DISCLAIMER: Generally, I try to keep my highly controversial rants off of my blog. I'd rather get it out in person. Sometimes, however, writing is just a more effective way to go. So consider yourselves warned: this post is going to contain some controversial stuff.
There is a blog that I periodically read (It's in my blog list, but I'll let you figure out which one) that I react to in one of two ways. First, I like the blog a lot, and sometimes find things that she says very fascinating and something to think about, or something I agree with completely (for instance, her stand on mysandry). Then there are the moments where she goes from being a rational person to saying things like that contraception is a perpetuation of the culture of death, praise the Lord. At those moments, I can't help but think "HUH?!" as this clearly intelligent, thinking individual apparently goes off the deep end.
I get that people are entitled to their opinions, but sometimes those opinions are a little mind boggling to me. I find it interesting that I can have however many views in common with someone, but then they can say something that totally blows my mind and makes me question their sanity. Of course, I am sure I have opinions that do the same for other people. This train of thought reminds me somewhat of my sociology class at in college. The professor was hilarious but he definitely brought out a variety of viewpoints in our discussions.
On Private Practice this week (I love that show), an interesting dilemma arose. The practice added a doctor who performed abortions, and the other MDs involved either sided with her, or got in a tizzy. One of the ones who was completely anti-abortion (I like this better than pro-life, which implies that those of us that are pro-choice are anti-life) was the reproductive specialist. She went on about how she fertilizes eggs every day, therefore making babies, and that because of that she is completely against abortion. This, to me, is an incongruous thought process. First of all, from a purely scientific point of view, a fertilized egg is not necessarily capable of becoming a human being. There is no guarantee that it will implant, if fertilization were to take place in vivo (inside a uterus), and the possibility of early miscarriage (or chemical pregnancy, within 2 weeks of implantation) is fairly high. Secondly, when IVF is involved, there is no guarantee that the fertilized egg will even make it to an implantable embryo (ideally, at the 6-8 cell stage). Does this mean, then, that this doctor would become horribly depressed every time one of the embryos stopped developing? Would this indicate to her that a baby has died? I have a very hard time thinking so. This is also why I am VERY glad that Amendment 48 did not pass.
This is not to say that I am all in favor of abortion. I would never have one, unless perhaps I found out that my baby was anencephalic. Short of that, I would likely carry my pregnancy to term. I am simply not going to tell someone else to keep an unwanted child. I would be heartbroken for the person choosing abortion, simply because I know that it would be a devastating choice to make. I have known people who have had abortions, people very dear to me. I don't judge them for it, I only wish there was a way that I could somehow ameliorate the pain associated with it. My older brother, T, once told me that my not stopping someone from having an abortion is equivalent to my not stopping a murder. Um, no. It's really not quite the same thing. For one thing, abortion is not the murder of a person that has it's own identity and life, and the capability of sustaining that life. A fetus or embryo may have basic biological functions, but before 24 weeks (the generally accepted age of viability) it has absolutely no chance of survival outside the uterus. I would take issue with abortions done later than that, and absolutely take issue with the idea of infanticide, but before the age of viability I will not tell someone else what to do.
I do not feel right telling someone that she should not abort her embryo/fetus because I do not know the circumstances surrounding that choice. Yes, there are people out there who just have abortions because they don't use birth control, but that is a highly irresponsible way to go about it. Why would you put your body through that? Why would you want to go through the emotional hell of deciding whether to "get rid of it" or not? Wouldn't it be easier and less painful to buy a box of condoms, or birth control pills?
My sister, A (eventually I am going to post a diagram of my horribly complicated family...) recently had a role in a film where she played a young woman that slept around, then would track the guys down and claim she was pregnant and needed money for an abortion. I find this amusing given that for the first 24 years of her life, my sister was the least sexual person I knew. She now has a boyfriend, which is comforting, as I was starting to wonder if she'd ever find someone for a companion. I didn't care if she had a girlfriend or a boyfriend, just someone to spend her lonely times with.
While the presidential campaign was ongoing, I read an article about Sarah Palin's family. The article primarily focused on her youngest son, Trig, and their decision not to abort after finding out that he had Down Syndrome. The article mentioned that something like 94% of all Down Syndrome children are aborted because of the chromosomal anomaly. I have recently been hearing talk about people following the same trend for autistic children, when a genetic screen becomes available for that disease, too. I guess it's better to not have a child that you won't be able to care for, but this is very sad to me. If you are going to end your pregnancy, I don't think that aborting a child that was wanted until you found out that it was "broken" in some way is the way to go. People with Autism and Down Syndrome can lead fulfilling and high-functioning lives. Giving up before you even give them a chance to show you what they can do seems wrong, to me. I suppose, by that logic, terminating any pregnancy should also seem wrong, but it's all in the reason. If you didn't want a child and are not in a position where it would be remotely fair to bring a child into the world, or something like that, then fine. Make your choice. But if you want a child, and tried to conceive a child, and then terminate because the baby is not genetically perfect even though it could live a full and happy life? You'd better think long and hard about that one.
While I was pregnant, C and I discussed what we'd do if we'd found out that J had Down Syndrome. We decided that we would not terminate for Down Syndrome. We would not terminate unless the baby had anencephaly (which we already knew was not the case due to earlier ultrasounds), or Trisomy 13 or 18, all of which are incompatible with life or produce very severe problems, preventing a good quality of life. Knowing now how hard my pregnany and delivery was on me, I still feel that way. I would not put myself through that knowing that there wasn't going to be a healthy baby at the end.
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