So, I am trying my best to enjoy life, but the politicians are pissing me off. It's hard to focus on other things, especially when I am home all day and can so easily find out about things. By the way, McDonald's response to my letters was, "sorry we don't take any suggestions from outside the company." Which just points a finger to what is wrong with this place lately. No one listen to anything outside their insular group. Growing up I was so freaking patriotic, I teared up every time I heard the National Anthem, and I even embroidered 4th of July shorts and shirts for myself to wear. I loved history from a young age. I never thought I would witness anything like this. I'm supposed to have lunch with a friend tomorrow and I'm torn. She's leaving for China soon so I want to keep the lunch date, but I feel like I need to go protest. Will of the people, my a&#.
So, what is good? Chi keeps wanting to eat his "Quitos" which is fun. He means Cheetos. He has also taken to copying Gabe. This is funny, but annoying because because Gabe has spent the week mouthing off. So, Gabe gets mouthy and then you hear his little parrot repeating everything and sticking his bottom lip out.
Sometimes I find it strange that Chi is so protective of Gabe. He doesn't like it when we send Gabe to his room or anything. He goes with Gabe or places himself between Gabe and us. But Gabe does not do these things for Chi. He's not exactly the nurturing type.
Gabe has officially started chores to earn an allowance. We tried to start this once before but we wound up picking chores that were just not easy to have Gabe maintain. So we decided we had to regroup and come up with stuff that is easy for him to do, easy to have him do (meaning not actually making life harder by having him do it), and easy to remember. So, he has to make his bed before school, sweep the kitchen floor after dinner, and clean the bathroom (just sink and toilet) on the weekend. The only one he doesn't like is making his bed. This list is good because quite frankly, I don't really care if his bed is made or not, I just want him to take some responsibility for his room. The floor needs swept all the time, so even if he doesn't do it well, it's better than nothing. And, the bathroom is not too hard and easy enough to go over if I need to when I clean the tub. It's definitely not creating any more work for me, and maybe it will be a little less.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Snacolypse 2011
So, I voted that winter should be canceled on account of blizzard for Groundhog's Day, but poor Phil. They pulled him out anyway. We took pictures (not of Phil, of our blizzard), but I forgot to post them. Now, I am reminded though because following our spring like weather (which melted our many inches of snow) we have another snow that brought 8 more inches of snow. The names for these storms crack me up, but I invented my own: sna (short a) - co (long o) - lypse. The snow made me lazy; I just shortened the pronunciation on Snowpocalypse (the favored name around these parts).
The snow was pretty deep. But before it came down, I had Matt knock down our gigantic icicles. We wondered how long they would get, but they were impressively long when we decided they had to come down.
There was blowing so none of our doors were very usable, including the garage. We had to push out there to get started.
We put Chi to work, you know, it can't all be fun and games. He has to earn his keep. ;)
The boys liked it, but they also got stuck a lot, so I don't know how much "fun" it really was.
It was nice of our neighbor to lend us a snowblower. Check out Matt's beard though.
Gabe by the door, after shoveling, for scale.
There was blowing so none of our doors were very usable, including the garage. We had to push out there to get started.
We put Chi to work, you know, it can't all be fun and games. He has to earn his keep. ;)
The boys liked it, but they also got stuck a lot, so I don't know how much "fun" it really was.
It was nice of our neighbor to lend us a snowblower. Check out Matt's beard though.
Gabe by the door, after shoveling, for scale.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Dave, Dan, Sam and Fred
What a day! Productivity has been the name of the game. Last night we finally finished painting the kitchen. I know! It's been forever, but we ran out of time for the refrigerator wall back when we started and we just never got around to doing it. It's amazing how much better I like the kitchen now even though it was a wall I hardly looked at. I also started my burlap wall, which I can say I'm going to love, but it's been hard to get done. Trickery than I had hoped. I'll post the whole project over at Domesticated Nomad once I figure it all out.
So, then today started with a trip to the train store. We could only afford some of the track we still need, but we know that next month we'll finally have all the track and be ready to start construction. Gabe is super excited.
Chi needs to have a twin bed now and not a toddler bed. So, we decided Chi should have Gabe's bed and Gabe should get a full size bed so that when we have company, they can use that bed. Nice of us, right? Well, buying a bed turned out to be a big pain in the butt. We started looking for the second time today because everybody is having President's Day Sale. But these sales were not so great. Okay, it's only $400 now, but I don't want to pay that much anyway. It's a kid's bed. He's going to jump on it. So, we decided to swing through Sam's Club. We don't go there much since it's out of the way, but it was on the way back from the train store. No luck. Mucho dinero required at Sam's. But now it's lunch time and we were far from home. Famous Dave's to the rescue. Mmmm. Not the best barbeque in the world, but still gets the job done.
We decide to check Dan Dan the Mattress Man again (weren't happy with their prices a few weeks ago, but it's a big sale weekend, so...). But, as much as l would like to like Dan and his cool name ;) the prices were just not good. Plus it turns out they had clearance that they held out on us last time, so I am not happy with Dan.
Cruised Craigslist again, but not a lot of full size beds come up in our area. But lots of dealers plug their stuff, like Fred's Unique Furniture. So, back in the car and go to Gladwin and score! A factory reject Serta set. Nothing wrong but a little scuffing. Plus Fred's had a ton of cool stuff, it's a combo resale and liquidation store. Little bit of a drive, but we will probably go back.
Sam - thumbs down, Dave - thumbs up, Dan - so disappointed, Fred - love ya, baby! And that was our day.
So, then today started with a trip to the train store. We could only afford some of the track we still need, but we know that next month we'll finally have all the track and be ready to start construction. Gabe is super excited.
Chi needs to have a twin bed now and not a toddler bed. So, we decided Chi should have Gabe's bed and Gabe should get a full size bed so that when we have company, they can use that bed. Nice of us, right? Well, buying a bed turned out to be a big pain in the butt. We started looking for the second time today because everybody is having President's Day Sale. But these sales were not so great. Okay, it's only $400 now, but I don't want to pay that much anyway. It's a kid's bed. He's going to jump on it. So, we decided to swing through Sam's Club. We don't go there much since it's out of the way, but it was on the way back from the train store. No luck. Mucho dinero required at Sam's. But now it's lunch time and we were far from home. Famous Dave's to the rescue. Mmmm. Not the best barbeque in the world, but still gets the job done.
We decide to check Dan Dan the Mattress Man again (weren't happy with their prices a few weeks ago, but it's a big sale weekend, so...). But, as much as l would like to like Dan and his cool name ;) the prices were just not good. Plus it turns out they had clearance that they held out on us last time, so I am not happy with Dan.
Cruised Craigslist again, but not a lot of full size beds come up in our area. But lots of dealers plug their stuff, like Fred's Unique Furniture. So, back in the car and go to Gladwin and score! A factory reject Serta set. Nothing wrong but a little scuffing. Plus Fred's had a ton of cool stuff, it's a combo resale and liquidation store. Little bit of a drive, but we will probably go back.
Sam - thumbs down, Dave - thumbs up, Dan - so disappointed, Fred - love ya, baby! And that was our day.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Dear McDonald's
Dear McDonald's,
I have been a lifetime consumer of your product. While you don't provide the best food in the industry, you provide consistency better than anyone else. Wherever I am, I know what I am getting when I enter a McDonald's. And so I go. I support your company regularly, especially now that I have kids.
But now that I have given you so much, I feel it is okay for me to ask one thing of you. My Congressional Representatives and even my President are telling me that significant budget cuts are the ONLY way to pay for our government to run. I can agree that some cuts may be necessary and might even be wise, but when I hear what is being cut, I have to question their wisdom.
Interestingly, another option for fixing the budget is to collect taxes that should have been paid in the first place. Did you know that in Britain they figured out that the amount of budget cuts recommended almost exactly fit the amount of taxes dodged by companies? It's happening here too. If companies paid their taxes rather than searching out legal loopholes (and paying for lobbyists to have Congress create these loopholes), we might not need these difficult cuts at all.
My children love PBS children's programming. In fact, it is all they watch. I can trust the content and I am amazed that they actually learn from the programs too. You must feel the same way because McDonald's is a proud sponsor of some of these shows. That's great. Thanks for doing that.
It's too bad that my kids may not get to watch these favorite shows since the Republicans have presented a budget that cuts all funding for Public Broadcasting. Perhaps now would be a good time to stand up for what your commercials say you believe in. The US Government Accountability Office notes that McDonald's is among the worst offenders of exploiting tax havens. So, it is possible that if you paid your taxes, like the rest of the citizenry, we may not be facing this budget crisis. And you do utilize services such as police and fire fighters, and you use roads and other infrastructure to name a few things that are paid for through taxation. Why shouldn't you shoulder your share when I am expected to and do shoulder mine?
You have a few actions you can take: 1. Publicly stand up for Public Broadcasting. Stand with the programming you claim to support 2. Stop dodging your taxes. This country made it possible for your company to flourish, why do you not feel a responsibility towards it? Be a vocal role model. 3. Should this budget pass, use your resources to pay to keep NPR and PBS stations on air.
I am sure I can count on you, just as you have counted on my support all these years.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Vannette
I have been a lifetime consumer of your product. While you don't provide the best food in the industry, you provide consistency better than anyone else. Wherever I am, I know what I am getting when I enter a McDonald's. And so I go. I support your company regularly, especially now that I have kids.
But now that I have given you so much, I feel it is okay for me to ask one thing of you. My Congressional Representatives and even my President are telling me that significant budget cuts are the ONLY way to pay for our government to run. I can agree that some cuts may be necessary and might even be wise, but when I hear what is being cut, I have to question their wisdom.
Interestingly, another option for fixing the budget is to collect taxes that should have been paid in the first place. Did you know that in Britain they figured out that the amount of budget cuts recommended almost exactly fit the amount of taxes dodged by companies? It's happening here too. If companies paid their taxes rather than searching out legal loopholes (and paying for lobbyists to have Congress create these loopholes), we might not need these difficult cuts at all.
My children love PBS children's programming. In fact, it is all they watch. I can trust the content and I am amazed that they actually learn from the programs too. You must feel the same way because McDonald's is a proud sponsor of some of these shows. That's great. Thanks for doing that.
It's too bad that my kids may not get to watch these favorite shows since the Republicans have presented a budget that cuts all funding for Public Broadcasting. Perhaps now would be a good time to stand up for what your commercials say you believe in. The US Government Accountability Office notes that McDonald's is among the worst offenders of exploiting tax havens. So, it is possible that if you paid your taxes, like the rest of the citizenry, we may not be facing this budget crisis. And you do utilize services such as police and fire fighters, and you use roads and other infrastructure to name a few things that are paid for through taxation. Why shouldn't you shoulder your share when I am expected to and do shoulder mine?
You have a few actions you can take: 1. Publicly stand up for Public Broadcasting. Stand with the programming you claim to support 2. Stop dodging your taxes. This country made it possible for your company to flourish, why do you not feel a responsibility towards it? Be a vocal role model. 3. Should this budget pass, use your resources to pay to keep NPR and PBS stations on air.
I am sure I can count on you, just as you have counted on my support all these years.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Vannette
Thursday, February 10, 2011
To sleep or not to sleep
Chi believes whatever state of being he is currently in is the best one. If he's awake, he wants to stay awake. If he's asleep, he wants to stay asleep. But lately he is adamently opposed to napping (unless of course he's already asleep).
"No, I can't take a nap! It's sunny!" he yells. "It's not moony!" He has suddenly decided he can only sleep when it is "moony."
"No, I can't take a nap! It's sunny!" he yells. "It's not moony!" He has suddenly decided he can only sleep when it is "moony."
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
A prayer for us all
May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain in to joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.
-Franciscan Benediction
May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain in to joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.
-Franciscan Benediction
Friday, February 4, 2011
The post in which I discuss abortion, rape, life, and democracy
I'm not sure how to begin this. I am angry, frustrated, sad, disappointed and flat out sick. I don't recognize the country of my youth. Once democracy was a shining beacon wherein the participants of the democracy understood an inherent need to protect minorities in all forms. Historically, this country has not done that perfectly, but historically we have moved in a general forward direction. We are going backwards now. We will continue to do so as long as people react out of misdirected fear, need for power, need for "being right," and laziness.
Those who purport to disdain large government (and really, do they even believe themselves anymore?) and who purport to worship the Bill of Rights, are doing everything in their power to enlarge our government. That alone should make a real Republican against the legislative efforts of our current GOP, but real Republicans are all but extinct.
I am sure you have all heard of the move for legislation that will deny tax payer funding for abortion except in the incidents of "forcible rape." If you haven't, I redirect your attention to the laziness comment above. (Sorry, but I'm in no mood to be nice.) Perhaps you have even heard that Texas governor Rick Perry is trying for legislation that will force women to have an ultrasound and listen to the heartbeat before having an abortion. We will get into why this moves are so bad, but first, I want to make clear that all efforts to limit abortions disproportionately affect the poor. (And another conservative group made a video full of blatant lies to try to undermine Planned Parenthood. Let's make it harder for poor women to seek help, and then let's eliminate the only place they can go. Great plan!) Instead of our responsibility to help those in a minority (or any kind, not just racial), we are allowing our Congress to create an even harder life for them. A blogger said this is using democracy as a bully. Majority rules so screw you, minority! No wonder we freak when Egypt wants democracy. We view from a skewed and bastardized version of democracy. Real democracy is nothing to be feared. Wow. How does the USA not know this?
I know I am getting a little off focus. I'm sorry. These things are all interconnected and upsetting. I'll try to stay on task. Abortion. Controversy from the start. Did you know Roe v. Wade was decided by 7-2? I didn't know that. It has been presented my entire life as if it were a close decision; could have gone either way. Not a lot of Supreme Court decisions are decided by a wide margin and in the history of Supreme Court decisions, 7-2 is about as decisive as possible. Constitutionally women should have the right to seek an abortion. Slam dunk. So, why hasn't it been treated that way?
The GOP has enshrined the Constitution and Bill of Rights lately (although, they get it all screwed up a lot, but let's assume their hearts are in the right places). In this country I am free to worship or not worship as I so choose and cannot be persecuted for my faith or lack thereof. This freedom of religion has ultimately been good for both religion and for government itself. But the lines are blurring more and more. One thing is certain, you still cannot legislate your religious morality onto another citizen. This is being eroded more and more. But why would we want that? People claim to fear Sharia law could reign in this country (which is laughable if you know anything at all about Islam), but we don't need Sharia law to keep women in their place, now do we? We can bastardize Christianity to that for us just as well. And conservatives are working on it, particularly in the case of women. Make no mistake.
I respect that some people do not feel like abortion is right. Heck, I don't like it. But I do believe that sometimes it is necessary. We argue about abortion as if it is a black and white issue, but it's not. There is not a single part of it that is black and white. It's time to stop pretending. I see bumper stickers on both sides all the time, but the one that asks the right question says: If you don't trust me with a choice, why would you trust me with a child? It's a good question. You see, what anti-choice people are saying is that they do not trust the moral capacity of a woman to make the "right" decision. Obviously, to the anti-choice crowd, there is only one right choice. Obviously, that is an falsehood because it is not black and white. But women, whether they agree with abortion or not, should be outraged that their moral capacity is called into question. Look at the male-dominated leadership of the world and I ask you with the kind of historical moral track record of men are we really wanting to go there? Do women make bad decisions? Yes, of course. But any moral decisions are between that woman and God. It is not for us to judge. We should be too busy with the log in our own eye.
By the way, I often hear that God is opposed to killing babies. Really? Have you ever read your Bible? If God is so "pro-life" then I think he has some explaining to do.
As to Rick Perry, I saw an ultrasound (because it was regularly scheduled) the day I found out I had a lump in breast that may be cancerous. See, I wanted my child. I planned for my child-to-be. But as I sat there, waiting for the verdict, listening to my options if it is cancer, having seen the ultrasound did make it harder. Of course that is what Perry wants. But, it's not black and white. Having seen the ultrasound was causing me more pain and sorrow in an already painful and sorrowful circumstance. Had I been raped, how much extra suffering are we going to add? (And I would like to point out to the We-claim-to-be-opposed-to-large-government Crowd, then stay out of my vagina! Seriously. How much larger and invasive can we get?) But I had to face the reality that I was alive and could fight for that life in order to be there for the child I already had. The child-to-be forming in my womb, was a chance at life. I'm sorry, but a fetus is very much a parasite, it cannot survive on it's own, so it's not yet an autonomous life, a child, a baby. It is simply a chance of new life. Sometimes, as in my case, a desperately wanted chance, but every mother waits for the cry at birth because she knows in her heart of hearts that the baby is not really her baby until she hears that cry and knows he or she is alive.
Are there women who view abortion as an acceptable form of "birth control"? Yes, but they are the few. What about the woman who has too many children and cannot support another one? Or the woman who gets pregnant while in college and has to drop out? Will the government provide aid and not scorn her? That is a big criticism I have of the anti-choice crowd. The GOP scorns anyone who needs aid, and tries to strip it away, but they don't want to see that being anti-choice will put more women in need of aid, the same aid they are trying to get rid of. They want to pretend like they can just make the problems go away by denying the problems. Life doesn't actually work that way. Make no mistake, it is anti-choice, not "pro-life." A person who is pro-life will look at the person's whole life and realize that it is not black and white. If you can't face the problems that eliminating abortion will create, then you are not pro-life.
The fact is that men (in a universal, not necessarily individual sense) are jealous of a woman's ability to give birth. Maybe they don't see it that way, but it is a power that woman has that man does not. Go back through history and you can see that man's desire to control woman goes back to this one amazing ability that woman has that he cannot control. Yes, I realize that woman cannot do it on her own, but man's contribution is small compared to woman's. You also cannot escape the fact that men have a history of walking away from their responsibilities as a parent. It is easier because their contribution to creating that life is smaller. The fact is, eliminating abortions will create more single mothers, something everyone agrees is worth avoiding because of the difficult life those single mothers face. Oh, and let's not forget that men don't really want a world in which women, other than wives, would not ever have sex with them. No matter how much our leaders espouse the virtues and sanctity of marriage, that has never been respected in all of human history. Should we make sex special? Of course, but we also should live in reality. People are going to have sex outside marriage. Stop pretending otherwise.
Let's go back to the GOP's new legislation. People are most afraid of the redefinition of rape, and rightly so. The definition of rape is lack of consent. Period. It matters not if a weapon was used or if the woman was beaten. If she did not consent, it is rape. If drugs or alcohol were used so as to get around consent, it is rape. Statutory rape would also not count under the new law, but I'm sorry, a child cannot consent. I suspect that a wife who is raped by her husband would no longer count as we are headed back to an era where women have no voice but her husbands. Lack of consent is rape! There is no other definition. This law, again, would disproportionately affect the poor. People who already feel as if they have no voice would be, in fact, told you have no voice.
I hope you can see that when you try to legislate against a woman's right to choose, you are just legislating against women period. These new laws are a clear step to returning women to a status of second-class citizen. Many of our lovely GOP Congressmen have outright stated that they would like to return to "the good old days" and feel women should stay home with the kids. Each woman has to be trusted to have moral capacity. Not just because the Constitution says so, but because it is true and right.
I know that God created a world in which men and women were meant to be partners. Here's a crazy idea: let's do that. Let's stop trying to hold back women. That is of this world. If we are of God's world, we would not want to return the vision of the world that anti-choice and GOP Congressmen want. I was not born into a world where women were slaughtered because they could not, for whatever reason, have a legal abortion. Or left to die because of complications with the pregnancy. I don't want to ever experience that world. I hope you don't either.
P.S. You spent two tenths of a cent of your paid taxes on abortions for rape, incest and circumstances of endangered health last year. I know that that two tenths of a cent is astronomical and you should be outraged at that. Yeah.
Those who purport to disdain large government (and really, do they even believe themselves anymore?) and who purport to worship the Bill of Rights, are doing everything in their power to enlarge our government. That alone should make a real Republican against the legislative efforts of our current GOP, but real Republicans are all but extinct.
I am sure you have all heard of the move for legislation that will deny tax payer funding for abortion except in the incidents of "forcible rape." If you haven't, I redirect your attention to the laziness comment above. (Sorry, but I'm in no mood to be nice.) Perhaps you have even heard that Texas governor Rick Perry is trying for legislation that will force women to have an ultrasound and listen to the heartbeat before having an abortion. We will get into why this moves are so bad, but first, I want to make clear that all efforts to limit abortions disproportionately affect the poor. (And another conservative group made a video full of blatant lies to try to undermine Planned Parenthood. Let's make it harder for poor women to seek help, and then let's eliminate the only place they can go. Great plan!) Instead of our responsibility to help those in a minority (or any kind, not just racial), we are allowing our Congress to create an even harder life for them. A blogger said this is using democracy as a bully. Majority rules so screw you, minority! No wonder we freak when Egypt wants democracy. We view from a skewed and bastardized version of democracy. Real democracy is nothing to be feared. Wow. How does the USA not know this?
I know I am getting a little off focus. I'm sorry. These things are all interconnected and upsetting. I'll try to stay on task. Abortion. Controversy from the start. Did you know Roe v. Wade was decided by 7-2? I didn't know that. It has been presented my entire life as if it were a close decision; could have gone either way. Not a lot of Supreme Court decisions are decided by a wide margin and in the history of Supreme Court decisions, 7-2 is about as decisive as possible. Constitutionally women should have the right to seek an abortion. Slam dunk. So, why hasn't it been treated that way?
The GOP has enshrined the Constitution and Bill of Rights lately (although, they get it all screwed up a lot, but let's assume their hearts are in the right places). In this country I am free to worship or not worship as I so choose and cannot be persecuted for my faith or lack thereof. This freedom of religion has ultimately been good for both religion and for government itself. But the lines are blurring more and more. One thing is certain, you still cannot legislate your religious morality onto another citizen. This is being eroded more and more. But why would we want that? People claim to fear Sharia law could reign in this country (which is laughable if you know anything at all about Islam), but we don't need Sharia law to keep women in their place, now do we? We can bastardize Christianity to that for us just as well. And conservatives are working on it, particularly in the case of women. Make no mistake.
I respect that some people do not feel like abortion is right. Heck, I don't like it. But I do believe that sometimes it is necessary. We argue about abortion as if it is a black and white issue, but it's not. There is not a single part of it that is black and white. It's time to stop pretending. I see bumper stickers on both sides all the time, but the one that asks the right question says: If you don't trust me with a choice, why would you trust me with a child? It's a good question. You see, what anti-choice people are saying is that they do not trust the moral capacity of a woman to make the "right" decision. Obviously, to the anti-choice crowd, there is only one right choice. Obviously, that is an falsehood because it is not black and white. But women, whether they agree with abortion or not, should be outraged that their moral capacity is called into question. Look at the male-dominated leadership of the world and I ask you with the kind of historical moral track record of men are we really wanting to go there? Do women make bad decisions? Yes, of course. But any moral decisions are between that woman and God. It is not for us to judge. We should be too busy with the log in our own eye.
By the way, I often hear that God is opposed to killing babies. Really? Have you ever read your Bible? If God is so "pro-life" then I think he has some explaining to do.
As to Rick Perry, I saw an ultrasound (because it was regularly scheduled) the day I found out I had a lump in breast that may be cancerous. See, I wanted my child. I planned for my child-to-be. But as I sat there, waiting for the verdict, listening to my options if it is cancer, having seen the ultrasound did make it harder. Of course that is what Perry wants. But, it's not black and white. Having seen the ultrasound was causing me more pain and sorrow in an already painful and sorrowful circumstance. Had I been raped, how much extra suffering are we going to add? (And I would like to point out to the We-claim-to-be-opposed-to-large-government Crowd, then stay out of my vagina! Seriously. How much larger and invasive can we get?) But I had to face the reality that I was alive and could fight for that life in order to be there for the child I already had. The child-to-be forming in my womb, was a chance at life. I'm sorry, but a fetus is very much a parasite, it cannot survive on it's own, so it's not yet an autonomous life, a child, a baby. It is simply a chance of new life. Sometimes, as in my case, a desperately wanted chance, but every mother waits for the cry at birth because she knows in her heart of hearts that the baby is not really her baby until she hears that cry and knows he or she is alive.
Are there women who view abortion as an acceptable form of "birth control"? Yes, but they are the few. What about the woman who has too many children and cannot support another one? Or the woman who gets pregnant while in college and has to drop out? Will the government provide aid and not scorn her? That is a big criticism I have of the anti-choice crowd. The GOP scorns anyone who needs aid, and tries to strip it away, but they don't want to see that being anti-choice will put more women in need of aid, the same aid they are trying to get rid of. They want to pretend like they can just make the problems go away by denying the problems. Life doesn't actually work that way. Make no mistake, it is anti-choice, not "pro-life." A person who is pro-life will look at the person's whole life and realize that it is not black and white. If you can't face the problems that eliminating abortion will create, then you are not pro-life.
The fact is that men (in a universal, not necessarily individual sense) are jealous of a woman's ability to give birth. Maybe they don't see it that way, but it is a power that woman has that man does not. Go back through history and you can see that man's desire to control woman goes back to this one amazing ability that woman has that he cannot control. Yes, I realize that woman cannot do it on her own, but man's contribution is small compared to woman's. You also cannot escape the fact that men have a history of walking away from their responsibilities as a parent. It is easier because their contribution to creating that life is smaller. The fact is, eliminating abortions will create more single mothers, something everyone agrees is worth avoiding because of the difficult life those single mothers face. Oh, and let's not forget that men don't really want a world in which women, other than wives, would not ever have sex with them. No matter how much our leaders espouse the virtues and sanctity of marriage, that has never been respected in all of human history. Should we make sex special? Of course, but we also should live in reality. People are going to have sex outside marriage. Stop pretending otherwise.
Let's go back to the GOP's new legislation. People are most afraid of the redefinition of rape, and rightly so. The definition of rape is lack of consent. Period. It matters not if a weapon was used or if the woman was beaten. If she did not consent, it is rape. If drugs or alcohol were used so as to get around consent, it is rape. Statutory rape would also not count under the new law, but I'm sorry, a child cannot consent. I suspect that a wife who is raped by her husband would no longer count as we are headed back to an era where women have no voice but her husbands. Lack of consent is rape! There is no other definition. This law, again, would disproportionately affect the poor. People who already feel as if they have no voice would be, in fact, told you have no voice.
I hope you can see that when you try to legislate against a woman's right to choose, you are just legislating against women period. These new laws are a clear step to returning women to a status of second-class citizen. Many of our lovely GOP Congressmen have outright stated that they would like to return to "the good old days" and feel women should stay home with the kids. Each woman has to be trusted to have moral capacity. Not just because the Constitution says so, but because it is true and right.
I know that God created a world in which men and women were meant to be partners. Here's a crazy idea: let's do that. Let's stop trying to hold back women. That is of this world. If we are of God's world, we would not want to return the vision of the world that anti-choice and GOP Congressmen want. I was not born into a world where women were slaughtered because they could not, for whatever reason, have a legal abortion. Or left to die because of complications with the pregnancy. I don't want to ever experience that world. I hope you don't either.
P.S. You spent two tenths of a cent of your paid taxes on abortions for rape, incest and circumstances of endangered health last year. I know that that two tenths of a cent is astronomical and you should be outraged at that. Yeah.
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