"I'm not pro-murdering babies."

[babylonsister]

Mary Ellen Arbuckle on FB...

I’m not pro-murdering babies.

I'm pro-Barbara who found out at her 20 week anatomy scan that the infant she had been so excited to bring into this world had developed without life sustaining organs.

I'm pro-Susan who was sexually assaulted on her way home from work, only to come to the horrific realization that her assailant planted his seed in her when she got a positive pregnancy test result a month later.

I'm pro-Theresa who hemorrhaged due to a placental abruption, causing her parents, spouse, and children to have to make the impossible decision on whether to save her or her unborn child.

I'm pro-little Cathy who had her innocence ripped away from her by someone she should have been able to trust and her 11 year old body isn't mature enough to bear the consequence of that betrayal.

I'm pro-Melissa who's working two jobs just to make ends meet and has to choose between bringing another child into poverty or feeding the children she already has because her spouse walked out on her.

I'm pro-Brittany who realizes that she is in no way financially, emotionally, or physically able to raise a child.

I'm pro-Emily who went through IVF, ending up with SIX viable implanted eggs requiring selective reduction in order to ensure the safety of her and a SAFE amount of fetuses.

I'm pro-Jessica who is FINALLY getting the strength to get away from her physically abusive spouse only to find out that she is carrying the monster's child.

I'm pro-Vanessa who went into her confirmation appointment after YEARS of trying to conceive only to hear silence where there should be a heartbeat.

I'm pro-Lindsay who lost her virginity in her sophomore year with a broken condom and now has to choose whether to be a teenage mom or just a teenager.

I'm pro-Courtney who just found out she's already 13 weeks along, but the egg never made it out of her fallopian tube so either she terminates the pregnancy or risks dying from internal bleeding.

You can argue and say that I'm pro-choice all you want, but the truth is:

I'm pro-life.
Their lives.
Women's lives.
You don't get to pick and choose which scenarios should be accepted.
It's not about which stories you don't agree with. It's about fighting for the women in the stories that you do agree with and the CHOICE that was made.

Women's rights are meant to protect ALL women, regardless of their situation!"

[onecaliberal]

1. K&R

[leftieNanner]

2. Times Ten Bazillion!!!

Thanks for posting this babylonsister.

It's so very true.

Whether someone has an abortion or not is not your business - only hers.

[ironflange]

5. The fact that I'm a male makes this even less of my business

Less than zero.

[BobTheSubgenius]

49. I feel the same, but I would also like to voice my unqualified support.

I know. Privileged White Male Problems....but I really, really do feel this way.

[ironflange]

50. Good point, Bob

[calimary]

51. Thank you, BobTheSubgenius AND ironflange!

You guys sound like my husband!

[BobTheSubgenius]

74. I feel the praise is undeserved, but I appreciate it a lot!

[Moostache]

3. 100% agree, this is not a close call either.

The entire reason that people say that they oppose abortion access - not just the procedure itself, but even access to it at all in a safe, legal and clinical setting - boils down to THEIR religious beliefs being IMPOSED onto a woman against her own will and desires and choice.

PERIOD.

Fuck anyone who tries to sell a reversal of Roe as anything other than a direct, frontal assault on women's equality and reproductive health rights.

PERIOD.

Oh, and btw, for the so-called 'men' out there who still can't handle menstrual cycles and bleeding - fuck you too.

This is an issue that should be raised on equal protection basis for access to health care - or else these religious fundie nut bags better start going after teenagers with wet dreams, any male who dares to masturbate and all those failed ejaculations from old guys hepped up on Viagra.

This was never about "pro-life" (in any sense of the words) and the scumbags in the GQP have made that abundantly clear for a very long time now. It is about them wishing to punish women for the temerity of taking control of their lives and cutting off the patriarchal control system.

PERIOD.

[electric_blue68]

59. No Gilead in our time, or ANY Time!!!

[roamer65]

4. THIS.

THIS.

THIS.

THIS.

[Progressive Jones]

6. K & R Forever nt

[pwb]

7. The Supreme Court striking down Roe v Wade will

not affect States rights to have full Women's health coverage. Blue States will stay the same. Right?

Depriving Women of needy care may even backfire on the pukes and make women in Red States rise up and make their States Blue.

[WarGamer]

17. I don't think it will be struck down.

One I think it will be 7-2 to retain.

But even if they reverse the lower Court it'd simply lower the Roe "week threshold".

[LittleGirl]

8. Don't forget that miscarriage will be suspected fetal murder

That’s next.
It’s already happening.

[jmowreader]

13. That's what happened in Romania under Ceaucescu

Quick question: With the exceptions of Ireland, which could pull it off because any woman who needed an abortion could just take the ferry to England, or West Germany, which could pull it off because any woman who needed an abortion could just take the train to any of the countries surrounding it that allowed the practice, has any nation that WASN'T a dictatorship banned abortion?

[LittleGirl]

21. Well, until 1973, the US banned abortions

I don’t think we could be considered a dictatorship. It’s legalized in my lifetime.

[jmowreader]

31. The US has some questionable acts in its history

Especially in regards to women and minorities.

[Crunchy Frog]

38. The US did not ban abortion. Some states had very liberal abortion laws,

and others banned it under most circumstances.

I believe that I've read that the number of abortions didn't change much after the Roe v Wade ruling.

This is the status quo that the country would go back to if Roe is reversed, at least until the Rs start banning it everywhere.

[electric_blue68]

58. Then we'd have to start or send funds to Pro-Choice Groups....

designated for poorer women in Red(er) States to get them to a State that provides full service health care to women, a place to stay before, after their procedure, etc.

[electric_blue68]

64. Mine, too. I was 20.

[BComplex]

9. One of the best posts ever!

Thank you, Babylonsister! You nailed it!

[WhiskeyGrinder]

10. I'm pro-anyone-who-wants-an-abortion-at-any-time.

Last edited Mon May 24, 2021, 03:24 PM - Edit history (1)

These stories are vivid, but they also sustain the narrative that abortions have to be “worthy” by being emotionally devastating. Sometimes people don’t want to be pregnant, and that’s okay.

Also, I'm pro-abortion, because abortion is a great way for people who don't want to be pregnant to not be pregnant anymore.

[IcyPeas]

20. I agree with WhiskyGrinder. /nt

[chowder66]

25. Me too and that's why I was glad to see this entry

I'm pro-Brittany who realizes that she is in no way financially, emotionally, or physically able to raise a child.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

30. To me, being "able" and "wanting to" are very different.

There's no room in the OP for personal desire *without* a "reason" -- there's all some kind of trauma involved. It also erases Black people and POC, as well as trans people.

[electric_blue68]

66. If a woman doesn't want to have children that's...

her (should be, remain) her perogative.

I'm really tired (up all night - not sure why) so I seem to be not getting your comment about Black, POC, Trans people, and erasure.

(oh, sure, I know how 'erasure' applies in [deliberate or not] bad policies that endanger more vunerable groups in general, and sometimes more specifically)

[WhiskeyGrinder]

69. Yeah, I wasn't clear.

I meant the OP -- not your comment -- erases some key people who get abortions, mostly through the names, which would get callbacks for job interviews more than Aliyah or Jada might. And people with names like Jackson, Thomas and Daniel get abortions as well.

[MetalMama]

42. Totally agree with you n/t

[Solly Mack]

11. It's the actual life of the woman that matters to me.

Not the potential life of an egg or a zygote or blastocyst or embryo or fetus.

The life of the women. Her life - her actual living, breathing, in the world with all that means life - is all that matters to me.

Women don't need to have a sad story to have an abortion.

I don't need to feel bad for their situation to support their choice.

I support their right to an abortion.

Because it is their life that matters.

[Freddie]

16. This 100%

Actual life is more important than potential life. Every. Single. Time.

[Solly Mack]

54. Something that has stayed with me for a lot of years.

(Ruth, the mother of Gloria Steinem)“If I’d left you never would have been born.”


(Gloria Steinem) –I always thought but never had the courage to say: But you might have been
born instead.

This essay has been a driving force behind my thinking for years. That particular exchange opened my mind to my own mother's life and all the lost opportunities simply because she was a woman. It opened my mind to all the lost opportunities by everyone forced to live in the ignorance of others. And by ignorance I mean racism, sexism, homophobia, etc..



Ruth's Song (Because She Could Not Sing It)

by Gloria Steinem

[electric_blue68]

60. Which is why some years back I started saying...

women are people first.

[boston bean]

12. They left one off.

Pro Elizabeth who died of a botched abortion due to the desperation of having back alley abortion.

[2Gingersnaps]

67. They also left off Leah,

whose parents did not believe in birth control. She graduated at 18, was interviewed by the FBI for a position, but her family discouraged her from leaving the "safety" of their home. She married and had her first child at 19. She died of a brain tumor shortly after the birth of her fourth child at the age of 24. All four of her children went into foster care while Leah's parents and her husband fought over custody, they did not want the children but they did not want the father to have them. The father dropped dead of a heart attack eight years later. The four children aged out of the foster system, two of them utterly destroyed before they were out of high school. The church, the school, and the community who are firmly "pro-life" did absolutely nothing to nurture or protect those four children. And the system is no better than it was 60 years ago, only there are far, far more children trapped in it. If you are pro life, you are pro feeding them, nurturing them, educating them, and pro healthcare. If not, mind your own business and take care of yourself, that is the one thing you are qualified for.

[SergeStorms]

14. I agree 100%.

I'm not pro- abortion. I AM pro-women's choice, and until I develop an uterus, which I consider highly unlikely, I have absolutely no right to tell a woman what she can, or can't do, with her body. Simple as that.

[Lonestarblue]

15. I'm pro-separation of church and state.

Legislating abortion rights out of existence is nothing less than legislating a particular set of religious beliefs into law that is supposed to be secular. The Constitution says we have the right to be free from religion. The religious right thus does not have a Constitutional right to force their religious beliefs on the rest of us. I recognize that Roe was decided on the basis of a right to privacy to make a medical decision rather than religion, but it is religion driving its overturn.

[Freddie]

18. Since they are trying to end the viability standard

(Which I think is reasonable)...what will their legal “reasoning” be to end 48 years’ precedence? Without invoking God?

[Bayard]

23. Exactly

Religion has no place in women's--or anybody's--Constitutional rights. No place in people's sex lives. No place in schools.

I have always hated the, "You WILL be assimilated attitude".

[yonder]

19. A very powerful post, thanks.

[keithbvadu2]

22. Pro-life to republicans is a myth.

Republicans are in favor of killing living babies and have done so.

Pro-life to republicans is a myth.

The supposed pro-lifers cared naught when the state of Texas (republican gov, republican Prez) deliberately killed living baby Sun Hudson against the mother's wishes because he was an inconvenience to the state.

It is not a matter of life to the supposed pro-lifers.

It is a matter of control.

[The Jungle 1]

24. Changing the law will not stop abortion.

I was a teen when abortion was illegal. Abortion was rampant. A law will stop nothing.
Why won't republicans work with us to do the things that will reduce abortion??????

[CaliforniaPeggy]

29. They won't work with us, because the issue isn't really about abortion.

It's about controlling women. They don't want us to have control.

They want men, preferably white so-called Christian men, to stay dominant.

Period.

[electric_blue68]

57. Always THIS.

[The Jungle 1]

70. Agreed and.

Abortion is also a very successful wedge issue for the callous politicians. Most of them do not care one way or the other they just see voter numbers. Does anyone believe trump or Moscow mitch care about abortion.
If the right loses control of the abortion issue and the gun issue they will not win anything.
Living wages
Housing
Education
Healthcare
These are all things that will reduce abortion and they are another way the right controls the population. Republicans are all about control.
Abortion and guns are ripping this country apart and republicans are feeding the fire. Republicans do not care about abortion and they do not care if we shoot each other.
Am I being a cynical old man? Maybe, maybe not. I would love to hear from other Americans regarding this issue. It is a very important issue creating a huge negative impact on our country.
Is the right just using these issues for political gain?

[PurgedVoter]

26. State Regulation of Women

These are regulations placed on women that are not applicable to men. The over regulation of women is not equal protection. The over regulation of women is based on a religious definition of life that disagrees with quite a few faiths. One could even argue that abortion is encouraged and demanded by the Bible in certain circumstances. (A lot of circumstances)

Regulating access to abortion is one of the links in the chain desired by those who wish to own their women. When a man pushes to control a woman's rights, look at their history and see if they are for state provided childcare, prenatal care and life care. If not, then they are demagogues, supporters of female bondage, or both.

The evidence is that conservatives, particularly Christian conservatives support female bondage. Their creed, actions and words are all quite similar to creeds, actions and words that support the institution of slavery.

So for me this is not a pro-life issue, they gave that up when they supported putting children in cages, ignoring their health issues. That ship has sailed off, wrecked against the stones and burst into flame destroying every bit of cargo. This is a pro ownership of women issue and a religious issue pushed by demagogues who are for the ownership of other humans.

So Pro-Life is entirely the wrong term. Anti-Abortion is weak. So far, the correct term is Conservative, with the understanding that Conservative means craven, traitorous, lying, stealing and sadistic.

[ProfessorGAC]

27. K&R!

That's really good!

[LymphocyteLover]

28. BRILLIANT, thank you

[NoMoreRepugs]

32. NOBODY is telling my daughter or granddaughter what they

Can or cannot do with their bodies - NOBODY.

[spanone]

33. K&R...

[Permanut]

34. Wow.

Just wow. Never said that about a post before.

[3catwoman3]

35. I think it is sad that not every pregnancy can be a source of joy.

As well enumerated in the OP, there are many reasons that every pregnancy is not a cause for rejoicing. Unless I am personally prepared to step in and raise to adulthood a child that someone else does not wish to, it is none of my business.

I do wish that more people who engage in consensual sexual activity would be more responsible about contraception.

[mountain grammy]

36. Exactly!

This is a medical procedure for a woman and is nobody's business but her's.

[usaf-vet]

37. Don't let the GQP fool you or anyone else. At best they are pro-birth as a political wedge. After...

... that their policies prove they don't give a rats arse about the baby, the mother, the siblings, and in general their lives until they turn 18 and can join the military OR until they can vote for the very GQP that has ignored them from birth.

Pro-Life what a laugh tell that to the families of the near 600,000 Americans that have lost a loved one(s) to Covid-19.

[electric_blue68]

61. Yes, so true. Infuriating.

[Kath2]

39. Absolutely!

Thank you!

[dawn5651]

40. well said

i am pro that all decisions on the health of a woman are between her and her dr. or her and her partner if that person is non abusive.

[speaknow]

41. Roe V Wade is based on a women's right

to choose. So Ladies if struck down you'll
have one choice and that is, No action for
him!!!!!!!!!!

[Jilly_in_VA]

72. I am past childbearing

but in such a case I would support bringing back Lysistrata!

[niyad]

43. Thank you so much for posting this incredibly important and eloquently stated piece. Would you

consider cross-posting this in Women's Rights And Issues? Thanks in advance.

[Ferrets are Cool]

44. This x 1000

[pansypoo53219]

45. its not a gerber baby, its a clump of cells.

[electric_blue68]

62. ...

oh 😯

😂😂😂

[Joinfortmill]

46. Me too.

[soldierant]

47. It is indeed an excellent post,

but if anyone thinks that any rabidgelical would be moved a millimeter by it, or by any part of it - well, you may be living in a dofferent kind of fantasyland from the one they live in - certainly a much nicer one, where people are kind, but a fantasy nonetheless.

[electric_blue68]

63. Unfortunately 🤬 they are as solid as a rock (of ages)

[Faux pas]

48. YES YES YES!

[SunSeeker]

52. K & R

[William Gustafson]

53. I donno know what dude needs to hear this....

But Vasectomy's prevent abortions if you are so worried about it.... Child support should be mandatory for any guy that gets a girl pregnant.... (They would make it legal in a heart beat if that was to become law)

[electric_blue68]

65. 👍

[calimary]

55. Preach it!!!

[electric_blue68]

56. Women ARE People First!!!!! Hands off Our Bodies!

Last edited Tue May 25, 2021, 06:35 AM - Edit history (1)

I'm in my later 60s. I fear for my younger relatives, acqaintences, and women-sisters! 😥😠😠🤬🤬🤬

Poignant, scary so true article!




(Do I really need to go on yet another Choice March in DC? Hopefully RvW will remain as standing law)

[Best_man23]

68. K&R, Ready...

KICK IT!!

[LNM]

71. I'm pro it's none of your damn business!! nt

[IbogaProject]

73. I'm pro Sarah

I'm pro Sarah who was plied with drinks and may have been slipped a date rape drug and woke up with no recollection of who even took her virginity and must clear any attachment that monster(s) left with her.

[Politicub]

75. I view abortion as a form of compassion and bravery.

The reasons are none of my business, but I understand why it’s important that women share their stories because the right to choose is always under attack from the right.