I’ve never really been a huge fan of Doonesbury, but much like the digs at Sarah Palin that Trudeau took last fall, I’ve also been enjoying the series that he’s been running this week about all of the crazy abortion legislation that the GOP has been spinning around lately because sometimes despite being horrendously sad and offensive, there’s still a little sliver of humor to be found simply in the idea that somebody out there finds this completely ridiculous proposal perfectly reasonable.
I honestly don’t understand how any woman, or even any man who has respect for any woman, could possibly still support the republican party after stuff like this because it’s so over-reachingly offensive to think that a bunch of middle-aged white guys not only have the right to tell women what they can and can’t do with their own bodies, but also force them to undergo invasive medical procedures to protect the potential future of a creature that technically doesn’t even exist yet … it’s all just baffling to me, and it’s also a little concerning that more people aren’t up in arms about this. Because although only men served on the original committee discussing it, there are plenty of women in Congress that still support all of these measures because I guess if their husbands only have sex for procreation and never, ever, ever just for pleasure, then the ladies really have no reason not to support harsh penalties on things that will never really affect their pure and just sexual practices anyways, right?
My view couldn’t be more cut and dry on this one – abortion is the woman’s right (hopefully with insight from her partner, but I’m not going to muddy this post by opening up that can of worms! 😉 ). If a given woman doesn’t believe in abortion herself, then she has every right not to have one with her own body, but at the same time it’s not right to tell other women that they can’t simply because somebody else isn’t ok with it. Do whatever feels right for you, but don’t make it a law where other people aren’t able to make that choice for themselves.
That’s honestly my biggest beef with the religious right in general – I’m very happy for you if you’ve found your way by living your life according to the Bible, but what’s not cool is thereafter trying to make laws based on your religion that the rest of us have to follow, even though many of us don’t actually believe in the teachings of the Bible. People need to be allowed to exercise their own religious freedoms and to make their own decisions based on what they themselves believe – especially when there’s a large group of citizens screaming for “Less government invasion on our lives!!!”
Granted I don’t actually have one myself, but being required to shove a 10-inch wand up your vagina for a mandatory sonogram sounds pretty invasive, if you ask me…