Posts tagged pro choice

fuckyeahchoice:

coldheartedsensitivity:

Hoping Mississippi WILL become the (only) abortion-free state.

Once upon a time, I was a young lady in Libya. Abortion is illegal there. The only way to get an abortion was if you were both rich and well connected. We lived in the slums and this was not the case. 

Friends that could now never have a child. 

Family who suffered from infection and permanent damage to their bodies.

I laid my sister to rest. 

This is the result of inaccessible abortion. It doesn’t go away. Abortion being illegal doesn’t give any more support to those who need it, it doesn’t put money in the pockets of the impoverished pregnant person, it doesn’t cause someone to turn away from their hearts. 

You may not find abortion ideal, but this is the reality of illegal abortion. There is undoubtedly someone in your life who has had an abortion. One in four will have had one by age 30. Think if instead if one in four people had to seek an illegal abortion or be forced to give birth to a child. Think of the injured and the dead. Think of the children left behind by people who died seeking an abortion, not being able to feed one. more. hungry. mouth. It makes me sick that this can happen here. I came here to get away from that. 

I absolutely will not stand by and let this happen. Fuck that. 

(Source: weflyfair, via bebinn)

dancing-painted-bears:

• White
• Healthy
• Not born from a person who did drugs
• No siblings
• No behavior problems
• White
• Under the age of two
• White

(via lavenderlabia)

theoppressedlittlefetus:

l-s-d-dreaming:

I just need to put this out there. People who say that abortion is okay are lying to themselves; it’s ending an innocent life. And for those people who say that it is simply a mass of tissue are lying to themselves as well.

Nope. Pretty sure I’m looking up facts and stuff to inform my opinions.

If it’s not a baby in the womb, when does it become a human?

It’s a human, it just doesn’t have any rights yet.

Cause according to EVERY single medical book, life begins at the moment of conception. Also according to EVERY single medical book, all living things have an ability to acquire materials and energy. Last time I checked, there’s this thing called an umbilical cord through which every baby receives its nutrients, therefore backing my previous statement.

What’s that umbilical cord attached to again?

ALSO according to EVERY single medical book, all living things have an ability to respond to their environment. Why do you think babies kick? Oh, I’m sorry. For all you pro-choice people out there, why do you think this “mass of tissue” kicks? Last time I checked, “masses of tissue” can’t kick because they are in a stressful environment or are happy about something. Also babies experience their first dreams while in the womb. Try and tell me that “masses of tissue” can dream. Yeah, you won’t get anywhere. So why then do people continually try and claim that this precious form of life, this precious baby, is nothing but a “mass of tissue”?

It is a mass of tissue, we’re all masses of tissue. It’s also alive, all of us living people are (spoiler alert) alive. That doesn’t give us the right to do what we please with other people’s bodies against their will or without their consent. Simply being alive and being able to kick doesn’t give me the right to anyone else’s body but my own, and even if a fetus did have rights, it’d be the exact same way. A fetus would have rights to it’s own body, it doesn’t however have the right to take over it’s host’s body simply because it is in existence and alive.

Second point: if you were just a “mass of tissue” once, then it would make it okay for your mom to have aborted you, right?

Yep.

Oh, but now you cherish your life?

Yep.

And you love to be alive, right?

Eh, occasionally.

Then why is it okay that there are SO many kids that should be your age right now sitting in a biohazard trashcan? Think about it. 

Because their parent wasn’t ready or willing to have them. I can’t be angry at some old person for having an abortion 22 years ago because I’m missing out on having a friend or some stupid shit. Come on now.

Third point: for all those out there saying “Oh well it’s okay if you’re not ready to have the baby now” or “Oh well it’s okay if you’re too young” or “Oh well my life would be put in danger if I gave birth” or my absolute FAVORITE “Oh well it’s okay if the child was conceived out of rape”. Wanna know why? That’s because when the female body is undergoing high times of stress and discomfort, the body’s production of hormones is thrown off, not allowing conception.

This is one of the myths that really just make me rage. This is wrong. This is completely incorrect. Are you fucking stupid? There is absolutely no basis to this claim at all, no medical or scientific group will back this shit up. It’s simply bullshit. This is the beginning of rape apology, because obviously if she got pregnant she wanted it, according to your logic. You are fucking vile. You are such a piece of shit. You really need to take a fucking look at yourself.

In fact, only 4.7% of rapes end in pregnancy.

Source please?

And don’t get me wrong, being raped is extremely traumatic and difficult to deal with.

Really, because I’m pretty sure you were both just mocking rape victims wanting abortions and spouting false science to degrade what happened to them.

But does that give reason to aborting a baby if it was a result of rape? No, in no cases does rape justify aborting a baby. The baby did nothing to deserve such a horrendous ending. It’s innocent and virginal. I know that yes, it would be hard to live with said child as a constant reminder of such a traumatic event. But there are other options, specifically adoption.

Putting a child up for adoption can be more harmful for a person than having an abortion.

“Putting a child up for adoption is also devastating for women—indeed, it’s almost always traumatic, according to the literature. According to a study by Judy Kelly, 95 percent of women who relinquished a child after giving birth expressed a strong degree of unresolved grief. In another study, a survey of the psychological fallout of adoption, nearly all of 300 birthmothers reported a mental health impact, which affected their relationships and parenting. Yet another, by Sue Wells, found that 207 out of 262 experienced depression and anxiety, as well as difficulties with relationships and trust, as prolonged and profound consequences of surrender. A fourth describes the long-term mental implications of relinquishing a child as “severe.” I could go on and on—there is unfortunately plenty of data documenting the phenomenon.” (source)

There are so many families who would be willing to take the child into their homes. There are so many women who cannot conceive because of medical conditions. So don’t tell me that nobody would want that baby.

In 2009 there were over 114,000 adoptable foster care children in the US. Why is it that a pregnant person has to pop one out against their will while the rest of those kids get to sit and wait in foster care? There are children out there for families that want to adopt and people that cannot conceive. Don’t pretend there’s some sort of baby shortage to justify your views on forced birth.

And if you’re not ready to have the baby now, guess what? ADOPTION IS STILL AN OPTION. And if you’re too young to have the baby, guess what? Maybe you were too young to be having sex. In fact, you were DEFINITELY too young to be having sex. Don’t use your age as an excuse.

Why not? You get to use everything as an excuse. You don’t get to police people’s sex lives and abortions. You don’t get to tell people what to do. I know this bothers you, but you just don’t.

Either way, adoption is still an option. And if you’re life is being put in danger by having the baby, guess what? I don’t think that I have ever met a person as selfish as you. You’re telling me that you would rather end an innocent life, a life who has yet to experience the joys of the world, a life who YOU brought into this world? Just think about that.

Bolded for emphasis because this is the most pro-life thing I’ve ever read. “Your pregnancy will kill you? You selfish swine!” I mean, really, you’re advocating for a pregnant person’s suicide and martyrdom for a fetus. That’s not pro-life at all. Seriously.

And even so, there is never that 100% positivity that giving birth will endanger your life. You can’t believe everything a doctor tells you.

Oh. my. fucking. god. I just can’t.

Which brings me to my next point: “Oh well it’s okay because my doctor told me that the baby will be born deformed/mentally disabled.” False. No. Never. This is the worst reason of them all. Just because someone has a problem doesn’t mean that it’s okay to end their life.

Some people aren’t equipped to handle a special needs child. Do you really want them to have a child they can’t care for? So much for quality of life… And mother fucker, I dare you to bring out the adoption card again because physically and mentally disabled children can be treated pretty fucking badly by the system.

And as I stated previously, doctors can be wrong. I have heard accounts of many women who chose to abort a baby in the last trimester of their pregnancies because their doctor told them that their baby would be born with an arm missing or with down syndrome.

Do you have a source for this as well?

And guess what? When they removed the baby after aborting in, the baby had two arms, or the baby would have been completely healthy. And what if the doctor tells you that you’re going to have a healthy baby, but it turns out your baby is born deaf? Does that then make it okay to kill it? No.

No, we’ve been over this, once a baby is born it is an individual with rights and obviously murder is illegal.

And what if your baby IS born healthy, but while in first grade they’re diagnosed with ADD? Does that then make it okay to kill it? No.

Grasp for dem straws.

I have SO many problems, more than I can name. Does that make it okay for my mom to come and kill me in the middle of the night? Chances are that you just shook your head and said to yourself, “No of course not, that would be murder.” Well then why isn’t abortion considered murder?

Because, once again, a fetus does not have elevated rights, nor does it have rights of any kind. It is essentially leeching off of another person’s organs to live and just because that person went through the motions of creating the fetus does not mean that they are in any way obligated to surrender their bodily rights.

Which brings me to my next point: if abortion isn’t murder, and a baby in the womb is simply a “mass of tissue”, why is it considered double manslaughter when a pregnant woman has been murdered?That never ceases to amaze me. Our fucking government is full of hypocrites if you ask me.

Because the murderer took away that pregnant person’s right to make their own choices about their own pregnancy.

Next point: if abortion becomes illegal, then backdoor abortions will become more prevalent. FALSE. Keeping abortions legal simply makes them commonplace. And in making them commonplace, we’re conveying the idea to future generations that getting an abortion is acceptable. Also, that would lead to allowing insurance cover an abortion.  In fact, if making abortions illegal, women would turn to adoption more because it would be extremely expensive to have the procedure performed because doctors would jack up the price since they would be engaging in malpractice and could get their license to practice revoked. 

This is where I’d just like to say you obviously have no idea what you’re talking about. Abortions didn’t just start up in 1973, they’ve been around for a very long time. If abortions are made illegal again, people will not stop having them. That is such a naive, misinformed and dangerous mindset to have.

“Worldwide, some 20-30 million legal abortions are performed each year, with another 10-20 million abortions performed illegally. Illegal abortions are unsafe and account for 13% of all deaths of women because of serious complications. Death from abortion is almost unknown in the United States or in other countries where abortion is legally available.” (source)

Second to last point: it’s the woman’s body; we shouldn’t tell her what she can and can’t do with it. So in stating this, you just implied that it’s okay for a woman to go jump off the Brooklyn Bridge because it’s her body, right? Nope. Well then why is suicide illegal? If the government says that it’s illegal to takes one’s life, but it’s not illegal to have an abortion, what’s the difference? Yes, they’re concerning two different people, but they still involve a woman’s decision on what to do with her body. Don’t you deny that either. 

Because if you’re suicidal, you’re not in a very healthy mindset. I’m fine with assisted suicide for terminally ill and elderly people. Their lives, they deserve control. Aside from that, you can’t really compare suicide to forced birth and pregnancy.

And go ahead, fill my inbox with pro-choice hate. No matter what you say, a life is a life. Whether you life it or not, it is. So what makes a baby within the womb any different from a newborn? A two year old? A thirteen year old? An eighteen year old? A thirty year old? A sixty year old? What makes a baby within the womb any different from you?

Don’t have to fill your inbox with hate, your ignorance speaks volumes for your own uninformed mind. If you honestly have to ask the difference between a fetus and a sixty-year-old individual… I can’t.

This is how antis think, is it.

Not at all.  there is literally no thinking nor use of rational thought in this person’s mind.  This is the result of some pretty intense brainwashing.

Total lack of rational thought, total lack of regard for actual living beings.

Yeah, you’re really “pro-life”.

Also rebagling for OLF’s awesome as usual commentary.

keepyourboehneroutofmyuterus:

prolongedeyecontact:

transreprojustice:

A lot of people when they hear the terms “prochoice”, “reproductive rights” or even “reproductive justice” only think of abortion, but this view is myopic in my opinion. “Reproducing” encompasses many things which includes the right to choose to have children (or give birth and choose adoption), to choose to not have children right now, and to choose to never have children. Reproductive justice frameworks are holistic and look at reproductive rights with the whole person in mind. This means people also have the right to quality and comprehensive sex education, contraception, relevant medical care, the right to be sterilized and the right to not be forcibly sterilized, and a whole host of birthing choices as well (home/natural births, VBACs, the right to refuse c-sections, etc).

Not only that but reproductive rights activists are also concerned with advocating for the personhood/bodily integrity/and autonomy of pregnant people, advocating for reproductive health care as a human right, eradicating obstetric fistula and illegal/unsafe abortion in the developing world, lowering the incidence of teen pregnancy and STIs, lowering the mortality and morbidity rates of pregnant people, improving access to quality healthcare especially for people in poverty. The list goes on and on. Further, we must remember that race, class, disability status, citizenship status, gender, sexual orientation, etc all intersect and all have an effect on how we can or cannot utilize our reproductive rights, and therefore all of those issues must be addressed for reproductive justice to be successful in upholding the rights of all people not just those who are white, wealthy, able-bodied, straight, cis, male citizens. 

So what does this have to do with trans* people?

Well, perhaps not everyone within the movement believes “prochoice” should be a holistic philosophy, but I for one, do. We concentrate on abortion rights because that’s the issue so often under attack, but to be actually “prochoice” is much more expansive than that. It’s about bodily integrity and the importance of keeping personal bodily decisions just that, personal. It’s about birthing choices as much as it is abortion. It’s about how the reproductive rights of different segments of society have been effected differently and what that means to all of us as a whole. Intersectionality matters because poc, poor people, disabled people, trans* people, people of various sexual orientations have been targeted differently and yet it’s all part of a larger system that denies those seen as the “other” the freedom to make basic choices in regards to how their bodies are viewed and how they are utilized. Therefore it’s important to remember that the sexist and cissexist system that seeks to control the sexuality, bodies, and reproduction of those it perceives to be women is the same system that actively targets the identities, bodies, reproduction, and sexualities of trans* people. Reproductive rights aren’t about abortion, they’re about the profound and fundamental right to bodily integrity.

So what is trans* repro justice?

It’s the radical notion that:

• Our bodies belong to us and our right to bodily integrity doesn’t dissipate when society becomes aware of our trans*ness.
• Our bodies and identities are valid, no matter how “uncommon” they may be.
• Language matters and so does inclusivity. When your rhetoric excludes us so do your actions, and that sometimes literally kills us.
• We don’t need to be pathologized or “explained” within a cissexist paradigm. 
• You don’t need to understand us to respect us.
• Sex and gender are not neat binaries.
• We deserve to have our needs met and our boundaries respected just as much as anyone else.
• Medical care should be easily accessible to every one that needs and wants it.
• Parenthood and reproduction are basic human rights and no person should be sterilized without their consent or knowledge. In the other direction, all people that seek sterilization should be able to do so without jumping through hoops for paternalistic doctors.
• All of us have the right to information about our bodies, that doesn’t exclude or denigrate our identities or misgender us, to ensure we can maintain our health.
• All of us have a right to maintain our humanity, dignity, and health. This doesn’t change with citizen status or prisoner status.
• Intersectionality is important. Trans* activism must be cognizant of it, and willing to acknowledge the power hierarchies and systems of privilege within our own community.
• We all have the right to control our fertility how we see fit (whether through pregnancy, adoption, single parenthood, harvesting eggs, sperm banking, etc), and those services should be accessible and affordable.
• We are perfectly capable of being wonderful parents and raising amazing, well-adjusted children.
• Men can and do give birth. Not all those that give birth are mothers.
• Women can and do impregnate people. Not all those that impregnate are fathers.
• “Mothers” and “fathers” aren’t the only type of parents that exist.
• We have a right to obtain government issued identification documents that acknowledge our identities (even nonbinary ones!) without having to undergo costly surgery we may not even want.
• We shouldn’t have to conform to a coercive, gendered script for the comfort of cis people nor should we be expected to live or perform a typical trans* narrative to be taken seriously.
• We should be able to use public restrooms without being attacked, mocked, or arrested.
• Our identities and bodies shouldn’t be caricatured for the amusement of society.
• We are people. We are valid. We are here to stay.

This is a work in progress. Any additions are welcome!

Reblogging here so more people will see this and also to plug my new trans*-centered repro justice blog.

WONDERFUL!

(via bebinn)