It doesn’t happen often, because I just can’t. It becomes too much. But as of yesterday, the politicians in the state of Virginia have officially gone off the deep end.
Apparently the world as we know it– famine and jobs and environment and war and banking and the cost of oil— are all hunky dory and there is nothing to occupy these folks except that which goes on in the bedrooms of the residents of this state.
To wit, we are talking about the same people in government who wish to dismantle the EPA, the FDA, and DOE, who say it is a constitutional disaster to allow people access to healthcare unless they have cold hard cash, who are unsure that child labor laws are needed, or feel the minimum wage laws should be removed, who want to allow people to run around with guns in bars with little oversight or knowledge of their mental and criminal state, and remove all ability to oversee from any other agency they forget to defund, because TOO MUCH GOVERNMENT is BAD.BAD. BAD.
These same people are now making the case that people exist the moment that conception occurs. And they claim one of the reasons is so that someone can file suit over a wrongful death, if a woman was assaulted during pregnancy and miscarries.
How often does this occur that we need a law? And if it’s needed, make THAT the law. When a woman miscarries because of an assault of an other person….
The unintended consequences of this type of law are huge.
If a woman is carrying groceries up the stairs while pregnant and falls, and is taken to the hospital and miscarries—a criminal investigation could ensue. Great use of taxpayer dollars, by the way.
What if she had uttered the thought out loud to someone that she really was upset about being pregnant again, couldn’t really figure out how to afford this new mouth to feed? What if she was estranged from the father? He could press charges against her for murder. You think NOT?? That is an unintended consequence of LAW.
If the doctor at the ER is required to inform the police when a law is broken (any gunshot, any sign of child abuse, etc…..)…then a woman could conceivably be investigated for manslaughter, while she should be mourning the loss of a child she wanted. Unintended consequence.
If a woman, under any circumstance, even before she realizes she is pregnant, miscarries—-…..what if some could someone prove she caused it, because she drank too much alcohol before realizing she was with child? Or because she was a smoker?
Do we really need to continue drawing pictures? Is she going to end up in jail? Her existing children placed with CPS while mom is investigated? That would be an awesome use of taxpayer money! (not to mention messing with the kids heads)
Looking around, there are very few families we see that have more than a few children nowadays. It’s expensive to raise a child. Sane, well-educated, but lower and middle income people realize they can afford only a few children at most. Upper income people on the whole don’t have more children than lower or middle income children. Should we infer that most married couples are celibate? That upper income couples rarely get it on?
If they are not celibate what are the chances they have used contraception at some point? What are the chances YOU have used contraception?
If you no longer use it, is it because you have had a medical procedure to prevent pregnancy? Before having had a permanent solution to unintended pregnancy performed, how many children did you bring into the world? How many times did you tell your spouse, “Not tonight dear, we could make a baby?”
How many of your children are OOPSies? Because of lack of BC or because of failed BC? How many of YOU are OOPSies? How many siblings do you have? How many siblings did your PARENTS have? (And of course, we are glad to have you here. I am an OOPSie. Two wrongs don’t make a right, and all that.)
What was the age of your grandmother at her last pregnancy? What NUMBER was that pregnancy? My great grandmother’s 7th child was born was 21 YEARS after her first.
Are you prepared to raise THAT MANY children, for that many years?
If not, are you prepared to keep it in your pants?
Oh, right, you’re just the guy. It doesn’t apply to you. But, wait. If all these women start having all these kids, there are going to be a lot of men who are going to have to drum up a lot of cash to raise them. (Married, unmarried, divorced, love-child….)
Why aren’t we as worried about making deadbeat dad’s pay for the kids already here?
When the rhythm method of birth control fails —about the only one left, once you get down to it, if a person exists from the moment of conception—congrats, Dad, on your Valentine baby…oh… it was a one night stand. The condom broke. Right. You are still on the hook, my love.
You won’t be able to clean up your little mistakes without taking your inamorata across state lines.
Because while technically at the moment still legal, in order to obtain a LEGAL MEDICAL PROCEDURE, those SMALL GOVERNMENT people want to FORCE a woman to have an ultrasound. Not the jelly belly kind, no sir. They want to make her have a vaginal ultrasound (A probe inside your body. Talk about intrusive.) Since it isn’t law yet, the details are sketchy, but in Texas the idea was that the doctor not only had to perform the ultrasound, the woman HAD to look at it, and HAD to hear the heart beat and HAD to listen to a speech the doctor MUST read.
And then, you had to go home, and wait at least 24 hours before you can have the legal medical procedure you already had decided you needed.
Oh, and don’t forget, you are on the hook financially for that ultrasound …
This country does not have an official religion, and there is good reason for that. Therefore, making laws dependent upon one set of religious doctrine is detrimental to a bunch of people (and by bunch I don’t mean 6 or 7) who believe differently. It is, in actuality, leaning toward the very thing that people fear in Sharia law. (that RELIGIOUS ideology be the basis of GOVERNMENTAL rule)
No one is forcing anyone to have an abortion. If you don’t want one, don’t have one. (If you don’t believe in gay marriage, don’t marry someone of the same sex. Easy peasy, isn’t it? ) Easier said when you have access to BC. Why can we force a woman to have a child? *(Yes, I know, don’t have sex. Give it up for adoption. Being pregnant is a long term, visible, full time job, with many physical implications that can be long reaching and life threatening).
Ways to prevent abortions include SEX ED. Real, honest information. Whether or not you think your kid needs to know the how and why, your kid NEEDS to know the how and why! And they need to learn about it years before you THINK they need to learn about it. And they need to hear it from positions of authority, NOT from their friends or some TV show.
And access to birth control.
It’s really that simple.
More Notes From the Refrigerator Door 