Hillary on Choice

[plumtreeblossom]

An important article by Hillary Clinton and Cecile Richards on the attack from the Bush administration on women's health and reproductive well-being. It's a must-read for anyone who values family planning and women's health.

I can understand someone having an opposition to abortion. What I can't understand is someone opposed to abortion simultaneously opposing birth control. Accessible contraception and reproductive education are the only things that have reduced the need for abortions in communities, and we can reduce it much more via increased reproductive education and contraceptive availability.

I think a mistake many anti-choice people make is thinking that pro-choice people like abortion. Of course we don't. Every pro-choice person I know, myself included, wants to see the need for abortion reduced by minimizing unplanned and unwanted pregnancies in the first place. We can do it, if our access to family planning remains intact.

I was very fortunate as a high school student in the 80s. In my school, our health classes gave us a comprehensive education in contraception, STD prevention, human sexuality, psychology of sexuality, parenting, the right to say no to sex, the right to say yes ONLY to healthy sexual practices, and for girls, martial arts defense against rape/assault.

Did all that education turn me promiscuous? No. It made me decide to postpone sexual intercourse until I was 18, a legal adult and in college.

I'm proud of Hillary and greatful that she's standing up and fighting back for our health and reproductive safety. Spread the word.

Comments

[oneagain.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting this:)

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

I see something even more risky in the text of the proposed law/whatever it is. Basically, if I was a health care professional, and someone I didn't like came into the emergency room, they could be assigned to me. Because I chose not to help them, because I think their policies on the energy crisis will hurt a lot of people, I can not treat them and they may perhaps die. Oh. well, bummer that.

It's not just birth control/contraception/women's rights that are being infringed upon with this bill. It's having others' views on the "Do Not Resusistate" or "They're old, they're a burden to society, I don't want to waste the hospital's money on these folk who likely won't pay their bill anyway" that will be ruling the health care industry.

[gabriellag.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I had comprehensive sex ed in ninth grade (1994) in small town Ohio, surprising. A classmate, in the context of a question about hemorrhoids, revealed she was pregnant. We were all just like, wha??? My mom and dad also had the sex talk with me and told me they wanted me to wait until I was out of high school and in love, but beyond that they just wanted me to be smart. I was out of high school, used protection. I can't say I was in love, but um, that was a bit pie in the sky.

I don't have any respect for anti-abortion, anti-birth control people. I signed up for a group in college that seemed to be something I could support - counseling pregnant teens, discussing options. I soon found that it was totally an pro-life organization. But before I even found that out, I picked up a brochure about the ineffectiveness of condoms. And I was just astounded. When I found out their anti-abortion philosophy I was even more astounded. Suffice it to say I didn't end up volunteering there.

Anyway, I used bc for awhile, quit when I started getting paranoid about blood clots 'cause I smoke, and relied on condoms exclusively for three years. Sure, I had a willing partner - BUT THREE YEARS. I mean I guess I could be infertile, but I doubt that.

Anyway, the fact that people put that shit out there - that condoms aren't effective, that they won't prevent diseases, are just asking for them not to be used, are just asking for baby-Bristols.

[kalibex.livejournal.com]

Re-phrase it as 'anti-choice' - which covers both their desired state of a lack of access to abortion and birth control - and you're a step closer to understanding that mind set.

My understanding is that opponents of choice literally do not value the concept of 'free-choice' and 'personal autonomy' as might you or I.

Keep in mind that a high birth rate (regardless of the quality of life of the population) is useful in certain political situations. Which to my cynical mind, means that some politicians won't have a problem with the anti-choicers' (mostly religion-motivated) agenda, at all.

The 'Culture Conflict' goes on...

[daisytells.livejournal.com]

I am basically pro-life with some exceptions. I am definitely pro brith control, which if used, most often prevents pregnancy very well.
I went into one of my long comments here, as is so often my habit on LJ, so I cut and pasted it on my own LJ.
You made the wise decision -- to postpone until mature enough to deal with sexuality in a sensible manner. Most of the people in my generation also followed that route.