What's with the new conservative meme comparing abortion to lemonade stands

[xmas74]

on Facebook? I just read it on three different feeds and have argued with all three.

"A middle school girl is free to get an abortion without parental consent, but if she puts a lemonade stand on her lawn she'll be fined. What a bleak and reductive concept of 'personal freedom.'"

Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit. A middle school girl is usually under the age of 14 and in most state sex with a child under the age of 14 is a big-time felony, not to mention that in most (if not all-not sure) states in order for a child that young to get an abortion w/o consent she'd have to appear in front of a judge. Appearing at that young may raise a number of questions, which will involve the police on a rape case.

They are now comparing child rape to lemonade stands and it's sickening. As the mother of a middle school aged daughter I'm disgusted.

[veganlush]

1. that's just such a stupid comparison

I'm not one of those people that jumps on every comparison, comparisons can be useful for making a point but comparing the lemonade stand and abortion-it's just stupid, plain and simple.

[xmas74]

2. I'm glad to hear from someone else

(who doesn't worry about my feelings) that I'm not taking this the wrong way.

They make it sound as though you can just pop around to the corner gas station and get an abortion. I knew a 13 year old who went in front of a judge after her mother refused to give consent-it was awful. The exact comment made by the judge was that her even having sex was a felony act, unless the other person was also under the age of 14. She had to tell names and give dates, which led to a police investigation. (In the end, mother knew it was stepfather-she couldn't have any more children and wanted him to have "one of his own.&quot

I find this meme deeply disturbing.

[tk2kewl]

3. they don't understand the purpose of regulation

if i get an abortion the doctor providing that service is regulated for my protection.

when i sell lemonade i may be regulated to protect those who consume my product.


if they want the girl's choice regulated, then they would have to point to some regulation that makes the thirsty person watch lemons get picked and squeezed before they were allowed to take a sip

[xmas74]

4. But to even include an argument about child rape vs a lemonade stand

is ludicrous. A pregnant middle school student is basically child rape, since there are no states that have a legal age of consent under the age of 16. Unless the state has a Romeo and Juliet law and the parties fall within that age group it's statutory rape, still a felony in most states. But middle school age (anywhere from ages 9-14) is usually some sort of child rape charge. A 12 year old cannot give consent.

The meme casually compares child rape to a lemonade stand.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

16. I have two daughters

one in high school, one in college, and their mom and I have always been very open and encouraged them to be open with us. I would hope that no matter how old (or young) they were, they would feel they could come to us (or one of us, whichever they preferred) with any problem, knowing that we would be there for them.

But one thing that always troubled me when it came to young girls having abortions without parental consent (as it used to be, not so much now) is this: if a 12 year old can't consent to have sex, which I agree with, how can that same 12 year old consent to an abortion?

Admittedly torn on this, as I understand that not all young women have families they can go to for help, so parental consent should not be mandated, just an honest assessment of something thattugged at me when my girls were younger.

[xmas74]

20. How can they consent to an abortion?

In some of those cases, they cannot go to their parents. In the case of a 12 year old, how many of those cases are pregnant because of abuse/molestation by a parent/guardian or authority figure? No one was there to protect those girls and keep them from getting pregnant. Why would they expect to obtain consent now?

I know of one case-12 year old girl-got pregnant by mother's boyfriend and had the baby. She didn't tell anyone until her water broke in 7th grade science class. I know this for a fact-she was my lab partner. She was a heavy girl and wore baggy clothes. That baby is now in her twenties. (This was back in the late 80's.)

I know of another case from the 90's. 15 year old girl got pregnant, was refused consent by her mother, went in front of a judge. Guess what? Consent was refused but the case was investigated and later prosecuted. The father was her stepfather and her mother knew the entire time. She gave birth to twins.

With my own child I'd hope she could come to me. I'll pay for it, if that's what she wants, and hold her hand, even if they try to make me leave. But there are plenty of other girls who don't have that option. They need to get it done and keep it a secret.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

22. Yes, I understand what you're saying

and I agree with you that parental consent laws are nothing more than an attempt to stop young women from having abortions.

I'm just torn on the logic of saying that a 12 year old girl doesn't have the maturity/capacity to consent to sex, yet that same 12 year old girl does have the maturity/capacity to consent to have an abortion.

We're on the same side here, as even with my questions, any "tie" has to go to the pregnant woman/girl and her decision. It's just one of those things that does raise a question of logic, to me.

[xmas74]

24. A 12 year old dosen't have the maturity/capacity to consent to sex

but she also doesn't have the same to cope with motherhood. And in a number of those cases, she is already dealing with emotional issues from the conception.

I know we're on the same side. What you do need to think about is that a number of those 12 year olds who might be considering abortions are doing so because they were forced into performing for a family member or authority figure. They know they cannot obtain consent from someone who might actually be the father or from other adults who knew about the situation. Where do they go? And how many 12 year olds are savvy enough to go in front of a judge for consent?

Another example: in the early 90's I knew a girl who found herself pregnant. She knew her family wouldn't understand and she had no idea where to get an abortion. What did she do? Threw herself down the stairs repeatedly until she realized that nothing happened, then threw herself in front of a moving car. She died. If she had been able to obtain a legal, safe abortion she would still be here with us today, probably arguing in this thread.

We look at things from where we both sit. We would support our daughters if they needed it. The problem is that so many wouldn't do the same, which is why parental consent laws only increase teen motherhood and botched "home-style" or "back alley" abortions.I've heard of local girls douching with Drano in order to induce a miscarriage. If they had access to a real MD...

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. Here's all you need to know:

They are insane.

[xmas74]

6. that would be true.

The meme showed up on coworkers walls on Facebook and Missouri conservatives are nothing if not insane.

[proud2BlibKansan]

19. I just won't go there on Facebook

People who start posting that stupid political crap on my wall are deleted. I've deleted family members, high school friends, co-workers, anyone who posts stupid (mainly right wing) crap like pictures and silly stories comparing lemonade stands to abortions on my wall. Gone.

They can put whatever they want on their wall and I am free to ignore it if it shows up on my feed. But the minute it goes on my wall, bye bye.

The most bizarre thing I saw on Facebook this weekend was my nephew, a conservative, who posted a video of people in line waiting to buy the iPhone5 and he commented that they were too stupid to be allowed to vote. I couldn't help but remember last Thanksgiving when he and his wife went to Black Friday the night before, took their kids (they are 11 and 8) and spent the night on the sidewalk in a tent so they could be first in line to buy something they couldn't live without the next morning. I wanted so badly to remind him of that but I decided to let his arrogance stand alone. He made a comment on my wall a few months ago and my friends, who are 99% Democrats, ate him alive. So I'm not going to get into it with him on Facebook.

[xmas74]

23. I tore two of them apart on Facebook,

allowing them the opportunity to rebut. Nothing happened, except the third has deleted my comment.

I can't stand stupid comments of that nature. Sometimes I wonder if the same people posting this crap also have to be reminded to breathe regularly.

[proud2BlibKansan]

26. My entire family knows I have a disabled sibling

She is on SS and Medicaid. Has been for years.

One of my family members posted something about the ACA, that she didn't appreciate having to pay for health care for "lazy" people. I asked if she was including my sister in that category, since our tax dollars have paid for her health care AND provided her income for many many years now.

Crickets.

No more conversation about the ACA on my page.

[xmas74]

28. I used to point out similar things to family members

about disability, considering they were on disability. They blocked my account and haven't spoken with me since. Turns out they were hurt by the "unjust accusations".

I just get so tired of their crap that I rarely post anything on FB except stupid pics.

[GoCubsGo]

25. My wingnut* brother posted something similar the other day.

He called some unnamed "liberal" who posted a complaint about outsourcing from his Chinese-made iPhone an "IDIOT". I asked him what phones were made here. He replied, "None." I asked him if this person was not allowed to complain via a phone, since all phones are imported, or if he wasn't allowed to complain because he disagreed politically. I never did get a straight answer from him. Just the usual obfuscation, subject-changing, and accusations that I was trying to play both sides of the matter. I didn't let him get away with it.

* I'm actually not sure if he has gone completely to the Dark Side. A lot of times, he says this kind of crap to stir up shit/play Devil's Advocate. I think he also tries to impress his wife, friends, co-workers and in-laws, who are mostly right-wing nutbags. And, they are the reasons I DO get into it with him on Facebook. I keep hoping that those liberally-biased facts might reach one or two of them.

[proud2BlibKansan]

27. My BIL is a wingnut and tea party member.

He said one thing - don't even remember now what it was - criticizing Democrats on my wall and before I could reply 2 of my friends who have served in office roasted him.

He emailed me, he was so hurt. I said well, many of my FB friends are not only Democrats but have been or are now elected officials who really know how to talk politics so maybe we should just stick with pictures of the grandkids on Facebook. He agreed and has been a very pleasant FB friend ever since. LOL

[dawg]

7. The War on Lemonade!

Do those foolish liberals have no decency?

[xmas74]

10. I know every morning, when I wake up,

I plan my own personal war against lemonade stands. It's awesome when I get them all shut down and watch the kids cry.

[dawg]

11. You are so right.

When life gives you lemons - throw those sour tasting pieces of crap out and demand that life give you something better instead!

[xmas74]

15. Like candy corn and caramel apples.

Now wouldn't that be better!

[Brickbat]

8. Only 13 states and the District of Columbia do not require parental notification. And for the rest

of the states, yeah, bypassing the "parental consent" requirements is, like, sooooo easy. Any middle-school girl is totes equipped to figure out the process of getting a judge to waive the requirement or get like a legal guardian to speak on her behalf.

[xmas74]

9. Considering the jackasses posting this all live in Missouri,

where it's hard enough as it is to get an abortion as an adult. In Missouri a teen must have consent (not notification but consent) from at least one parent, unless she goes to court to bypass.

I knew someone who attempted to bypass in court. It was a disaster.

[surrealAmerican]

12. Where are all these lemonade stands being fined?

Is there some sort of epidemic of children in legal trouble over this?


The comparison is a bad one. A pregnant middle schooler is a person in crisis, who needs all the help she can get. A kid who wants to make a few bucks off the passersby, not so much.

[xmas74]

13. Exactly.

I'm not sure where the stands are located while I know I can find young girls all over the US who are in a crisis.

We had a stand, run by a child w/o an adult supervision, that was closed down a few years ago in my town. The reason was because they lived on a main street in town and that traffic was slowing down to give the kids some change. In the end, it was to protect the public and to protect the kids running the stand.

[Odin2005]

14. The anti-government idiots like to spin some local issues...

...involving stories about overzealous local bureaucrats shutting down kids' lemonade stands and spin it into some national issue by using it as an example of why regulating the economy is "bad". It's BS logic but it convinces the Sheeple.

[Brickbat]

18. What Odin said. And here's a website devoted to fighting tyranny against lemonade stands.

http://www.lemonadefreedom.com/

[ck4829]

17. These are the same people who thought a veterinarian would make a good expert on women's health

So of course it's not that farfetched for them to compare a uterus to a lemonade stand.

[xmas74]

21. I guess since there are fluids involved...

Ewwww.