A thousand times, it seems, I’ve sat down to write my thoughts about abortion and have deleted every one. Why?
The first reason is the most obvious: It is a personal choice.
The second reason is more covert, and one that I will ask with a question:
Would a woman who chose to have artificial insemination then choose to have an abortion?
No, I don’t think so.
The whole political quagmire that surrounds the issue of abortion comes from the problem of unwanted pregnancies that result from a man and a woman having sex.
When it takes two to tango, so to speak, why aren’t both parties then responsible for the outcome, the problem, the baby? I bet there wouldn’t be a federal deficit if we could issue speeding tickets to all the men high-tailing it out of there once his girlfriend gets knocked up!
The simplest, probably most effective form of birth control – that, by the way, solves a lot of other little problems like STD’s too – is the condom. They are inexpensive, available without a prescription, and for once, doesn’t carry any side effects detrimental to a woman. So, what’s the problem here? Oh, sorry. Men don’t like them.
If men would wear condoms during sex, there would not be an abortion issue. Period.
That this abortion issue has even boiled itself down to “pro-life” and “pro-choice” factions is a huge, glaring indication of what is never said out loud:
This is a society in which women exist solely for the pleasure of men.
We are the “innies” to their “outies.” We are passive receptacles. We are inferior and meant to be barefoot and pregnant. We are expected to go out and work – and earn less – and still come home to take care of the house. We are expected to put out, put up and shut up. If we get pregnant, we are bad girls with a big problem. This has not changed one iota in all my half century of years on Earth.
Of course this is a generality. And, it’s becoming a very dangerous generality. If the extremism prevails, more freedoms and rights will be destroyed across the board. Once a freedom is lost, it becomes that much easier to lose another and another and another.
I think it’s time to start the conversation about the real issue: inequality.
Are you ready to talk?
