You cannot have it both ways....

Warning this a politically motivated post..... If you had not gotten it by now - I am leftist and liberal by nature and PRO_CHOICE!

Well I have been catching up on my blog reading and I have seen some interesting stuff - which taken alone is the kind of stuff that makes you pause and say - "ok, well that is interesting." But when I connected the dots - it takes on a more like, "oh shit not only is that interesting, but damn scary too...."

So let me connect a few dots for you. This is from the Diary of an English Courtesan:

the lowlights of the great British yoof (youth) sex survey were as follows:

- 60% of young people aged 22 to 24 had had more than five sexual partners, compared with 23% of 16- to 18-year-olds, suggesting that modern yoof is less frisky than older youth

- 18% said they had slept with 10 partners or more suggesting that modern yoof likes variety
- 57% claimed to have had a one-night stand, suggesting that modern yoof can be a bit of a slapper
- 70% of Scots have had a one night stand compared with only 56% of East Anglians, suggesting that Scottish modern yoof is even more debauched than English modern yoof
- 38% of 16- to 24-year-olds did not always use a condom with a new partner, suggesting that modern yoof can be scarily unwise when it comes to STIs. Being on the pill was cited as the main reason for not using condoms, but 17% said they were ‘too drunk’, suggesting modern yoof might be better off with a nice cup of warm milk at bedtime
- 24% used no contraception the first time they had sex and 10% routinely used nothing or relied on withdrawal, suggesting that modern yoof hasn’t been listening to sex education
- 10% claimed to have had no sex education in school, while 79% said they’d learned ‘only the basics’, suggesting that modern yoof has been skiving off classes or not paying attention in class

Ok they are British teens, but I think that teens are pretty similar and I doubt the US numbers are alot different. And I am willing to bet that a number of US teens
not using condoms is about the same - hell in certain parts of the country - they are not even getting comprehensive sex ed - thanks BIG W! way to go. Here's a tip buddy.... teens have sex - they ought to know how to do it responsibly.

But this is even better. This comes to me via NARAL-OHIO! It was link to this article by Anna Quindlen.

The great thing about video is that you can see the mental wheels turning as these people realize that they somehow have overlooked something central while they were slinging certainties. Nearly 20 years ago, in a presidential debate, George Bush the elder was asked this very question, whether in making abortion illegal he would punish the woman who had one. "I haven't sorted out the penalties," he said lamely. Neither, it turns out, has anyone else. But there are only two logical choices: hold women accountable for a criminal act by sending them to prison, or refuse to criminalize the act in the first place. If you can't countenance the first, you have to accept the second. You can't have it both ways.

Yeah, so here is the question - since there are large numbers of Americans who think abortion should be illegal, just what should the penalty be if you have one anyway. What if you go to Canada? What if you resort to a coat hanger like your grandmother or great grandmother may have. What then I ask you? Five minutes, five days, five months, five years, forever in jail. What will we do to the women who know in their hearts that this pregnancy is not for them, it is not the right time to bear a child. What is the punishment going to be. Back alley abortions existed prior to Roe and they will come back if Roe is overturned. Part of being a mother and being a woman is knowing your own mind. Knowing if you can bear a child. If you can provide for one for the long haul.

There is nothing easy about choosing to abort a pregnancy. This has baffled me for my entire life time - at least my free thinking political lifetime. The Anti- crowd thinks that this a decision that women take lightly or that they make this choice under duress. Not so, I say. Sure there are some women, who for lack of resources or education may not make the best choices. But no one thinks this will be easy. But raising a child in desperate or difficult circumstances is not easy either. Women are able to make choices, this choice above all others is between a woman and her God/gods and in certain circumstances her partner. That is it. It is a private choice. Damn it, government does not belong in the bedroom and it sure as hell does not belong in my womb. Seriously the W's own party is for smaller government - well here is a no brainier - stay out of my bedroom and my womb - there instant smaller government!

Plus while we are on the topic, I fail to see how outlawing abortion and at the same time canceling comprehensive sex ed is going to help provide (young) women with the knowledge they need to make good choices. The funny thing is - sex goes back to the dawn of time and frankly so does abortion. Now it is safe(r) and legal and a medical procedure. In olden days it was a combination of herbs, knitting needles or God forbid coat hangers. It was the "witch" who could help you deal with your problem. The one women whispered about, but sought out when they were in trouble.

Now it is a doctor, who has training and it is done in a sterile clinic. Remember the Dirty Dancing movie. Had Baby not fallen on her sword and went to her Dad, the other women would have died from an incomplete and unsafe back alley abortion.

Is that what we really want for our mothers, sisters, and daughters. Is it? Do we want prison time for them? Or do we want to allow them the freedom to make personal choices and have safe options available to them?

We really cannot have it both ways.