Feeling Martina McBride right now.
Updated: Jul 17, 2022
I'm not saying it's right or it's wrong, but maybe it's the only way....
"...Day of reckoning... Let the right be wrong, let the weak be strong. Throw the stone away, let the guilty pay..." A story of a mother burning up her house, with herself and her abusive husband inside. The narrator is sent to the county home. Most of us can sing along and feel riotous indignation on behalf of the mother; think of her as saving her daughter from a terrible fate. Martina McBride's "Independence Day" written by Gretchen Peterson.
I'm pro-choice. I wouldn't wish that choice on anyone. I dedicate my professional life to helping people feed their baby. I love them all. Birth is amazing. To the person who considers themselves pro-life reading: thank you for your curiosity. I see you, and I know you have your reasons. At the heart is humans trying to understand their existence and do what is right. As a formally pro-life person, my up close view of sick infants and their families in crisis turned my heart around. And then I started the journey of anti-racism.
There is such imbalance, that the only person qualified to decide is the person who has to live with it. No one is ever the same once they've learned that they are pregnant. If they terminate that pregnancy, they know exactly what they are doing. They see the potential for an adorable cherub to be loved like so many TV commercials. They also see something else that shatters their heart, and know that's the way the story ends. So, they plan and consent for someone to cut a piece of their life and body out. They never forget. Sometimes that pregnancy was intentional and wanted. They deserve loving kindness. Not shame. Certainly not The State treating them like a criminal. I want them safe.
People have their reasons, that you may never understand. I'm not participating in the misery porn of sharing the myriad situations that brings a person, family, or couple to terminate a pregnancy. It's none of our business. Sharing more relatable stories places a moral hierarchy on reasons which I don't buy into. I know and love people who have aborted a Baby. Reader, so do you. I think it's a failing of our society that finds people facing such a hard and permanent choice.
"Everybody has a story that will break your heart, and if you're paying close enough attention, most people have a story that will bring you to your knees."
Brené Brown,PHD,MSW.
Human reproduction is frustrating. These are matters as private as can be. Here I am publishing my views about it on my blog. Every system I choose is more expensive due to the fact that my clients have a right their information being protected. We've all heard of HIPAA. How are we okay with government bureaucrats influencing these private matters? If anyone knows exactly how "the state" is going to know if a person has undergone an abortion, please share. I can't wrap my head around enforcing an abortion ban. There are fears expressed about cycle trackers and what is done with the data. If I pee on a stick at home, am I obligated to declare the results? To whom? This thought process is giving me the creeps.
Say things won't get quite as "Big Brother" as that. I can't wrap my head around it being a matter of where you live. Something so private and fundamental to my own life and pursuit of happiness is not alienable. Inalienable. I've heard that somewhere.
Right now, if you have the resources to move your body to a different state, you can exercise body autonomy. I learned of some organizations working to provide for under resourced people through the We can Do Hard Things Podcast:
Sister Song Indigenous Women Rising
New Mexico Religious Organization for Reproductive Choice
Support Groups:
PSI Offers Specialized Support Groups for topics. 2 of them are
Termination for Medical Reasons and Post Abortion.