Experts: How US 'gag rule' is killing women : Mail & Guardian Online: "While world attention has focused on the HIV/Aids pandemic, public health experts say that United States political interference and declining financial support for family planning, abortion and prevention of other sexually transmitted infections has contributed to shockingly high death and disability rates in developing countries.
Approximately 500 000 women die each year of causes related to pregnancy, abortion and childbirth, 99% of them in developing countries, according to the World Health Organisation. "
This is what the Christian right has been pushing for, and this is the type of policy they are giving us. There is a better way. Hell, there are a thousand better ways.
12 comments:
Streak- Another example closer to home came to light earlier this week. Our school district has a daycare for the children of students, the director of which is a friend of mine. I asked her this week how many students she has in her program. She gave me the figures and mentioned that it will probably just keep going up. I asked her opinion of why that is. She told me that several years ago she and the TX departent of health could go into the high school and give talks on pregnancy prevention. She was quick to point out that they emphasized abstinence as the only way to guarentee they wouldn't get pregnant or STDs. They did educate on other forms of birth control and the importance of condom use. In addition, the students, with parental consent, could get birth control from the daycare center, which is within walking distance of the high school. Of course, under the recent years of TX government the above program is gone. It's sad that the folks who think educating about birth control, etc..., leads to problems won't recognize that it's actually the opposite that is true. It's also sad that these are our children's lives that are being experimented with. By the way, the daycare is under constant criticism that it promotes teen sex. Some people actually believe that a couple kids in the backseat of a car on Friday night stop and think, "Hey, it's ok. If you get pregnant the school daycare will take care of the baby." Hopefully the winds of change will bring some return to reason.
On an international level, Bush has followed his right wing Christian buddies in his "guilt by association" philosophy in funding practices. One area of disagreement will get you defunded even if there are numerous areas of common ground where joint efforts could lead to positive change in millions of lives.- Later, BB
Yeah, that is a great connection. When your policy undermines the health of kids, the pure stance makes no sense. Pragmatism makes a lot more sense here.
christians are against abortion because its murder....plain and simple. it's the premeditated murder of an innocent little baby. thats why we are against it. we arent looking at anyone's stats and figures...we are looking at the act itself.
christians didnt cry out enough about hitler murdering the jews. we wont stand by and let it go on without a voice this time.
volfan007
Volfan, would you shut your mouth for an instance and READ WHAT WE ARE SAYING FOR ONE DAMN TIME?
Is that possible or do you have a learning disorder? I am serious. Nothing that BB or myself or the article said in this post says that opposing abortion is wrong. But when you oppose abortion and that policy means that hundreds of thousands of women die, then you need to address it. When you cut off contraceptives and that leads to more and more unwanted pregnancies, that is a problem.
I swear. You respond to these arguments like a child. That is what makes you so annoying. You assume that the only response is yours. It never seems to dawn on you that you could support government policies that attack poverty AND also assist yourself. You never even consider that one could oppose abortion AND have a pragmatic family planning policy.
streak,
i am saying that we are against abortion period.
now, i understand what you're saying about govt. programs handing out condoms and teaching birth control and about std's and such.
do you think that all the sex education and handing out condoms and such has helped cut down std's? sexual sins? abortions?
also, streak, you really have a temper, dont you?
volfan007
Volfan, I do have a temper. Stupidity tends to bring it out in me, and you have that in spades. Again, with a sigh, read the goddamn post. We aren't saying you can't oppose abortion. What we are saying is that you have to be smart about it. Contraceptives are not perfect, nor have they solved all sorts of problems. But a mindless approach (are you writing policy for the right?) leads to bad policy.
Look at it this way. You could oppose abortion and encourage abstinence, but also recognize that sex education is important because kids are going to make bad decisions. Or in the case of global cultures, you have divergent approaches to sexuality. Sometimes, women need tools to help them in male dominated societies where they have no rights sexually.
But we could follow your model and just say, abstinence only, and no abortion, and result in many, many, many unwanted pregnancies and many people who catch stds because they don't even know how they are spread.
Volfan, you are welcome to comment here, but you should know that stupid comments like the ones you have dropped here today will bring out my ire.
Thanks, Leighton. I shouldn't respond, but I do.
i am not using Jesus. i am a follower of Jesus. He is my Lord. i just try to believe what He says and do what He wants me to do.
from a grateful slave of the Lord Jesus,
volfan007
Hey, here is another person who thinks that abortion is murder:
Domestic terrorist Eric Rudolph complains about prison, mocks victims at Pandagon: "“Those who attempt to save the lives of unborn children and who wish to promote a culture that respects life are now treated as fanatics, threats to American freedom.”
“As I go to a prison cell for a lifetime, I know that ‘I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith,’ “
– wisdom from the lips of Eric Robert Rudolph during his sentencing."
streak,
eric rudolph went overboard...to the extreme with his beliefs. and, while i agree with his view on abortion...i would not advocate shooting abortion dr.'s, nor would the vast majority of conservative evangelicals. dont you think that it's a little misleading on your part to hint, or insinuate, that i, or any other conservative evangelical, would be in the same camp as rudolph?
i have never called you a commie pinko.....have i? i never said that you sound like lenin, or stalin....have i?
volfan007
ps. if i misread your post, please help me to see your point.
Hey, what do you know, volfan did read a post and actually thought it through.
You are exactly right. It was a cheap shot on my part. I was just reading blogs and saw someone else popping off on abortion.
But you are right. Now, if you would only apply that same "critical eye" to everything else on this blog.
Streak,
I'm all for sensibility in the abortion issue. Reducing abortions is a possibility; abolishing it altogether is untenable and unlikely.
However, I guess what I am looking at is how the church can better respond. I teach young people that sex is best defined in marriage. Girls should dress modestly, boys should be gentlemanly at all times. I even teach the boys about respectable behavior around the fairer sex. And so on etc.
I guess what I am getting at, is it tenable that the church should change its approach altogether? And are these figures for the US where adequate healthcare is available or for developing countries?
Anyway, I'm tired of dancing around this one. Reasonableness and sensibility....
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