Parent v. President

A few days ago, Penny pointed out that seemingly minutes after President Obama forcefully pledged his support to Planned Parenthood and women's rights, he opposed removing age limits for above-the-counter purchase of the "morning-after" pill.

As a parent who was damned overprotective of my daughter I understand fully.  Rather than have her sit through sex ed classes that I doubted were going to be open and accurate, I opted out.  I talked to my daughter, and sometimes she was furious that I was so involved, but she also talked to me.  And I am assuming that the Obama's are such parents.

But that is not always the case.  And sadly, children get pregnant.  And horrifically, there are times when the parents are the last people in which that child can confide.

We are a nation that refuses to deal with the difficult problems, the ones that would actually improved our lives, make the world safer for our children and grandchildren.  Our legislators do a lot of grandstanding and bloviating about their moral values.  But when it comes to doing the right thing, they lately almost always do the thing that fuels their power and greed instead.

Personhood amendments abuse women by forcing them to maintain a pregnancy to term, while funds that would improve the life expectancy of infants are cruelly cut.  Civil rights for those who are not Christian are violated in the name of public safety while the right to own a gun and carry it anywhere is religiously protected.

Our children are increasingly less likely to feel secure, to have parents who have the time to spend with them when they are needed.  They are less likely to be educated in a school where there are adequate numbers of teachers and counselors who know them.  They are less likely to receive adequate sex education, and in some cases receive misinformation.

For those parents who are unable to be the parents their children trust and confide in, whether right or wrong, we need to be brutally honest about their children's -- our children's -- safety.  We need to admit that children that are -- well, children -- are having sex, and we need to admit that access to Plan B is necessary.  And then we need to keep slogging ahead to try to make a world where our children will not need Plan B or abortions.  Which is, after all, the hard part of all this.

And we need our President to do the right thing, even though it is the hard thing.

Taking a Stand

Earlier I today, I published a blog entry with lots of bad news, and hoped that President Obama would develop a spine on other issues, as he has on gun control.  Imagine my surprise and pleasure when I learned of his speech yesterday to Planned Parenthood.                                                                           

This was an amazing speech.  These are the strong words of support that we have been waiting for.

Comment was made by Katie McDonough in Salon that he did not actually say the word "abortion."  I think that's okay.  If you listen to the words, he does not flinch when he talks about the state laws that are assaulting woman's rights throughout the country.  He talks about the law that was passed making abortion illegal at six weeks.

I believe we have allowed Republicans to control the labeling of this debate.  We did eventually come up with "pro-choice" to combat the "pro-abortion" label.  But "choice" still brings us to "abortion."  Which is about the fetus.

It is time we redirected this debate.  This battle is about women, not that growth that may be inside of us.  That is why I believe we need to call this a fight against "forced pregnancy."  We all know, really, that that is what this is about.  It is about control, and punishment.  It has nothing to do with "preserving life" because there is no Republican support for health care for pregnant woman, much less for care for an infant when it is born.  Republicans not only seek to punish women of limited means who have become pregnant, they will punish the children that are born to women of limited means.

Here in South Carolina, we have a shameful record of infant mortality, yet some of our legislators focus single-mindedly on assuring that every woman who becomes pregnant is forced to carry that pregnancy.  With or without health care, or even decent nutrition.  These men who, across the country, are pushing these bills through their state legislators are cruel and power-hungry; they care not for life much less quality of life.  Their goal in each of these bills, no matter what warm-and-fuzzy names they give them, is to force pregnancy upon a woman.

I have said this before, but I keep being reminded that these are often the people who scream loudest for "freedom."  What they mean, though, is the freedom to control those who have less power than them.