2 posts tagged “abortion”

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Blogging against sexism

Mar 8, 2007
8 comments

Today is international women's day and, not coincidentally, blog against sexism day. I've been thinking about making a post outlining my position on various feminist issues, but haven't really executed the plan. Since I'm short on time, I'd like to just take a minute to briefly explain the way I feel about some issues. To keep things brief and clear, I've created a table to describe my thoughts. I've covered only six topics. Obviously, there are many more. Please feel free to share your opinions, especially about prostitution and pornography, as I am very conflicted over those. At the same time, you should know that nothing will change my opinions on the ERA, Abortion, or same-sex marriages. Happy International Women's Day!

Issue	Political Stance	Personal Belief
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the Constitution of the United States of America	I fully believe in and support the ERA. Until this country acknowledges that women are a fundamental part of American society by including them in the binding and legal document which upholds the republic, women (and men) will not be protected against sexism.	All women and men are created equal. All women and men will be held accountable for their own actions on Judgment Day.
Abortion	Abortion is a public health issue. Abortion must be completely legal in every state. All women must have access to a variety of birth control methods, and these birth control methods must be affordable to every woman. Likewise, more research must be conducted on hormonal birth control for men. However, until women have absolute autonomy over their bodies, reproduction, and sexuality, women will suffer. Men should never dictate to women how, when or where they produce offspring. There should be no spouse- or parental-notification laws.	Speaking strictly from a moral perspective, abortion is wrong. The Qur’an specifically prohibits feticide and infanticide. I acknowledge that religion and spirituality play a major role in many women’s sexuality and reproduction, and should not be ignored. However, these beliefs vary from woman to woman, and therefore cannot be dictated to society by a State. In my ideal world, all women and men would have access to birth control and would use it as they deem appropriate. Few women would have the need to seek abortions.
Same-sex marriages	All persons should be able to marry their partner of choice, as long as that partner is capable of making and expressing his or her commitment. This also means that persons seeking marriage must be of legal age. The State must acknowledge these unions and grant the persons involved the same privileges and rights that heterosexual unions receive under the law. Religious institutions do not need to endorse or approve of same-sex marriages.	I do not believe that Islam prohibits same-sex relations, nor do I believe that Muslims are required to denounce same-sex relations as unholy and sinful. All people have a right to believe, or not to believe, in whatever religion they choose. For more information on Islam and same-sex relations please visit the following web sources. Huriyah Imaan Al-Fatiha
Modest Dress	All women have a fundamental right to wear or not to wear whatever they want. No State should dictate to women how to dress or what to cover. Both the French and Turkish ban on the headscarf violate women’s rights, as well as laws, such as in Iran and Saudi Arabia, which force women to cover themselves. Covering is a choice.	Covering is a choice. I do not however, believe that the full face veil, or niqab, is an Islamic practice, nor is the burqa. I prefer to dress modestly, but I do not always cover my hair.
Prostitution	Prostitution is a public health issue. Legalizing prostitution and regulating it would be a better way to keep women safe. It would also cull human trafficking.	I absolutely, 100% detest and despise prostitution. This does not mean I feel any hatred towards women who sell themselves. On the contrary, I am saddened and enraged that women must resort to prostitution to feed themselves and their children. I am horrified and infuriated that men (fathers, brothers, husbands, uncles, cousins) sometimes force women into prostitution to make money. I am sickened at the thought that very young girls are sometimes sold to brothels, so that their family can have more money.
Pornography	Pornography is a public health issue. It should not be banned, as it is a form of expression. However, it should be regulated. Porn stars should wear condoms. Violent pornography (“snuff”) should remain illegal.	The vast majority of pornography is denigrating to women. I find it disgusting. Humans should embrace their sexuality, but that doesn’t mean they should take advantage of anyone sexually.

Living in Denial at the beginning of the millennium

Aug 6, 2006
1 comment

I'm so tired of the abortion question. I'm tired of hearing about it. I'm tired of arguing about it. I'm tired of writing about it. I'm just tired of it. There is so much more we all could be doing, instead of waking up at 6:00am to stand in front of a clinic and protect the women visiting it from the more and more violent growing anti-choice fanatics.

I have to admit that my activism this summer has been much lower than usual. Between my mind-numbingly difficult classes, the deadlines for preliminary data analysis for the study I work on, moving, being broke and being downright exhausted from the last academic year, I just haven't had the time to send personalized letters to senators, or letters to the editors, or to wake up at 6:00am to defend a women's clinic. For that, I feel terribly guilty. Now that everything has finally started to wind down in academia-ville (at least temporarily), I'm getting back into the habit of signing petitions and passing them around and mailing them to senators and writing letters and planning protests and marches and it feels great. Oh activism, how I missed you so.

The hottest topic in domestic policy over here in the states right now, of course, is Abortion. We all saw it coming when we got the new supreme court justices, but I don't think my generation is ready for this battle. The anti-choice side continues to live in complete denial over sex, birth control and abortion (among other things) and they are infinitely more organized than the pro-choicers. No matter how much hard evidence you seem to give these anti-choice fanatics, they continue to fight with this black-and-white attitude that the root of the abortion "problem" lies at the issue of legality, and once we make abortion illegal, the world will be a happy, heterosexual-rainbow filled baby-safe place. Still, it's not just abortion that they want to eliminate. The hardcore "pro-lifers" want to make access to homornal birth control, emergency contraception and even the HPV vaccine difficult (however, Focus on the Family has issued a statement supporting universal access to HPV vaccines). In other words, they're highjacking our reproductive freedom and, worst of all, our reproductive health.

Here's the thing. There's no use in arguing with protestors. For the most part, people who are participating in protests already have their minds set up. You might get them to concede to one of your points, if you're lucky, but that's as far as you'll get. If you're on of those people (protestors), and you don't agree with me, I simply tip my hat to you as a show of respect. I'm a protestor. Nothing will change my mind either, so let's not throw rotten eggs at each other. Instead we can fight over the middle ground.

Back when I was working at the library, I came across an article in The Christian Century which surprised me. Actually, it was an editorial, which was even more surprising. It basically summarized everything about the abortion issue, making it clear that abortion is more of a public health issue than it is a moral issue. Unfortunately, the website doesn't have this article archived (is it too old or too controversial?). I was wise enough to copy & paste it into my LiveJournal, so if you want to read the whole thing, be my guest. The article ends with this paragraph, which basically sums up everything I'm trying to say right now, without having to quote all the statistics that nobody wants to read unless they visit my LiveJournal anyway.

The low abortion rates in Western Europe should prompt Americans to ask how one actually fosters a “culture of life.” Couldn’t one create a culture in which abortion was a legal option that women rarely felt compelled to choose? Such a culture would feature hearts that welcome children, yes—but also widespread education about sex and contraception, and practical supports for the welcoming of new life.

Abortion isn't a legal issue. It might be a moral issue. Yet, if we would treat it as a public health issue, we would probably get better results in more than abortion rates (lower teen pregnancy, decline in STIs, even healthier sex lives, etc.). We could be killing a myriad of birds with one stone, instead of millions of women with one law.