to the people who don’t share them with ideological fervor: liberals.

I’ll be glad to grant the Palins their privacy. But the circumstances they wish to keep private, they, and others like them, keep foisting on the public through cynical public policy that fails. And when public policy fails, Ms. Lopez’s thoughts notwithstanding, government does, in fact, punish its people. Failing to equip teenagers with appropriate sex education puts them at greater risk for sexual abuse, leaves them unprepared to understand why abstinence could be important (whether for religious or broader social and health reasons), and ultimately raises the cost of running both a family and a village.

Planning is important. And implementation of plans is even more important. And though Ms. Palin and her ilk would have us all believe otherwise, Planned Parenthood is not an abortion factory; it is an organization that promotes the very family planning the Palins failed to do. Sex and pregnancy and childhood development are not simple issues. They are extremely complicated. And because of that, they deserve our best and most considerate and considered efforts in public policy not bound by orthodox ideologies. Also, unplanned pregnancy is not de facto punishment. But those, like Ms. Palin, who propagate their non-mainstream ideas through public policy that results in high social costs ought to be punished.

Tagged with: Abortion • Abstinence • Barack Obama • Bill Clinton • John McCain • Sarah Palin • Sex Education

We’ll Never Discuss This Again

On March 27, 2008, in Uncategorized, by Freddie

Last night, I saw 4 months 3 weeks & 2 days at the Belcourt. I’ve written before about the difficulties of discussing abortion, and this movie puts those difficulties front and center in examining a scenario in late 1980s Romania under a repressive regime that outlawed abortion.

An anti-choice friend of mine once described abortion to me as “an inconvenience,” and I wonder what her perspective of this movie would be. There’s no exploration of how the pregnancy in question occurred, only that it is unwanted and leads to desperate measures. I think the lengths to which it is implied that women in this era would go to get an abortion strikes right at the heart of the notion that unwanted pregnancy is a mere “inconvenience.” It’s not a comment on a moral absolute, but it is a strong comment on the desperation that affects people experiencing more than “an inconvenience” on their own terms, if not those of the anti-choice community.

Considering the amount of overlap between the anti-choice and anti-immigrant communities (at least in terms of voting blocs), I’m curious about whether there is enough compassionate conservatism to accept the unwanted children of poor foreign nations? This is the same community, after all, that constantly votes to undo our welfare state. To me, there’s a lack of consistency in the democratically expressed world view of the anti-choice community.

I remain, by my own definitions, vigorously pro-life. And continue to wonder at how those who use that term for different purposes condone so much warmongering and gun-love from their elected leaders.

Anyway, I’m disappointed that I missed last year’s Lake of Fire, which also played at the Belcourt, as I understand it was a nice accounting of both sides of the debate. Still, for a thought-provoking look at abortion in a context that seems designed to evoke empathy, 4 months 3 weeks & 2 days is worth a careful look.

Unlike the poor protagonists from this movie, I think we will discuss this again.

Tagged with: Abortion • Belcourt Theatre

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