Blogging For Choice Day

I'm a bit late to the game, since I've been busy knitting a scarf today.

In lieu of writing with my own words – my hands hate me, see also "knitting" – I will link to some lovely and powerful posts I've read elsewhere.

* Feministe: Why I'm Pro-Choice by Jill.

"I am pro-choice because my life is worth something."

* Pandagon: Blogging For Choice and beyond choice by Amanda.

"I've never had an abortion, not because it's illegal, but because it's legal–because my right to control my body is respected, I have the level of control to make the unwanted pregnancy and therefore the abortion much less likely."

For many many other posts in this vein, have a slew of links.

For myself, a quick thing:

Pro-choice or pro-life is not about personal beliefs.  Or at least it had better damn well not be.  I know a wide range of people, from those who find the idea of abortions abhorrant to those who consider it to be a necessity, from those who don't want to have children to those who were impregnated due to a rape.  Personally, I don't know what I'd choose.

Choice is the point.  I'm not going to argue that abortion is the best thing in the world next to cotton candy.  I'm going to argue that it is my choice – my choice – to make.  Not yours, not PP protesters', and not government lackeys'.

Mine and every woman's, and no one else's.

Originally posted at Xtinian Thoughts.  Comment here or there.

I can't think of what else they might mean, either.

This is by commenter cabst90 on the post A Roe Resolution: Trust Women by Jessica Valenti, hosted at The Huffington Post.  I wanted to preserve it here for posterity, because hell yeah.  (Yall should check out the main post, as well.)

All anti-abortion arguments boil down to:

Any woman who has sex before marriage is a whore and should be punished (beaten, and/or forced to give birth and treated like a non-human entity).

Women are not human beings capable of handling moral decisions.

Ultimately men need to make this decision, not women. Male partners, male legislators, male clergymen, etc, because men have a superior moral position on everything. Women must not be given power or privilege in any way that is higher than a man's.

War does not count as murder because those (different race/religion) people deserve it.

The death penalty does not count as murder because everyone we say is guilty is obviously guilty. Mistakes are never made, and we (men) get to play God.

Fetuses are exalted beings because they haven't had the chance to sin yet, but soldiers who have husbands/wives and children are expendable.

Women who were raped probably deserved it or are just lying; women who are poor probably don't work hard enough; women don't experience any hardship by pregnancy or raising children; women who don't have a stable relationship to depend on are whores.

Pregnancy never puts a woman's life in danger.

Women who wait until the third trimester are just irresponsible and whorish. It could never be because of lack of education about her own body and about sex, lack of money, trauma related to abuse, or because certain illnesses in fetuses, or health risks for women may only be discovered late in a pregnancy.

They all seem to boil down to a few themes. Patriarchal nonsense, complete and total ignorance about women's lives including pregnancy, and a belief that a sexual woman is not a valuable human being deserving of basic rights the way a fetus is. A whore < an "innocent" clump of cells.

If I'm wrong, show me.

Originally posted at Xtinian Thoughts.  Comment here or there.