Feminist Against Abortion: Responsibility Begins With Sex

Well, that ought to be an attention getter although I can't imagine that I am the first to say it or claim it. Since I've been talking about faith and other controversial subjects lately, I thought I'd just put out my thoughts on abortion and see if anybody got crazy either way.

The first thought I have is an acknowledgement that abortion has been around since man walked around dragging his knuckles. Of course, back then, abortion, crude and dangerous as it was, was probably a "herd/DNA" issue. Females of the tribes or "herds" most likely performed crude self abortions because they were carrying offspring of a weak or unacceptable male or because the herd/tribe/whatever was unable to care for one more mouth and, last, because the superstitious mind conceived the pregnancy as a bad omen.

Things haven't changed all that much except that crude abortificants have become refined and quicker reacting while the crude stick in the uterus has become stainless steel instruments wielded by a certified physician less likely to damage the female's future ability to have children.

Really, we can dress up abortion in Feminist linguista all we want about women's right to control her reproductive abilities, but it doesn't change the caveman mentality of herd/DNA control and it certainly doesn't make it a "noble" cause of equality and liberty. It is at best a necessary medical procedure to save a woman's life and at worst an elective medical procedure to end life and take away the evidence of irresponsible behavior.

Looking back at the period of time when when "legalized" abortion became a word in our normal societal venacular, it seems to me that "legal" abortions for medical reasons were already available. So, the concept of "Roe v. Wade" as a new device to protect women's health seems bizarrely out of kilter with the reality.

The only positive things it brought to our attention, if one could call it positive, is that rape and incest happens more than society would like to recognize and that the concept of making a woman bare a child from one of these incidents is tantamount to forcing her to become a victim again of the same crime. Still, abortion for these occurances were still available "legally" although, not every state allowed. While trying to change the stigma attached to those incidents and provide universal and safe medical procedures may be one issue, the concept that abortion also has a place in providing women equal ability to control their economic and social status by controlling their reproductive abilities seems almost outrageous in a day and age where birth control is readily available through either prescription or over the counter; sex education, includng birth control methods, is given in most schools and planned parenthood clinics, where birth control can be obtained almost for free or free in many instances and often without parental consent, are in almost every community.

In the realm of feminist ideology, the concept of abortion as a tool of equality seems to negate the whole idea. Mainly, the struggle for women to be taken as competent and capable of taking responsibility for their decisions, particularly with whom they have sex with, with whom they will procreate and when. By the time that a woman has had sex without protection or birth control and become pregnant, that first control, that first responsibility has been lost. Abortion then becomes a negation of responsibility not a tool to enhance it.

I believe that as women we have concentrated on this fight to the point where we have lost track of the original idea and lost some of the momentum in educating our sisters on the first responsibility of safe sex and prevention of pregnancies and diseases.

Power Point: STDs in Young Adults and Adolescents.
STDs Among Women and Infants

Chlamydia is on the rise in both young adult and adolescent women since 1996. Chlamydia has significant impact on the health of women, in particular their ability to reproduce. The only good news is that treatment has been effective in reducing the secondary conditions of ectopic pregnancies and pelvic inflamation.

The real killer among women, HIV, has shown a rapid, nearly insane increase since 1985. Black women are by far the most affected group. And the most common process for transmission is heterosexual contact (ie, sex with a man).

Thus, abortion as an argument for equality and control of sexual liberty and reproduction is on the far end of the spectrum that my feminist sisters should be concentrating on and I fault organizations like NOW and other women's groups for not speaking up and speaking out loudly and more effectively about what our real responsibility is and has been since the advent of the seuxal revolution.

Once a woman has reached the stage where abortion is a consideration for birth control, she's already missed her main responsibility of having protected sex and protecting herself from both "unwanted pregnancies" and sexually transmitted disease.

It's time to spend as much money, if not more, on education and awareness, as groups do for trying to keep a questionable practice "legal" and open as an elective medical procedure when not related to a potentially damaging health condition.