Damned if You Do, Damned if You Don’t: The Florida Teenager Who Will be Forced to Give Birth

Being a parent, especially when your children are young is an all-consuming task. It requires one to be financially stable as well as emotionally and physically present. While I would love to say that every adult is able to materially and emotionally able to care for their children, the truth is that some are not.

Last week, in Florida (because of course it’s Florida), a court told a teenage girl that she cannot have an abortion. This girl is an orphan and is without the support system that other young ladies in her situation have. Though she clearly stated that she is not ready to be a mother, the court decided that she was too immature to make the decision herself.

Let me make sure I understand this. A young girl, who is a ward of the state because she is without family, is told to have the child. Even though she clearly stated that she is unable to care for said child. This means, that when she or he is born, the cycle of poverty and relying on the government will potentially be repeated for another generation.

This is the bullshit that the pro-life movement propagates. They are all about the 9 months of pregnancy. But after the birth, the parent(s) are their own. They then complain that precious tax dollars are being given to Americans who are not pulling their weight. If this girl would be allowed to make the decision about her body and her future, then she would be able to one day stand on her own two feet and not be a “burden”.

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Let’s Talk About the Real Baby Killers (Hint: It’s Not Pro-Choice Activists)

We all know that children are our most precious resource. Without the next generation, our future is non-existent. As we all know, 19 of those precious resources were taken from us earlier on Tuesday in Uvalde, Texas.

Those who are pro-life and against Roe V. Wade argue that abortion is nothing more than the killing of babies. I would argue the opposite. Republicans who are vocally against gun control laws are the real baby killers.

BREAKING: Uvalde killer did not act alone.

He was helped by 1 governor, dozens of state legislators, hundreds of federal legislators, and various federal judges, who are still at large — and in office.

— Tristan Snell (@TristanSnell) May 25, 2022

In the three days since the murders, Texas leadership has placed the blame on every issue except one: the fact that the gunman was able to easily get access to a firearm. The only one of them to speak the truth is Beto O’Rourke. When he dared to confront public officials, he was booted out of the room and called all sorts of names.

Courtesy of Facebook.

What I find completely ironic and sad is that while Governor Greg Abbott placed at the feet of responsibility among other things, mental health, he authorized cutting millions of dollars of mental health aid from the state budget.

When I think of both of these topics entwined together, I think of the younger generation who has been traumatized by these events. Not just the kids who are hearing about this on the news or from adults, but the ones who were there. The scars of hearing and/or watching their classmates and teachers being killed will likely create scars that will stay with the survivors for decades.

I remember that right after Columbine happened, there were some who condemned the band, Marilyn Manson, for the killings. I’ve never had even an iota of interest in their music. The problem is that instead of looking inward to understand what led to the tragedy, the accused were outside actors who in reality, had nothing to do with the problem.

It’s been three days and my heart still hurts. The only silver lining is that this may be the figurative fire that finally forces us to codify legislation, both at the national and state level that stops this kind of event. The question is if our lawmakers have the balls and the backbone to do so.

P.S. The husband of one of the teachers who tried to save her students died from a heart attack, unable to deal with the grief. I can only imagine what their kids are going through, having lost both of their parents.

Z”L

So You Want to End Abortion…

There are many people in this country and around the world who believe that abortion is both illegal and immoral. If this is what you believe, this is what has to be done to stop it entirely.

• Teach our boys and men to respect women.
• Break down all of the boundaries that still prevent females from achieving everything they want to achieve. An educated woman with a solid career is more likely to have a child when she is financially and emotionally ready to be a mother.
• Upon reaching puberty, all boys are required by law to have a vasectomy. When they have proven that they can properly take care of their offspring, the vasectomy is reversed.
• If an unplanned pregnancy occurs (whether via wanted or unwanted sex) and the man refuses to take responsibility, use law enforcement to ensure that both the mother and child are taken care of until the child turns eighteen. If he still refuses, cut his junk off.
• Ensure that every child is given age-appropriate sex education.
• Make birth control easily accessible without charging an arm and a leg.
• Ensure that every pregnant woman has easy access to affordable and reliable medical care until she gives birth. After the baby is born, make sure that the parents can do the same for pediatric care.
• If the mother and/or parents are in a financial/employment bind, the government is responsible for providing additional support. This includes housing, food, etc.
• Reduce the cost of daycare to be proportional to the salaries of the adults in the home.
• From the moment they are born, each child is guaranteed a well-balanced education from pre-school all the way up to college. If they choose to go for an advanced degree, that is on them.
• If the youngster is unable to be raised within the bosom of their family and has to be put into social services, remove the identity labels that prevent some from fostering and/or adopting the minor.
• Add mental health screenings as part of the regular medical checkup. If there is supplemental help is needed, it is marked as preventative by the health insurance companies and charged as such.
• If abortion is determined as necessary by a medical health professional, give the family room to consider their options and do not judge them if the decision is made to end the pregnancy.

P.S. Did you hear that a good amount of Republicans in the Senate voted no on a bill that would help with the baby formula shortage? So much for pro-life.

Domestic Supply of Infants is Not That Hard to Understand

The difference between being seen as breeding stock and a fully-fledged human being with responsibilities, dreams, ambitions, etc comes down to one word: rights.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito made a very damning and unnerving statement in the body of the leaked draft of the opinion that could potentially overturn Roe V. Wade. Buried in the footnotes is a quote from a 2002 CDC report about adoption within the United States.

“Whereas the domestic supply of infants relinquished at birth or within the first month of life and available to be adopted has become virtually nonexistent.”

I’m going to let NY Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and the late George Carlin take it from here.

What bothers me are two things. The first thing is that it opens the door to a slippery slope. Abortion is low-hanging fruit to these people. What’s next? Losing access to birth control? Taking away the ability to marry for LGBTQ couples and biracial couples? Undoing the 19th amendment and the 14th amendment?

The second thing is that this opinion is based on rulings that are centuries old. I’m not a lawyer, but it seems to me that they are grasping at straws, finding any legal theory (even the archaic ones) that they believe will support their cause.

Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about SCOTUS judges. Their appointments are for life. But we can vote for Democrats at every level. They are the only ones who are both working for the people of this nation and fighting for the freedoms that we all hold dear.

The 49th Anniversary of Roe V. Wade Could be It’s Last

The anniversary of any legislation that enfranchises a formerly disenfranchised people should be one of remembrance and respect.

Yesterday was the 49th anniversary of Roe V. Wade. If things go a certain way, there is a good chance that it would be a thing of the past. The choice of whether or not to carry a pregnancy to term and care for the child that comes out of that pregnancy is not the decision of the government. It is a decision that is deeply personal. The only people concerned are the ones that have a hand in making that decision.

If Roe is either completely overturned or is rendered toothless, the potential of a patchwork of state laws is very real. Depending on where the pregnant person lives and the income they bring in, they could at best have access to a safe abortion or at worst use the coathanger method of ending the pregnancy. If the pregnant person survives, the physical repercussions on their body does not fade quickly or easily.

We all know that having children is a blessing. But it is also a responsibility that I think some pro-life people conveniently forget. Not every child is blessed to have parents who are able to emotionally and financially support them.

At the end of the day, Roe is about a pregnant person (a woman to be specific) deciding their own destiny. Unfortunately, we live in a world in which some believe that a woman either does not have the right to or is unable to draw her own conclusions. For that reason alone, the fight for Roe must continue on.

Gutting Roe V. Wade by the Supreme Court Sets a Dangerous Precedent

This coming week has the potential to forever change the United States for the worse. Roe V. Wade could become a shell of its former self if the ruling by the Supreme Court goes a certain way.

A recent ad campaign tells the story of Annie Fitzgerald. Adopted as an infant, she emphasizes pro-life values.

Adoption is wonderful. However, it is not a cure all, as Justice Amy Coney Barrett suggests. As of 2019, there were 424,00 children in the foster system on any given day alone. The question I would ask anyone who is pro-life is are they willing to step in and be the parents these kids need? Or are they all talk and no action?

In Judaism, abortion is allowed, up until birth. If the life of the mother is threatened, then it is permitted to end the pregnancy. Though it becomes a bit murky after that, the message that the decision is up to the woman is revolutionary.

My body, my future, my choice. If you don’t have a uterus, be quiet. If you do have a uterus, you should still be quiet.

At the end of the day, the choice belong to the woman, her doctor, her spouse/partner (if she has one), and her heavenly creator (if she has such beliefs). No one else should be putting in their two cents.

P.S. I am going to end this post with a tweet that says it all.

Republicans: If you have an abortion, you are a criminal.

Also Republicans: If you give your child a gun and he uses it to murder people, you are not a criminal.

— The Volatile Mermaid (@OhNoSheTwitnt) December 4, 2021

Brooklyn Decker Speaks the Hypocritical Truth About the Texas Abortion Ban

There is nothing more hypocritical than a politician speaking out of both sides of their mouth.

I wrote about the Texas abortion ban earlier this week. I am not the only one who is outraged by this law. Yesterday, actress and model Brooklyn Decker shared her thoughts via social media. When a state tightly controls women’s bodies, but is lax on gun control, their actions speak louder than any amount of words can. If this is what it means to be “pro-life“, I have to ask what they mean by stating this and whose lives are worthy of protection?

A message for Texas lawmakers, especially @GovAbbott @GregAbbott_TX

One correction: I said “kids” when I should have said “students” referring to the Campus Carry Law pic.twitter.com/qX5s0I98Ew

— Brooklyn Decker (@BrooklynDecker) September 2, 2021

Thoughts On Sex Ed for Senators

Logic states that when a major decision needs to be made, one completes research and gathers all of the facts before making said decision. Unfortunately, politics and logic don’t always go hand in hand.

In the wake of the Alabama abortion bill and the various fetal heartbeat bill that have passed in other states, I hope that the lawmakers consulted with anyone in the medical community or at least have someone on their staff check on the Internet before signing the bills into law. But hope often springs eternal.

The scary part of these bills is that these lawmakers are putting the lives of America’s women and girls in danger without blinking an eye. If they really cared about us, they would in the very least, speak to a medical professional or ask one of their staff to make sure that they have the right information. But they didn’t and because of that, who knows how many lives could be at stake?

Thank you, Samantha Bee for speaking the truth. If only we could all do the same.

Thoughts On the Alabama Abortion Bill

Anyone who knows me (or at least has read this blog regularly), knows that my political views are pretty liberal. It’s therefore not hard to imagine that politically, Pat Robertson and I standard very far apart when it comes to politics and other sensitive subjects.

I was surprised to read that he is against the new Alabama abortion bill, stating that lawmakers have gone too far. If Pat Robertson is against this law, that says something.

The thing that strikes me about abortion laws is that they are used by men to control women’s bodies, but men’s bodies are never controlled by women or other men. This idea of a man controlling a woman’s body goes back to the not too distant past when a woman was chattel to her father, husband or other nearest male relative. There are some men (and some women) who still believe that a man has the right to control a woman’s bodies.

The only out that a doctor may have for not potentially going to jail for 99 years is if the abortion is determined to be medically necessary. There is no out for a woman who is raped or whose pregnancy is caused by incest.

The irony of this law is that it was signed by Alabama’s female governor, Kay Ivey (R-Alabama). According to the news report, the lawmakers who supported and signed the bill hope to us it as an avenue to eventually challenge Roe V. Wade in the Supreme Court.

While I respect that those who are pro-life have the right to the opinion, I think that if one is pro-life, why not focus on the children who are already living? There are so many children who are growing up in less then ideal conditions, why not focus your time and energy on those children?

I wish that in 2019, the issue of abortion and the government intervening on woman’s choice on whether or not have an abortion did not exist. But it still does and until the issue does not exist, I an and many others will continue to fight.

P.S. It takes two to tango and two to conceive a child. If these male lawmakers are so concerned about abortion, perhaps they should be making sure that the snakes are kept in the cages or condoms should be made readily available to prevent an unwanted pregnancy and a possible future abortion.

Thoughts On the Fetal Heartbeat Bill

We all recognize that life is precious, especially the lives of our children. The problem is that we do not recognize or remember that our children grow within their mother’s bodies and it is the mother who is as important in the process as the fetus that is growing inside of her.

Yesterday, Governor Brian Kemp (R-Georgia), signed the Fetal Heartbeat Bill. In layman’s terms, abortion is allowed until a heartbeat of a fetus is detected. The problem is that that a heartbeat is detected within five to six weeks of pregnancy, when many women may not be aware that they are pregnant.

Without directly saying so, Governor Kemp has signed a law that bans all abortions.

I don’t know if the Governor or his team consulted with any doctors, but my heart of hearts tells me with that this is wrong. A woman’s right to choose is an unalienable right. The problem is that many still believe that a woman does not have the right to choose how to live her life (which extends to if and/or when she has a child).

While I understand the point of view of those who are pro-life, I disagree with them. If a woman has an abortion, for whatever reason she has it, that decision is between herself, her doctor, her G-d (if she belongs to a particular faith) and the father (if there is a father). Outside of that small circle, no one has the right to tell a woman what to do with her life or her future.