There has been much internal conflict among congressional democrats, as you may have heard, about whether or not federal money should subsidize abortions or ANY health care plan that would cover abortions. Pro-choice House dems have said they would vot against any bill with anti-abortion legislation (enough to kill the bill), pro-life'ers have said the opposite thing basically.
Uh-oh.
Either way, this "Stupak amendment" got passed in the House: “No [government] funds… may be used to pay for any abortion or to cover any part of any of the costs of any health plan that includes coverage of abortion”
the full text: http://documents.nytimes.com/the-stupak-amendment#p=1
And I'm gonna be late for class if I keep writing stuff, so heres the NY Times editorial: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/opinion/10tue1.html?_r=2&8dpc
Another interesting column about possible political repurcussions and threats of them: http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/11/10/stung-by-setback-abortion-rights-backers-threaten-primary-chall
makes the claim that under the current health care system "Two major studies show that most Americans now have coverage for abortion services"
hmmmm....
This is more of a news update than anything I needed to process personally. You are either pro-choice or pro-life I suppose, we've hashed this one out before. Talk amongst yourselves, I gotta go to class.
Peace!
-middle paleozoic pro-choice poster (lets see who can figure this one out...)
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devin? haah i dunno.
ReplyDeletetoday in image and power zoe talked for a minute about how womyn are in very strange (double-bind type) positions in the U.S. (and elsewhere.......) because the State can legislate against the privacy of our bodies and intimate acts. we already know this, and i already know this, but it was still WILD to hear it again. sydnie you too? (sydnie and i are in that class together).
-baddie
While I totally agree with you and am pro-choice, abortion is obviously much trickier an issue than the privacy of womyn's bodies and intimate acts. Lets not forget that there is another life to consider here too...
ReplyDelete-devin
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ReplyDeletesorry about that, i had to fix some grammar/punctuation errors before i posted this:
ReplyDeleteabsolutley, absolutely, but the government should have nothing to do with it. womyn are capable of realizing these moral decisions on their own. In addition, cultures and communities, even communities of faith - are the ones with the responsibility to uphold truths on this matter, not a legislative body.
A government, 86% of which is composed of males, with the power to criminalize and punish womyn for stumbling on this often emotionally devastating, morality-shaking path, or at the very least deprive these womyn of care, is not a government that i personally believe in.
I am coming from a passionate, feminist pro-choice perspective here, however, I also have critiques of some feminist approaches to abortion. For example, P.A.S., Post Abortion Syndrome is often strongly attacked because it isn't a medically-validated syndrome. Many feminists argue hard against P.A.S. citing the motivations for its existence as political, possibly from "THE CHURCH"(dundundun), and rooted in "THE RIGHT"(dundundun).
Arguably these feminists could be totally correct, but in my studies on this I have found a solid lack of a counter-offer from many feminists. By this I mean that some feminists get so carried away in their critique of political agendas that they forget to take care of their own, and that at it's root meaning what Post Abortion Syndrome is all about is being spiritually serious about your abortion.
Not every woman experiences grief after an abortion, but many do. Whether a woman is mourning the loss of a life, or the loss of naivte, real emotional paradigmic change does happen.
Unfortunately even the wikipedia slants against P.A.S. citing NO psychological studies that show that womyn struggle after abortions.
It seems that many truths about abortion are different in different social echelons and communities. Thus the responsibility of enforced morality still rests with culture, not with governemnt.
-addie bo daddie
Well stated, Addie; however, I guess I must have less faith in humanity than you when you state that "womyn are capable of realizing these moral descisions on their own." Oh are they? You honestly think a 15 year old girl is going to know what to do with another human being's life in her belly? I don't think I would know what to do with another human beings life in my belly! I'd like to think that I would keep it but, I guess everyone would like to think that wouldnt they? That being said, I also don't think a mostly-male congress worrying about their own re-elections to office are the ones who know whats best to do either.
ReplyDeleteabortion always reminds me of one of my favorite lauryn hill songs
Unsure of what the balance held
I touched my belly overwhelmed
By what I had been chosen to perform
...
I love that song. It's honestly one of my very favorite songs of all time. I hear what you're saying on the 15-year old piece, let's not forget however that we don't know the history/herstory of the members of our class...so no judgements.
ReplyDeleteAnother factor to throw in the mix is considering the state of our foster care systems. It's fucking scary to decide to have a child in this country and give it away. That decision guarantees that the child will be in a system where the likelihood of sexual and physical abuse is INCREDIBLY high. I want to see congress take on the foster care system with the same passion they bring to will-conflicts on the issue of abortion.
If people in power want to criminalize abortion, overturn roe v. wade, then they need to provide structures of safety for these babies. This can't all fall on the mother.
A lot of this also has to do with the inavailability of knowledge around birth control. And not expensive, hormone-disrupting pills. I think everyone who is interested in this should come to the fertility awareness freeskool. There are so many natural forms of birth control. Even the morning-after pill can be substituted with a 2-3 day regiment of vitamin c tablets vaginally...(these are NOT instructions, there are very specific practices around this emergency situation and there is a great deal of literature available on this). From a class perspective, a wellness perspective, and a body empowerment perspective-fuller educated awareness on fertility and reproductive rights is SO important.
-raddie