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.
