Government promoted and enforced pregnancy
So what happens when you combine a Supreme Court decision that puts formerly confidential and personal decisions in the hands of the government with "abstinence-only" sex non-education?
Government-promoted and enforced pregnancy.
There's no other way to read it. The Bush administration is against effective sex education and against allowing women to make decisions without their heavy-handed laws. It's not exactly mandatory pregnancy, but it's close.
How is this morally any different than the government enforced abortions the religious right wails about in China? All governments need to stay out of private moral and medical decisions, and the government has no business encouraging or forcing women to have offspring, but that's what we have now.
News flash for religious extremists in the US: there always were abortions, even before Roe v. Wade. Lots and lots of women died from them. There used to be special wards in hospitals to care for women who were the victims of botched abortions. So while the religious right may think abortion is wrong, they still argue for going back to a system that kills women.
People who claim to be "pro-life" but consistently try to block accurate sex education and contraception are the worst sort of hypocrites. If you're against abortion, don't have one, and stop trying to mess with pharmacies while you're at it. You don't think Plan B is okay, don't take it. But honestly, butt the heck out already, nobody asked you in the first place.
Let's make this very clear: other people, be they five Supreme Court justices or the alleged clergy of the American Taliban, have no busines trying to tell women what risks they should take during pregnancy. The right likes to claim it's all about "convenience," but what they overlook are the very real complications that can arise. If a family is faced with an awful decision like that, the last thing they need is the Bush administration involved. Ask Michael Schiavo what that's like.
The anti-abortion movement isn't about abortion, it's about the subjugation of women, and always has been. "Traditional values" just means women can be treated as baby machines against their will, even if their health is in danger. The key thing to remember is not whether abortion or Plan B is moral, that is a theological question. What matters is who gets to make that determination. In a free society, we don't dictate religious decisions to people.
Mark my words: James Dobson and the rest of them will never, ever, ever have a say in my family's medical decisions. The very idea that these arrogant people think they can impose their warped view of Christianity on the United States is completely unacceptable.
Congress needs to repeal this asinine law at once. Let Bush try to veto it and let the American people see which party wants to control their private lives from Washington, D.C.
If you didn't think it matters who is elected next year, that illusion should be shattered by today's ruling.
UPDATE 10:24 AM PDT Senator Patty Murray has already released a statement condemning today's ruling:
Government-promoted and enforced pregnancy.
There's no other way to read it. The Bush administration is against effective sex education and against allowing women to make decisions without their heavy-handed laws. It's not exactly mandatory pregnancy, but it's close.
How is this morally any different than the government enforced abortions the religious right wails about in China? All governments need to stay out of private moral and medical decisions, and the government has no business encouraging or forcing women to have offspring, but that's what we have now.
News flash for religious extremists in the US: there always were abortions, even before Roe v. Wade. Lots and lots of women died from them. There used to be special wards in hospitals to care for women who were the victims of botched abortions. So while the religious right may think abortion is wrong, they still argue for going back to a system that kills women.
People who claim to be "pro-life" but consistently try to block accurate sex education and contraception are the worst sort of hypocrites. If you're against abortion, don't have one, and stop trying to mess with pharmacies while you're at it. You don't think Plan B is okay, don't take it. But honestly, butt the heck out already, nobody asked you in the first place.
Let's make this very clear: other people, be they five Supreme Court justices or the alleged clergy of the American Taliban, have no busines trying to tell women what risks they should take during pregnancy. The right likes to claim it's all about "convenience," but what they overlook are the very real complications that can arise. If a family is faced with an awful decision like that, the last thing they need is the Bush administration involved. Ask Michael Schiavo what that's like.
The anti-abortion movement isn't about abortion, it's about the subjugation of women, and always has been. "Traditional values" just means women can be treated as baby machines against their will, even if their health is in danger. The key thing to remember is not whether abortion or Plan B is moral, that is a theological question. What matters is who gets to make that determination. In a free society, we don't dictate religious decisions to people.
Mark my words: James Dobson and the rest of them will never, ever, ever have a say in my family's medical decisions. The very idea that these arrogant people think they can impose their warped view of Christianity on the United States is completely unacceptable.
Congress needs to repeal this asinine law at once. Let Bush try to veto it and let the American people see which party wants to control their private lives from Washington, D.C.
If you didn't think it matters who is elected next year, that illusion should be shattered by today's ruling.
UPDATE 10:24 AM PDT Senator Patty Murray has already released a statement condemning today's ruling:
"Today the Supreme Court told women across America that our health doesn't matter. Women and families will pay the price for this misguided ruling, which takes healthcare decisions out of the hands of doctors and patients and limits the ability of health care professionals to protect women's health.
"The Supreme Court and six federal courts have previously struck down similar laws that failed to include an exception for a woman's health. Today's abrupt reversal could sentence women to a lifetime of expensive medical care at a time when rising costs make access difficult even in the best of circumstances."
