Q & A

Q: If a woman from South Dakota gets an abortion, but no one knows to protest it, does that mean it didn't happen?

A: Nope.

All it means is that there was no one there from the Forced Childbirth Lobby (who, by the way, was nowhere to be found when some bastard was raping the woman) to try to talk her out of it. Also, it means that the woman probably won't have access to any kind of pre- or post-abortion counseling or medical care.

How does a South Dakotan go about aborting a pregnancy now that the misogynists in power** have made doing so illegal?

1. Cytotec
2. Go to another state
3. Go to another country
4. If it's early enough, get some emergency contraception -- either over the border or from a friend who has a stockpile
5. Contact "Jane", or a similar group, for an underground abortion

The bottom line, folks, is this: making abortion illegal will not make it go away. It will just push it out of sight.

A friend once suggested to me that if men don't stop raping us, we women should stop having their babies for them. At the time, I thought she was being a bit dramatic, but more and more lately, I'm not so sure...

update #1: What's the situation in your state (thanks, srav!)? In mine, it's pretty horrifying (it would seem the spineless cowards involved are fleeing any sort of real debate while they try to sneak anti-women legislation into law in the dead of night).

update #2: via beep, this is what I've been sayin' all along!

**only people who have no respect for women would violate their right to privacy like they're doing in South Dakota -- further, only people who really hate women would not allow exceptions for situations involving rape or incest, or allow for consideration of the woman's health and future fertility.

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(7Mar) Note: You know, I'm ever grateful to the people who come here and use this as a place to interact -- especially when they respond to what I and others actually write.

I've been told that a deliberately obtuse mal-interpretation of what I've said in the post above has begun spreading like a virus around our little local forum (I've seen a bit of it, but with trackbacks not working, I probably haven't seen it all), and while it may not be especially surprising (this is the internet, after all), it is still very disappointing (perhaps some respect I thought was mutual was in fact the result of my imagination). I've tried on numerous occasions to reach beyond this blog, and beyond my comfort zone, for the sake of an honest debate. In return, I might have hoped for more than the passive-aggressive responses I have apparently provoked.

Anyway, I do hope if you followed a link to this post, you will read what I've actually written. Then, if you think I've said something untrue or out of line, I hope you respond here, especially if your intent is to further the discussion. But even if all you are going to do is take potshots at me, I'd rather you do it here where I can see it -- at least that way I'll know who is taking the discussion seriously and who is just looking to shout out bumper sticker slogans...