First of all, just because I think a woman should be able to make her own decisions with regard to her body, does not mean that I'm not pro-life. I am very much for life. I like life. I don't know anyone who is not pro-life in the broad sense of the term. A more accurate depiction of the two camps here would be Pro-Choice and Anti-Choice. We are all pro-life and we are all anti-abortion. Fact.
Having said that, I've always firmly believed that until it can survive on its own, a fetus should be considered parasitic. Literally. (But that's me being all maternal.)
Secondly, the great thing about this country is that you can decide that abortion is wrong for you and subsequently not get an abortion. And other women who you do not know (or maybe you do) can decide that abortion is their best option in the situation they may find themselves and then they can legally and safely go through the procedure. No one is suggesting that it is a decision that is taken lightly (or should be taken lightly). It must be agonizing to be in a position where you are considering such a thing. I imagine there are hurtful ramifications to any outcome of an unwanted pregnancy. The empowerment comes from the CHOICE.
The old white men who make up the Republican representatives in Congress have deliberately attacked women (predominantly poor women). This is most likely not due to any overt animosity toward women in general or poor women specifically. It is probably due to the fact that these women will likely never vote for them so they do not have to do anything to make them want to vote for them.
Many people are suggesting that this recent surge in anti-choice rhetoric is due to the strict conservative Christian beliefs of the Representatives. I don't care what they believe. If he is a Representative in our Federal government, it is his DUTY to put aside his beliefs and represent his constituents. (Of course no one does that any more, if they ever did.) They mostly represent their own personal beliefs (Constitution be damned) and those of their richest backers.
The supposed "murder" of a parasitic fetus no bigger than a tennis ball is so horrific to the sensibilities of the old white men in Congress that they must defund a vital community resource because 3% (YES, THREE PERCENT) of its services are abortions. And none of those is paid for with any Federal money. Most of the money the government gets from me, it spends on things I deeply abhor.
The point of Roe v. Wade is not how many abortions have been performed since it became law, nor is it about how much money Planned Parenthood makes by providing some of those abortions safely. It is about the fact that, based on the Constitution, I have a right to privacy in the medical decisions I make for my body. And based on the Constitution, your religious beliefs about the existence of a soul or life or afterlife or whatever should have NO bearing on that law.
(As an aside here, I always found it curious that the rabid anti-choice people are willing to kill to prevent an abortion. They also tend to be pro-death penalty and vehement warhawks. I think it was Dennis Miller who said, "Its all in the timing, I guess.")
14 trillion dollars in debt didn't seem like such a big deal when it was a Republican president. Even now, if the House was truly panicked about the size of the debt, they would have ended the tax cuts that are contributing to it. They would consider RAISING taxes on the top 15% income bracket. They would not be cutting programs that really amount to a drop in the bucket in the short term but will turn our country into a banana republic in the long term.
Just sayin'
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