True Feminism

"The gross perversion and destruction of motherhood by the abortionist filled me with indignation, and awakened active antagonism. That the honorable term 'female physician' should be exclusively applied to those women who carried on this shocking trade seemed to me a horror. It was an utter degradation of what might and should become a noble position for women ..."
- Diary entry of Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, first woman graduate from an American medical college

"Guilty? Yes. No matter what the motive, love of ease, or a desire to save from suffering the unborn innocent, the woman is awfully guilty who commits the deed. It will burden her conscience in life, it will burden her soul in death; But oh, thrice guilty is he who drove her to the desperation which impeller  her to the crime!"
- Susan B. Anthony, American civil rights leader, in The Revolution, the women's rights journal

(via Feminists for Life)

And from Ruth Lobo Shaw, a beautiful speech about unborn human rights and what it means to be a pro-life feminist. Check out CCBR for more information on the New Abortion Caravan.

Contrast these pro-life feminists with what our society typically thinks a feminist is - pro-choice:

"This spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood Federation of America also told The Huffington Post that the organization condemns seeking abortions on the basis of gender, but its policy is to provide “high quality, confidential, nonjudgmental care to all who come into” its health centers. That means that no Planned Parenthood clinic will deny a woman an abortion based on her reasons for wanting one, except in those states that explicitly prohibit sex-selective abortions (Arizona, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Illinois)."
- from the Huffington Post

 Who here is truly fighting for the rights of women and girls?

[aside] Sorry for not blogging very often - these are a busy few weeks! I'll be back at it soon, promise :)

Video of the Week: Equality & Respect: How I'm Equal to Hugh Jackman

The difference between being "the same" and being "equal". Thoughts?

Quote of the Week: "Abortions exist best in the dark"

Sarah Silverman's controversial abortion "joke".

"'Newt Gingrich's campaign is so dead, Mitt Romney wants to baptize it and Rick Santorum wants to put it in a jar and show it to his kids.' That's the joke that Jimmy Kimmel was going to tell at the White House Correspondent's Dinner. He didn't, but only because an ABC News reporter told him that it could 'cause the room to turn against him'. [...] It's a ghastly goulish joke in which I see no possibility of humor. None. But that's why I wish he would've told it. [...] Abortions exist best in the dark. Abortionists prefer silence. I say let's bring the light. Let's have the conversation. If people knew what went on in clinics they'd turn away in disgust. And I think that most people would be shocked at the flippant manner in which many deal with issues like life. [...] The longer we allow the abortion debate in this country to be spoken in bumper stickers and safe cliches, we lose. [...] I want them to tell their abortion jokes. Why? Because then people will see how unfunny it all is."
-Matthew Archbold

And from the comments (emphasis my own):

"One thing I'll never understand is the oft-repeated statement by pro-'choice' types, 'I would never have an abortion myself, but I believe it should be an option for others.' That makes no sense to me. If it's not a good enough solution for YOU - how is it good enough for someone else?"

Read more at The National Catholic Register:

The Final Frontier of the Civil Rights Movement

This video really hits home what abortion is truly about.

And another post on maternal mortality ...

From the MCCL Blog, "Evidence presented at World Health Assembly that health care, not abortion, will solve maternal mortality" (emphasis my own):


"The new analysis, "Women's Health & Abortion," explains that maternal mortality fell dramatically in developed nations as a result of mid-20th century improvements in health care—well before the widespread legalization of abortion. Today Ireland and Poland, which prohibit most abortions, boast among the world's lowest rates of maternal death. [...] Chile's success contrasts with the recent record of the United States, which permits abortion on demand and has seen its maternal mortality rate climb upward over the last two decades. The U.S. maternal mortality ratio (the number of deaths per 100,000 live births) increased from 10.3 in 1999 to 23.2 in 2009. Over the same period, Chile's ratio decreased from 23.6 to 16.9. A report issued this month by the World Health Organization and other U.N. agencies estimates that maternal deaths worldwide dropped 47 percent from 1990 to 2010. The report offers further proof that women’s lives can be saved through improved health conditions."

Like I said, healthcare conditions, not the legality of abortion, seem to be the deciding factor in reducing maternal mortality. That's why US abortion deaths were dropping long before Roe v. Wade, and that's why Chile saw a reduction in maternal mortality rates even though abortion was re-criminalized. Never mind that wasting resources lobbying for abortion "rights", when you could be spending money and time helping to bring healthcare systems out of the dark ages, is just bad policy. Why would you advocate for abortion access when the healthcare systems are in disarray? Abortions are not simple procedures and I could see more deaths occurring simply because women are having abortions from untrained professionals, with tools that aren't sterilized, and equipment that isn't up to date. And what about all the other people who are dying because of poor access to healthcare? Their lives clearly won't be saved by abortion legality. Pro-choicers: if you are so worried about women dying, deal with the things that are directly causing their deaths.

(btw the last bit was my opinion, would love to see some articles / stats / papers that talk about this so please if you have any send them my way! Merci!)

One last thought, which I got from Jennie from LiveAction, is that if women are dying from illegal abortions, it is the pro-choicers who are killing them since pro-lifers (obviously) don't do abortions. Interesting point, and it really hits home to me the real tragedy of abortion, which is that in a society that focuses so much on "pro-choice", the only option that seems to be discussed at length is abortion - women are very often not given or encouraged to consider other choices. It is one of the reasons PP performs so many abortions vs. adoption referrals. It really is a tragedy, and it is a sign, like Feminists for Life says, that we as a society are failing women.

Okay, now I'm officially done. Sorry for the rambling, I'm in a reflective mood today! :)

Pro-choice vs. pro-life on illegal abortions

 

Pro-choice:

Pro-life:

Abortion deaths in America were falling long before legalization.
From Management of Unintended and Abnormal Pregnancy (an abortion textbook):
"Induced abortion is an impressively safe procedure, particularly but not exclusively where it is legal. (224)"
Also see this study.

UPDATE: 2012/05/26

Got this from the RealChoice blog. It is an estimate, but its interesting how many pre-legalization abortions seemed to have been performed by trained doctors. I wonder if anyone has some more solid numbers on this?

You can see the original page this infographic was posted on, which includes references (the second source looks particularly interesting, going to try to find a copy!)

Video of the Week: 'It's Too Heavy', An Oscar-Worthy Toddler Tantrum

A really tired toddler just can't put her bowl away because it is WAYYY too heavy for her to lift. Super cute! :D