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Straight Talk on Abortion

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION
by Carol Davidek-Waller

Where I'm coming from.

I grew up in era of the Taliban when abortion was illegal and before reliable birth control. Coming of age for a female was a minefield of conflict and guilt. The stakes were high and it is little wonder that besides an unacceptable rate of teen pregnancy little that so many women suffered from sexual dysfunction in marriage.

I went on to become a RN.

I'll never forget the day when I glanced at note on the OR door asking one of the docs too help the daughter of friend on the qt, who had been criminally impregnated. I pitied that physician who had the skills to help but would risk his career or worse if he did.

I pitied the victim who suffered shame as well as trauma. It is nothing less than criminal to even think about returning to those bad old days.

Some Straight Talk on Abortion

I’m tired of tip toeing around other people’s superstitions disguised as religious beliefs. I'm tired of watching woefully ignorant members of Congress pretend that mythology is a substitute for good medical practice and common sense.

The right to believe anyway one wishes is guaranteed by the US Constitution. The ability of one group of Americans to deny medical care to another is prohibited.

Abortion is a medical procedure not a political football. There are indications for the performance of this procedure that are based on sound science and compassion.

The same rigor used by a surgeon in deciding to perform an appendectomy is exercised in performing an abortion. There have to be firm indications that such a procedure would benefit the patient.

You could make the same arguments against performing an appendectomy that the maudlin fetus lovers make regarding abortion. God intended this vestigial organ to become inflamed and you should just suck it up and bear it like a real woman. You are a divine miracle of the process of fertilization, gestation and birth. It is not up to you to dispose of your appendix. If you are going to walk around with an appendix, expect to pay the price.

The same group of people that get all teary eyed about the fate of someone else’s fetus don’t bat an eye about a social agenda that ignores the inevitable fall out from an unjust economic system. They are unmoved if the elderly, the young, the infirm and the unfortunate are left to die prematurely on the streets without basic human needs.

They seem unaffected by the protracted tragedy of failed foreign policy and useless wars in which hundreds of thousands of innocent people are murdered and for which their own sons and daughters lives are forfeit.

One of more interesting explanations I have seen for the contradictory set of beliefs held by those who claim Jesus as their OB-GYN is that these people are suffering from unresolved psychological conflicts regarding their own potential for violence and destruction. Loving a fetus that you will never see, carry or care for is an effortless way to think of yourself as a kind person if you are concerned that you may be found wanting in regard toward your fellow man. Forcing others to comply to your own uncomfortable beliefs and behaviors makes your beliefs less suspect and your own misery easier to bear.

Contrary to the misguided and misapplied beliefs of some, humans were not found under a cabbage leaf 4000 years ago. We have an ancient heritage and we exist as part of a web of life. The fact that we share 50% of our genetic make up with a banana shows how wide ranging and deep that heritage is.

Different animal species have evolved regulatory mechanisms for limiting their populations and avoiding unwanted pregnancies. Some animals won’t breed if they don’t hold a territory. Wild mares don’t ovulate when the range is poor. Most species won't breed if they are in poor health or conditions are adverse to the survival of the young. Reproduction is timed to correspond to abundant food supply and favorable weather, neither of which are being provided by the current administration.

Our primate heritage does not limit sexual activity to procreation. There are a whole host of individual and group strategies that involve sex. Many have tried mightily to pull up that part of humanity's roots by rationing and dictating sexual behavior. They have all failed spectacularly and often with tragic results.

Humans don’t have the pre-programmed survival strategies and mechanisms that many other species have evolved. We have big brains and protracted childhoods that allow us to learn how to survive and succeed. We are dependent on using our accumulated knowledge and cognitive ability to care for ourselves and our offspring while maintaining a balance with our environment.

It is time for us to put our collective foot down regarding the oppressive attempts of individuals and groups to interfere with our ability to think and decide for ourselves what is consistent with our own welfare and those who depend upon us. Reproductive decisions are not a subject for public debate, they are a private medical decision. They are non-negotiable.

If the fetus fetishists are feeling lonely and betrayed at not being able to harass others over the disposal of their own eggs and sperm, they might try re-directing their tender mercies toward easing the lives of the 20,000,000 children who are growing up in ever deepening poverty because they were manipulated by unscrupulous bag men and their own inner demons to vote for the worst bunch of hardened thieves, liars and war mongers in living memory.

Carol Davidek-Waller
Kirkland, WA

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION