I talked a girlfriend into it once. She was a bipolar nutcase and a pathological liar who would have made my life a living hell had I fathered her child, even after I inevitably left her - I'm pretty sure she got pregnant on purpose. I was 19 and she was 28 or 29 and already had two children.
Even if it seems like the right decision on the surface (given our society's acceptance of it as an option), the reality of going through with it killed me. Some of you might find me a sensitive guy, and I do tend to be an emotionally-driven person at times, but once we were in the room, I waited for the doctor to leave, and I told her we should just walk out. She balked and insisted on going through with it, a bitter look on her face, as if she decided to stay on course to spite me.
I said fine, probably to spite her back (don't forget I was only 19).
After I left the hospital I cried like a female on the drive to work, and I never let the guilt go completely. The baby was still early-term, but I remember that in the first sonogram, it had a heartbeat. I decided after that I would never deprive another person, especially my own son or daughter, of the opportunity for life like that again. No matter what happened, I would accept the consequences of my own actions.
The older I get, the more strongly I feel about this and the more I see the practice as barbaric, immoral, and bizarre. It blows my mind that our society goes by this belief that women can kill their own children - the only criteria being that 1) it's her decision and 2) its still in her womb.
"It's my body," they say, and I can't help but think that's just another hamster-driven excuse for selfish behavior, of the worst kind, and total lack of accountability for one's own actions. When I think of these broads who have abortion after abortion as a form of birth control, it makes me want to throw up - what a miserable excuse for a human being...
I was raised by a single mother and the whole idea of women having the power over their own bodies was ingrained at an early age. Now it all sounds like rhetoric.
A case discussed a month or so ago comes to mind when a guy slipped pills to his girl to force a miscarriage and they wanted to charge him with murder. Not sure what happened to that guy, and what he did was indeed fucked up, but the double-standard on what constitutes homicide is appalling.
Malcom Galdwell talks about how abortions drastically lower crime rates, and I can see the logic, but there has to be a better way - more responsibility along the lines of not getting prego in the first place, perhaps...
I'm sure a lot of you players disagree with my stance on this, but I'm curious to hear your thoughts. I'd especially like to see 2Wycked tear into this subject some time, no matter what his take.
Just to spark your appetite before your next meal, here's a disturbing excerpt from the Wikipedia entry on Intact D&X surgery, a procedure sometimes used in late-term abortions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intact_dila...extraction
How can an infant with not only formed legs but a brain not be considered human enough to be entitled to its life? To be fair, I'm not exactly sure how common this sort of thing is, as my education on this subject is minimal, but the very thought that anyone, anywhere finds this an acceptable way to escape parental obligations boggles my mind...
As Gladwell points out, perhaps the good it does for society overall is its saving grace. But what good does it do for our society long-term, say 30 - 60 years instead of 18, when we give ourselves such an "easy" way to dodge basic human responsibility? How do these social standards affect the way we approach our lives when normalized from generation to generation?
Even if it seems like the right decision on the surface (given our society's acceptance of it as an option), the reality of going through with it killed me. Some of you might find me a sensitive guy, and I do tend to be an emotionally-driven person at times, but once we were in the room, I waited for the doctor to leave, and I told her we should just walk out. She balked and insisted on going through with it, a bitter look on her face, as if she decided to stay on course to spite me.
I said fine, probably to spite her back (don't forget I was only 19).
After I left the hospital I cried like a female on the drive to work, and I never let the guilt go completely. The baby was still early-term, but I remember that in the first sonogram, it had a heartbeat. I decided after that I would never deprive another person, especially my own son or daughter, of the opportunity for life like that again. No matter what happened, I would accept the consequences of my own actions.
The older I get, the more strongly I feel about this and the more I see the practice as barbaric, immoral, and bizarre. It blows my mind that our society goes by this belief that women can kill their own children - the only criteria being that 1) it's her decision and 2) its still in her womb.
"It's my body," they say, and I can't help but think that's just another hamster-driven excuse for selfish behavior, of the worst kind, and total lack of accountability for one's own actions. When I think of these broads who have abortion after abortion as a form of birth control, it makes me want to throw up - what a miserable excuse for a human being...
I was raised by a single mother and the whole idea of women having the power over their own bodies was ingrained at an early age. Now it all sounds like rhetoric.
A case discussed a month or so ago comes to mind when a guy slipped pills to his girl to force a miscarriage and they wanted to charge him with murder. Not sure what happened to that guy, and what he did was indeed fucked up, but the double-standard on what constitutes homicide is appalling.
Malcom Galdwell talks about how abortions drastically lower crime rates, and I can see the logic, but there has to be a better way - more responsibility along the lines of not getting prego in the first place, perhaps...
I'm sure a lot of you players disagree with my stance on this, but I'm curious to hear your thoughts. I'd especially like to see 2Wycked tear into this subject some time, no matter what his take.
Just to spark your appetite before your next meal, here's a disturbing excerpt from the Wikipedia entry on Intact D&X surgery, a procedure sometimes used in late-term abortions:
Quote:Quote:
Once the cervix is sufficiently dilated, the doctor uses an ultrasound and forceps to grasp the fetus's leg. The fetus is turned to a breech position, if necessary, and the doctor pulls one or both legs out of the cervix, which some refer to as 'partial birth' of the fetus. The doctor subsequently extracts the rest of the fetus, leaving only the head still inside the uterus. An incision is made at the base of the skull, a blunt dissector (such as a Kelly clamp) is inserted into the incision and opened to widen the opening,[4] and then a suction catheter is inserted into the opening. The brain is suctioned out, which causes the skull to collapse and allows the fetus to pass more easily through the cervix. The placenta is removed and the uterine wall is vacuum aspirated using a cannula.[5]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intact_dila...extraction
How can an infant with not only formed legs but a brain not be considered human enough to be entitled to its life? To be fair, I'm not exactly sure how common this sort of thing is, as my education on this subject is minimal, but the very thought that anyone, anywhere finds this an acceptable way to escape parental obligations boggles my mind...
As Gladwell points out, perhaps the good it does for society overall is its saving grace. But what good does it do for our society long-term, say 30 - 60 years instead of 18, when we give ourselves such an "easy" way to dodge basic human responsibility? How do these social standards affect the way we approach our lives when normalized from generation to generation?
Beyond All Seas
"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes
frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Kipling
"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes
frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Kipling