Typically,
I avoid political discussions on Facebook. Recently, I commented on a
post that Governor Sam Brownback (Kansas) had on his page. The post
read, “The sixth video revealing Planned Parenthood selling human baby
parts was released today. it was because of these and other barbaric
acts, Kansas defunded Planned Parenthood in 2011. #DefundPP.” Now, this
is definitely not the only thing Brownback, or Governor Brownbackistan
or Governor Brownstain, as he is more commonly, and not so
affectionately known as by quite a few citizens here in Kansas, has cut. His
record of cutting funds for programs and for education has frustrated so
many people that many are leaving Kansas. I won’t get into all of that
right now though. I am writing to talk about this particular post.
Governor
Brownback is actually proud that he is cutting programs needed for low
income people, in particular women. Yes, Planned Parenthood does
perform abortions. No, they do not perform a huge number of abortions.
NO, they do NOT sell baby parts. This is ridiculous. Anyone who
believes these videos is ridiculous. It is not true. They do, however,
ask if mothers want to donate fetus tissue for scientific purposes to
help save lives. Not everyone who goes to Planned Parenthood for
healthcare is receiving an abortion, which is what many
“Pro-Life”/Anti-Abortion people want everyone to believe. This is not
true. It isn’t even an opinion on their part, it is wrong. Plain and
simple. People go to Planned Parenthood for cancer screenings and
prenatal care. Yep, you heard it. Not every woman entering Planned
Parenthood is wanting an abortion. Most are just wanting affordable
healthcare while pregnant. Many women go for birth control, so they
can, yep, you guessed it, AVOID UNWANTED PREGNANCIES, therefore,
avoiding abortions or an unwanted child. Planned Parenthood actually
works to prevent abortions. Many Anti-Abortion people actually fall
into the group of people who don’t want birth control to be covered by
insurance and many believe teaching abstinence only. These types of
beliefs actually increase the number of abortions. These people also
typically advocate against programs such as food stamps and other
programs meant to help families in need of assistance. This is the
reason for the quotation marks around Pro-Life. I will only accept that
term if the person is against abortion and the death penalty and
advocates for programs that help needy people.
Now, another
thing that Anti-Abortion people typically say is that Pro-Choice people
are monsters who believe every baby should be aborted. This, obviously,
isn’t even an opinion. It is just plain wrong. Too many Pro-Choice
people have children and love their children. Many Pro-Choice people
would never have an abortion themselves unless they were in specific
circumstances, such as rape or the child having a limited expected
lifespan. I am Pro-Choice because I believe everyone should decide what
they want to do with their own body. We have bodily autonomy for
corpses. FOR DEAD BODIES. But we do NOT have bodily autonomy for LIVE
WOMEN. What the heck is wrong with people who believe women shouldn’t
be able to choose what to do with their own bodies? If I died tomorrow,
and I was not listed as an organ donor (I actually am), no one could
take my organs or tissue. I would be protected as a dead body.
However, people fight against me as a live human being that I should not
be able to decide what I want with my body and what I don’t want with
my body. Would I ever get an abortion? No, I wouldn’t, except for if I
knew the child would be born with pain or if we knew the quality of
life of my baby would be extremely low. Also, how can anyone tell
someone how to deal with the pain of finding out their baby might have a
short life expectancy? Or that the baby would have some sort of
disability or disorder that would make their life painful? That type of
discussion and decision should be between a woman, her family, and her
doctor. Not our Congress or strangers.
I recently
went through a very painful situation. My newborn baby nephew died. He
lived four weeks. He was diagnosed with pontocerebellar hypoplasia.
The doctors gave my sister hard decisions to make. He could stay in the
hospital and eventually die, not making it very long or she could take
him home and he could die at home. They could try to prolong his life,
possibly, with a tracheotomy, but he wouldn’t be able to communicate, he
wouldn’t be able to do much of anything. How can anyone else believe
they should have the right to jump in on my sister’s, on my family’s,
personal decisions like this? If you believe you should have this right
or that the government should have the right to jump in on a decision
like this, you are a jerk (I do not swear, otherwise, I’d call you
something else). You should not have that right, no one should have
that right. A person’s body is their own. Are you going to tell us how
we should deal with the pain of losing a life so young? Shove off if
you try to do that. You cannot force anyone to go through this pain. I
love my baby nephew. I always will. I will always cherish the
memories of holding him and kissing him….not so much of the memories of
him being hooked up to numerous tubes and doctors and nurses everywhere,
but I will always remember holding him, his smell, holding his little
hands and messing with his little feet. But you cannot force a person
to go through that pain. I am still Pro-Choice after this….I am still
grieving, and my sister and family will be grieving for years….forever.
We did not know there was anything wrong with him prior to birth. I am
not sure what my sister would have decided if she had known, but that
would have been HER decision ONLY. She probably would have asked for
advice, but ultimately it would have been her decision. This experience
has made me less patient for people who try to tell a woman what she
should do with her own body. It has made me less patient for people who
try to tell a woman that a corpse should have bodily autonomy, but she
should not. Yes, it is a potential life lost when a baby is aborted,
but maybe we should address why women are getting abortions. Is it
inadequate family support? Bad financial situation? Lack of good
healthcare? Fear? Women would fear pregnancy less if they knew they
had financial assistance if they are needy or that healthcare would be
provided for them or family planning classes or help was available.
Maybe we should spend more time advocating for programs that do this
instead of defunding them. People tend to fear things they do not
understand. Therefore, we should make sure we are teaching birth
control and reproductive health in every school early enough and make it
less of a taboo topic, so younger people are more comfortable talking
about it with others. If they understand it, they can make educated
decisions.
Another thing
this leads into that I won’t get into much right now but will mention.
Governor Brownback keeps cutting educational programs. He doesn’t care
about children. He is so against abortion, but doesn’t even want
children to get a good education or healthcare once they are born.
Shame on you Governor Brownstain. Shame on you.
