Okay. I'm in. Why or how a woman gets pregnant is not really the issue. The fact is abortion is legal in this country and that is what a lot of people don't like; the very concept is offensive to almost everyone, granted.
Still, a woman should always have the right to do as she chooses when it concerns her body(a man should too but that doesn't seem to come up as often,for obvious reasons). No one "chooses" abortion as a form of birth control (it is painful and quite expensive), but accidents do happen (and shockingly, so does rape and incest). An abortion is a medical procedure and should be covered, but how the abortion came to be necessary is no one's business, least of all the government's.
Last I heard the public option is a non-starter anyway so by the time we get this conversation going it will probably be a non-issue.
I'm not saying a woman doesn't have the right to choose--let her choice be covered by private insurance. The government should not have to pay for her mistakes. This is the 21st century-- women who are sexually active know about the methods of birth control that are available to them. Either they are too stupid or too lazy to take responsibility for their bodies and ignorance is unacceptable.
If the Public Option goes through then odds are the woman will be paying premiums...how does that differ from private insurance? Because its government sponsored? Unfortunately we don't get to pick and choose what our tax dollars pay for; I don't like my tax dollars paying for the war in Iraq or enforcing the death penalty...we don't get to pick and choose.
Funny that most prescription drug plans will pay for Viagra (and other ED drugs) but not cover birth control.
Abortion in this country is legal and as long as it is it should be covered by any health plan.
I believe the influence of our culture contributes more to unwanted pregnancies than ignorance. Access to birth control through health care in general is a bigger issue than not knowing about what methods are available.
Btw, why is this just a women's mistake?
posted by hooda
over 2 years ago
That's pretty harsh, but I'm guessing you've never come face to face with a scared teen. It is easy to take a hard-line approach when it doesn't touch you personally.("the governmenet should not have to pay for her mistakes.")
In any case, I don't think abortion should be singled out in the debate; that is, I never thought it should have been the issue it became, a rallying cry, if you will for the anti-abortion people in the Senate. That's not right. We're talking about health care reform, not abortion reform. I believe the intention was for the debate to get so bogged down with abortion discussions that a general vote on the whole package would be stalled. Fortunately it did not work for too long (3 weeks?), but I think even saying here that "government will pay for abortions" is wrong in that it oversimplifies a complicated and very small part of the overall reform package. There may be instances where it applies. Abortion is not black and white, and since we do not have a public option in place yet it is kind of a mute point. But I must admit--as a diversionary tactic it worked like a charm.
To Hooda: haha...those irresponsible women! They keep getting pregnant and then expect the government to bail them out! They have no sense! If only they could be more like men!
The GOP have become masters of diversion and obstruction, not to mention fear mongering as another tactic.
Hooda, its always the woman's fault, she should have never opened her legs to begin with...which is just plain WRONG!
"The influence of our culture contributes more to unwanted pregnancies than ignorance."
In another thread one of the things I mentioned was parental responsibility for sexual education of their children (as early as 11), and parents delude themselves if they think kids aren't experimenting with sex.
Why is it a woman's mistake? B/c if she has any sense, she has respect and control over her body. A guy will only do what a woman allows him to do (unless it's rape or incest).
So women shouldn't have normal sexual desires?
Sorry, I so totally disagree with this.
Some women cannot use birth control pills for health reasons. Does that mean they should give up any thought of sex until they are well beyond menopause?
Condoms break. Even birth control pills are not 100%; effective.
I have known of married women who do not want to get pregnant, who take precautions and get pregnant anyway. Some of them have gotten abortions.
Most people who are opposed to abortion are opposed for religious reasons. Expecting the US government to use people's religious beliefs as the basis for any legislation is not consistent with the high minded principles laid out in our Constitution. If you don't believe in abortion, if you believe abortion is a sin or is murder; don't get an abortion. Do not impose your religious or moral codes on people who do not share them.
If the belief that abortion is a sin is the basis for denying some people in the US access to safe legal abortions, then the same standard should be applied to other programs and expenditures of the US government. Quakers believe all war is sinful. No taxpayer dollars should be spent on any military action. Amish people believe it is sinful to use electricity or to own cars. No taxpayer dollars should be spent for any electricity or for government vehicles. Extreme examples to be sure, but equally valid as the argument that some people do not want their tax dollars used to fund abortions. The same religious organizations which lobby for anti abortion laws are also lobbying for an end to the death penalty. Why is it okay to ignore the moral outrage felt by devout believers in the sanctity of life when it comes to death penalty, but you embrace their moral outrage when it comes to ending the life of a human that is not yet fully formed? The embryo or the fetus is aborted when it does not have a consciousness of self, or a memory or life experience. That is considered an outrageous crime, yet it is okay to take a mother's son (most on death row are men), a child's parent, a person who might not even have committed the crime of which he was convicted and coldly and with great premeditation, run a cocktail of drugs into his veins until he quits twitching and his life comes to an end. Sorry, but I consider that sheer hypocrisy.
jillygal, you must lead a sheltered life. You must never have known a single mother who is working two jobs and raising two kids with little, if any, help from the father. If she is lucky, she may be able to get state subsidized health insurance for her kids, but it is not likely she will be able to get it for herself. She is praying that the public option will be available for her to finally get health insurance. On top of that, you want her to also buy a private insurance policy??? Just in case she might wind up with an unplanned pregnancy? What paternalistic crap!
