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April 22, 2007

My life is non-negotiable to me

The SCOTUS decision earlier this week to uphold the ban on so-called "partial birth abortion" has sparked discussion in many quarters, including here at PK.

The views of folks who adhere to a set of specific religious beliefs have been well represented in comments, on multiple sides of the issue. One view not apparently represented is that of the feminist--which I find not only fascinating, but enlightening.

One such feminist view is beautifully articulated in a diary at Daily Kos by Natasha, who strongly articulates why she feels such rulings are degrading to women. The whole thing is well worth reading. But here is a powerful excerpt:

Feminists are often singled out as a type of single-issue voter particularly deserving of demonization at this site. Our adamance, our insistence, it just gets right up some people's noses. Right up there. We are accused often, just as the anti-choicers and the Supreme Court have conspired to have us declared in the law, of not knowing what's really in our best interests. Accused, in the most loaded and demeaning of ways, of being crying hysterics who blow things out of proportion.

Screw that. Let me tell you just a little bit of why we're such demanding, whiny nags, such angry, raging bitches. And let me tell you why a refusal to join with us in our petition for justice and equality hurts everything this site claims to stand for.

This society spends an enormous amount of time working hard to make women afraid. It works. We are.

We can be forced to have c-sections against our will, invasive medical procedures with not insignificant risks to our future health. If we should become pregnant due to contraception failure, we may be given the run-around by medical professionals until it's too late to avoid pregnancy, and then if we talk publically about wanting an abortion we can get death threats and worse. A woman can be dragged to her death like James Byrd without creating any more public controversy than how best to cover up the blood stains on the road. As insult on top of all this injury, and more infuriating things than anyone has room for in a single post, Congress and the Supreme Court got together to declare us less valuable than female farm animals.

Than farm animals? Yes. Because not only is an unborn fetus apparently worth more than I am, an unborn fetus that can't live outside my body and a dead, decaying fetus that's been strangled by its own umbilical cord is worth more than I am. Worth more than my health and future ability to bear children. And a life exception?

If something that might only threaten my health turns out to be fatal to me, well it's too bloody late to grant me an exemption.

I fully expect that there will be irrational tossing of stupid pixels about the "angry feminist" in comments--while blithely ignoring Natasha's very important point: there is an effort in certain areas to devalue women. There are a lot of people in the US that see women as nothing more than breeding stock and laborers. Some of these people are in positions of power and wealth--and some of them may be sitting on the SCOTUS bench.

Continuing to ignore what folks like Natasha are saying is only going to lead to a serious backlash and then a revolt to a place of greatest extreme. Continuing to devalue her and debase her will simply add fuel to that fire.

Posted by Carla at April 22, 2007 09:14 AM