"Aren't you glad your mother is pro-life?"

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

There's a church I pass on my way to and from work every day. It likes to post witty (at least, in their opinion) sayings and a few Bible quotes. Normally, I live and let live. But this time "Aren't you glad your mother is pro-life?" grinds my gears, as Peter Griffin would say.

My mother is certainly pro-life, in the sense that she knows that childbearing is a major responsibility - financial, emotional and physical - and it should not be taken lightly.

My mother, like me and millions of other women and men, believes that children should be born only if they will be cared for and nurtured properly, if they will be fed and clothed.

But she also knows that she cannot and should not be making the decision on what another woman's choice should be in that regard.

No child should suffer from abuse - physical or emotional - or neglect. No woman should be forced to have a child for whom she cannot care. No woman should be forced to have a child if she was raped, nor if her own health and physical or psychological well being are going to be affected.

That's being pro-life. Responsible choice of abortion is, in fact, pro-life, because when the mother chooses to abort responsibly she knows that her offspring would not be getting the best she can offer.

The world is full of children who are hungry, abused, neglected and scarred. Some say it's selfish for mothers to abort; I say it's selfish of them not to, if they so choose.

I am very glad my mother and I are pro-life. I am glad we care so much about our fellow humans to know we still have a choice in this regard, even if this church would like to take it away.

[mac56]

1. K&R

:thumbsup:

[LWolf]

2. She's not,

and she had an abortion, then illegal, when I was 3 years old. She almost died and left me an orphan.

[Bucky]

3. My mom is pro-choice. That makes me feel special, too.

[Brickbat]

4. I'm pro-choice -- I have two children because I chose to have them. And I don't have more than two

because I choose not to have more than two. See how that works? (Snark not directed at the OP -- I've always hated that smarmy "aren't you glad?" bumper-sticker myself.)

[YOY]

5. THey just don't get the concept of "pro-choice"

They just don't get it until they or a close friend are in the same situation. It's what happened to me.

[CanonRay]

6. My mother didn't have a choice.

I was born in the 50's

[slackmaster]

27. I was born in the '50s as well, in Kansas. My father was a medical student.

My mom didn't have a LEGAL choice available, but I assure you she did have a choice.

We moved to California in 1962 where my father started a medical practice (he was a cardiologist). Abortion wasn't legal in California at the time either, but women actually did have options for obtaining abortion services.

They weren't particularly good choices - Basically it came down to an illegal abortion done by a medical student, a nurse practitioner, a veterinarian, or even a doctor who was having financial problems, or going to Mexico.

[Warpy]

7. Even my right wing, ultra Catholic father was pro choice

Most Catholics are pro choice.

Somebody needs to tell pope Benny he's lost this fight.

[hlthe2b]

8. Someone should rebut: I'm glad my Mom is PRO CHOICE:

She CHOSE to have me.

[LeftinOH]

9. Mom is pro-choice; she has horror stories about girls in the 1950s

going to back-alley hacks, and sometimes not surviving.

[Mopar151]

12. Mom trained as a medical tech at a hospital in Ma. in the 50's

There was a "septic abortion" ward.

[Hekate]

35. That's something the anti-legal-abortion crowd doesn't ever tell you, isn't it?

It's been so long since there was a need for an entire ward for desperately infected women that few remember -- and it's not taught, apparently.

Just imagine -- the maternity ward, the surgical ward, and off by themselves a whole ward for women who'd had botched abortions. The medical community knew, even if the rest of society chose to look the other way and not talk about it.

Roe vs Wade actually acknowledged prevailing attitudes and behavior: many women were getting abortions, and except for the illegality of it most people thought a first-trimester abortion was really her business and no one else's.

Hekate

[abelenkpe]

36. My grandmother

had an illegal abortion. This would have been in the early 30s. She was adopted and claims she was never wanted by her adopted parents who viewed her as a burden and treated her cruelly. She didn't want to put another child through what she went through. She later married and had three kids.

Ironically, her birth family contacted her late in life. She grew up thinking she was an Irish girl from a poor family. Turned out she was from an influential family who were direct descendants of William Brewster one of the pilgrims responsible for the Mayflower Compact. She was bummed! She liked the idea of being Irish and so never really gave it up. :)

[ehrnst]

10. At least I know that my mother chose to have me, and wasn't legally impelled to.

And she is Pro-choice.

[elocs]

11. How about: "Aren't you glad your mom was sexually active so you could be conceived?"

Or, "Aren't you glad your father's condom failed?"

You're not likely to see those on any church any time soon.

[CTyankee]

13. Beautiful post! My mother was the same way. She was loving and caring

and prochoice. Nothing would enrage her more than seeing protestors outside of abortion clinics waving their signs.

I have always been prochoice. My son and two daughters are prochoice. I have four beautiful grandchildren: 3 girls, 1 boy. I am so proud to say that they too receive the love and attention they need and it is joyfully given.

My only fear is that all of my work in the reproductive choice field will come to naught for my granddaughters. I look at them, ages 8, 11 and 14 and I get worried...

[Deep13]

14. "Aren't you glad the '57 Chevy has a back seat?"

:eyes:

[a la izquierda]

15. My gay Republican mom is pro-choice...

yes, I know there is a lot wrong with that headline. It is what it is.

[BolivarianHero]

17. I only know one Conserative Party of Canada support where I work...

And guess what, he's gay and socially liberal. He cites "economic reasons" for his position. Boo to neo-liberals of all colours, creeds, and sexual orientatons.

[a la izquierda]

19. My mom is fiscally conservative, too.

It makes no sense, because she the middle in Middle Class.

[Brewman_Jax]

16. That sign doesn't mean to say "pro-life"

it should say "pro-control"

[mscuedawg]

18. I was pro-life...until I had a daughter...

...and now I am pro-choice. NO government or church is going to tell my daughter she cannot make a decision for HER LIFE especially if she were to be raped or her life to be in danger during a pregnancy. I pray that I can raise her to be "responsible" MUCH LATER in life (ha ha ha...she's 10...) and that we can have an open level of communication to the point that she can come to her dad or myself. If she comes home pregnant, we will deal with it HOW SHE WANTS TO.

No one should be told what they are to do with their bodies by a panel of elected officials.

Abortion was a choice for me....I did not choose it as it would have solely been a form of birth control...but I also don't think that God punishes our sins by punishing an innocent child who is born unwanted.

[Brickbat]

32. Regarding the "punishing our sins" part...

...I've always been annoyed at the "It's a CHILD, not a CHOICE" bumpersticker because of the attitude so many self-identified pro-lifers take -- that if a woman has sex, she should be prepared to "deal with the consequences." How dare they refer to kids like that? I've always wanted to make stickers that say "It's a CHILD, not a CONSEQUENCE" and slap them over the "child/choice" ones. It just makes me fume. ARGH!

[mscuedawg]

44. I want one of those bumper stickers when you get them printed up!

:hi:

[Odin2005]

20. I've seen that as a bumper-sticker and it pisses me off.

My mother is pro-choice you dimwits.

[Vickers]

21. "Sure, but I'm a little upset that *yours* is."

:P

[GliderGuider]

22. Every woman in my immediate family, including my mother, is pro-choice.

The hold exactly the same opinions as your mom, regarding women's responsibilities and rights and that a child should only be born if they will be properly nurtured. In fact, all the men in my family believe that as well, which is why we all got vasectomies at one point or another.

Abortion is nothing to be done lightly, but it is an absolute right if the mother decides it's the right thing to do.

Emotional manipulation like this church is trying to do really squicks me.

[unblock]

23. "aren't you glad your mother CHOSE LIFE" is what it should say

churches should not be messing around with the politics and the laws about abortion. they should be all about the morals and ethics involved and the social and community effects and so on. if they're anti-abortion, they should be trying to convince people to CHOOSE not to get abortions.

[mopinko]

24. i have 5 kids. not all planned. i had a choice. therefore

i am not a slave.


(posted in thomvw's thread, also)

[slackmaster]

25. My mom is not now nor has she ever been opposed to abortion

Even for all the time she was a registered Republican.

That's one of the reasons she quit the GOP.

I've heard many stories from her and from other women her age (she's 75) about the fate of young women who became pregnant in the Bad Old Days.

The only legal options they had were forced marriage or Gulag.

[blondeatlast]

26. My mo, who escorted a friend to a then-illegal abortion and marched in support

of Roe v. Wade was assuredly pro-life and so am I.

Excellent post. k/r

[howard112211]

28. What a weird statement.

Let's assume my mother was "anti-life" (whatever that means) and therefore had not given birth to me. Then I wouldn't be aware of the fact. Therefore it makes no sense for me to be glad, since the alternative would be something I would not be aware of.

:shrug:

[Berry Cool]

29. It's a dumb and presumptive message.

Kind of like those bumper stickers that say "If You Can Read This, Thank a Teacher." I actually taught myself to read. (Although I have nothing against appreciation for teachers.)

[ChoppinBroccoli]

30. Here's The Rebuttal

You just create a sign or bumper sticker or whatever that has the number of American tax dollars currently being spent to care for needy and/or neglected and/or abused and/or abandoned children, as well as children born into poverty. Then break it down into how much that comes to per person, and label it, "the amount YOU pay to support unwanted children." Then, under that number, insert the tagline: "Don't you wish more people were Pro Choice?"

Either that or show a picture of a young mother, her clothes stained with blood, putting a newborn baby in a dumpster, with the same tagline. Or a picture of a young woman who died of blood loss after a back-alley abortion.

On a different note, why do these religious freaks think that if you outlaw everything to do with sex (sex education, birth control, abortions, etc.) that people will just stop having sex? Have they learned NOTHING from thousands of years of recorded history? Sorry, dumb question. Forget I asked.

[Forkboy]

31. Considering how depressed I've been, not especially.

Besides, she's pro-choice anyways. :)

[fascisthunter]

33. I'm Just Glad my Mother Had a Choice

I rather like to know my mother actually wanted me and wasn't FORCED to have me.

[slampoet]

34. I was born before 1973. My mother didn't have a choice.

I have been using this comeback for 25 years. Feel free to copy it.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

37. I don't understand that line. It's not like I would miss myself.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

38. 7-week old Jayda De La Rosa who died of neglect and starvation wasn't glad

Her 16-year old heroin addicted mother would have done better by the child if she'd have just had an abortion. Instead she had the baby and then neglected her until her horrific and short life came to an end. She weighed 4.5 pounds at the time of her death, which was officially ruled to be from "cocaine toxicity combined with starvation resulting in terminal pneumonia."

Needless to say there were no self-righteous "pro-life" protesters standing outside little Jayda's house outraged on her behalf. They lost interest in her after they talked her 16-year old mother out of having the abortion.

[Fleshdancer]

39. My mom marched in DC to demand her reproductive rights

I'm very happy and proud that my mom is pro-getthegovernmentoutofmyuterus.

[Hekate]

40. We might have passed each other in the crowd. My grown daughter, sister, and best friend all...

... were there.

Later on my mom, who was in her late 70s then, told me that if she'd been well enough she would have been there too. In truth, Mom probably had to travel farther than the rest of us did: she was born in 1924 and raised Roman Catholic. I think Roe vs Wade was a very uncomfortable thing for her to contemplate, but it gave her a LOT to think about, and think she did. I'm not sure whether it was Randall Terry and his attacks on clinics and their patients or whether it was just GWBush, but by the time of that march, she was definitely pro-choice.

:hi: to your Mom!

Hekate

[Fleshdancer]

42. You know what?

It sounds like you have an awesome family! I love the story about your mom.

[Unvanguard]

41. My feminist mother is pro-choice. So am I. I'm proud of THAT. n/t

[dembotoz]

43. mom is strongly pro choice and raise me to be the crazy lefty liberal that i am today

thanks mom