The Tea Party, Guns and Abortion

Abortion is a controversial topic that is why I want to begin this post by making my personal belief clear from the start. Abortion should not be a method engaged for family planning. Abortion is the last choice when there are no other options and when a pregnancy will bring harm to the mother.  It is not a reasonable method of birth control but I firmly believe that a mother’s health transcends that of the fetus. This is a very personal question between a mother, her immediate family, her spiritual counselor and her physician. This is not a societal decision and should not be subjected to public debate by the varying religious ideologies of the community.  Religious communities have differing views about abortion and while some consider it a mortal sin, others believe that there are times when abortion is a sacred method for avoiding potential harm to a mother.  Judaism, for one, does not recognize an unborn fetus as human life but assigns the fetus a sacredness that would prohibit casual disposal of a pregnancy.

I support a woman’s right to choice and this article is written in response to recent “Tea Party” activism that has changed State laws in order to hinder access to safe abortions. This kind of activism endangers American women by obstructing the path to good health care with personal religious ideology not universally shared by all Americans’. In addition, while ‘Planned Parenthood’ offers abortion it is the smallest part of their work. Planned Parenthood primarily provides birth control counseling and healthy mother and baby exams. Tea Party activist propose closing woman’s health care clinics’ to prevent abortion at the expense of indigent woman in our community needing inexpensive health care acquired at these same organizations. In other words,  Tea Partiers’ want clinics shut to satisfy their personal religious ideology.

In early October, Miriam Carey, tried to crash the White House gates and in doing so died in a hail of gunfire following a high speed chase by Capital Police.  In the back of the car, police found a one year old child secured in car seat but no weapons. By some miracle the child was physically unharmed. However, with the mother dead, DC social services was forced to take guardianship of the infant and assigned her to foster care while police searched for more immediate family members.

A search of Ms. Carey’s home revealed that she was taking prescription medications for postpartum depression with delusions. Interviews with her family and friends revealed that Ms. Carey believed that President Obama ordered that she be monitored by “electronic surveillance” according to the New York Times.

Recently, Tea Party Governor, John Kasich of Ohio, signed an anti-abortion measure attached to the Ohio State budget that required a 24 hour wait between counseling and the abortion procedure. In Ohio, counselors are required to show the patient an ultrasound displaying the beating heart of the fetus.

A pregnant 24 year old woman from Ohio was about to carry for the third time when she requested an abortion. The family reported that the pregnant woman had suffered from postpartum depression and with each live birth the condition grew worse. The decision to terminate this pregnancy was made after she became delusional and they were advised that psychotropic therapy should be stopped if the pregnancy was to be carried to term.  The family concluded that her sanity took precedence over the pregnancy and therefore the abortion was requested.

Under the laws governing abortion in Ohio she was counseled and made to watch an ultrasound of the beating heart. Then she was made to wait 24 hours before the procedure could take place.

How are the ‘pro-lifers', ‘pro-life’ up to birth but once the child or children are born, ‘pro-lifers’ will ignore basic human needs. The ‘Tea Partiers’ are comfortable allowing children to go hungry and without medical care or housing and without schools but heaven forbid abortion. They consider a safe place for supervised play frivolous and would rather they wander community parks in unsafe neighborhoods. Their policies are hypocritical. They are anti- abortion but they are willing to allow starvation for our Nations children, or for children to suffer pain and illness for lack of medical care, or, incapacitate them with ignorance and destine them to a life of disabling poverty, ill health and starvation. At least, if ‘Tea Partiers‘ are going to force live birth, let them also provide assistance for the care of these children. 

We are a Country that declares our mission as “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” as "unalienable rights” for all members of society.  The ‘Tea Party’ public policies are cruel and inhumane beyond description for those who have never known these indignities.

There are some things that are beyond human comprehension. One of them is when life begins, another is what snaps inside the mind that suddenly and often without warning, causes otherwise healthy people to be insane.  Loss of one’s common sense and mental health is a torment that no one should endure.

Tea Partiers want their way and are unwilling to negotiate. They are the American version of Taliban. They want to deny abortions regardless of the reason and they want to proliferate guns by inhibiting gun laws regardless of the casualties. America needs to stand up to this lunatic fringe.