When I Hear the "Right to Life" Folks, It Doesn't Sound that Way

Just yesterday marked the 41st anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, which was noted by some right to life (or as I prefer, anti-choice) groups by a gathering in Washington, DC. I know some people consider the activists involved with anti-abortion protests as benevolent "counselors", but I guess I have a hard time reconciling that outlook with the folks who yell about baby-murder, whoredom, compare clinics to the Holocaust and, presumably, the women who elect to end their pregnancies with--Hitler? and get a little handsy with people seeking information and medical care, and sometimes, I dunno, bomb clinics and shoot doctors and nurses.

I don't think people really seek "counseling" from random, uncredentialed strangers who lie to them about stuff and might be involved in some nefarious anti-life nonsense, but that's just me being knee-jerk rational. And yeah, those people are often even lying about things, like whether abortion is related to breast cancer (it isn't) and whether women who've had abortions are going to be desperately regretful afterwards.  And while I know a lot of the nice folks who park themselves outside clinics are just sweet old religious busybodies who will pray for you and don't really want to bomb anyone, their tone deaf inability to express their reasons for telling someone else what they really should do with their own bodies is just vexing.

And sometimes it's damn dumb. Take Rep. Vicky Hartzler for example. Her rationale for why women should not end their pregnancies is that:

“It ends a beating heart, it leaves emotional wounds with women that they carry for life and it robs men of the privilege of fatherhood,” she said. “That’s why we must do everything in our power to end this devastating practice.”

Okay, I know I can't be alone when I see bumperstickers that say "Abortion stops a beating heart" who thinks "Well, that's the point." But this idea that it "robs men of the privilege of fatherhood". That's a privilege, not a right, okay? And actually, the ability to impregnate is not an ability to dictate what anyone does with her body nor provides any indication of fitness to parent.  They aren't robbed of anything they have a right to, and the actual "labor" is pretty much on the woman's part, so?  That might just be one of the dumbest reasons for somone to do their nine months and the cost of the hospital bill, plus the responsiblity of bringing a person into the world one is not prepared to be responsible for, except:

Hartzler asserted that if abortion hadn’t been legalized, “perhaps we would have had a cure for cancer now.”

And if sardines had wings, we'd all be using jetpacks.

I know I sound callous on the subject. I guess it's because I get the reality of an unwanted pregnancy for so many women is a state of desperation. Before legalized abortion made this procedure safe, women sought out dubiously safe and very costly abortions because it was still more tolerable to them than the loss of choosing their reproductive future.  Women died because a life where they carried their babies to term was unthinkable to them. And we are heading back to a time where women are choosing, because of lack of access, abortions that are less safe and even fatal. 

The restrictions that people calling themselves "pro-life" want to place on women are often needlessly insulting and intrusive. Take the mandatory ultrasound requirement that apparently show women that they have a fetus in their uteruses, as opposed to a lamp or other bit of furniture. It doesn't actually dissuade women from having an abortion.  But it does let them know how their government feels about them.  They want them to hear heartbeats and sit through speeches that are not true.

And maybe they want them to be audited by the IRS. Oh, yeah:

The IRS is good at a lot of things — sending out tax refunds, giving tax credits for child-care expenses and deductions for charitable contributions, and helping taxpayers file their income tax returns for free. 

But one thing the IRS probably isn’t very good at is deciding whether or not a woman has been raped. 

That’s why some provisions of the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act” don’t make a whole lot of sense. H.R. 7, which is sponsored by Rep. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.), would change the tax code so that individuals may only deduct medical expenses related to abortion in cases of rape, incest or endangerment of life.

Some people never have much use for the IRS until they figure out a way to get it involved in a person's private parts. As if there's nothing a rape survivor would like more than recounting her experience to a tax agent, and nothing a tax agent would love more than finding this out--as in, that is ridiculous and private and hurtful and only makes sense if someone equates "not having children" with"getting away with something evil". Who even thinks this sort of thing up?

But we even have a battle now over whether birth control is a right and whether our reproductive organs are body parts that we should be able to get medical coverage for. (And considering that the best answer to unwanted pregnancies that we have is women not getting pregnant, what is wrong with birth control--if one really cared about reducing abortion?) Take a listen to Reverend Mike Huckabee, probable presidential hopeful:

Mike Huckabee (Former Arkansas Governor, present talking head) made some remarks to the RNC Thursday that have (unfortunately for him) not gone unremarked. You don’t even need an indignation machine to get worked up about this one.

Huckabee said, in full glorious resplendent context, 

“I think it’s time for Republicans to no longer accept listening to Democrats talk about a war on women. Because the fact is, the Republicans don’t have a war on women. They have a war FOR women. For them to be empowered; to be something other than victims of their gender. Women I know are outraged that Democrats think that women are nothing more than helpless and hopeless creatures whose only goal in life is to have a government provide for them birth control medication. Women I know are smart, educated, intelligent, capable of doing anything anyone else can do. Our party stands for the recognition of the equality of women and the capacity of women. That’s not a war ON them, it’s a war FOR them. And if the Democrats want to insult the women of America by making them believe that they are helpless without Uncle Sugar coming in and providing or them a prescription each month for birth control because they cannot control their libido or their reproductive system without the help of the government, then so be it, let’s take that discussion all across America because women are far more than Democrats have made them to be. And women across America have to stand up and say, Enough of that nonsense. “ 

I know he means "Uncle Sam" and I think this is a euphemism of military origin for the beneficent deity from whom all government-issues blessings flow, but really, it sounds like he's talking about the name of my pimp. And the birth control he's talking about is an item covered by a woman's private insurance coverage under the ACA, not the tax dollars. And finally, as a married lady in that awkward age between not wanting to have a baby and menopause, he can stick his ideas about a woman's control of her libido where the sun don't shine.

But let's just bypass all that. Here's where I see the "pro-life" people in so many ways:

(CNN) -- Attorneys representing the family of Marlise Munoz -- a pregnant Texas woman they say is brain dead -- revealed Wednesday that the "fetus is distinctly abnormal." 

"Even at this early stage, the lower extremities are deformed to the extent that the gender cannot be determined. The fetus suffers from hydrocephalus. It also appears that there are further abnormalities, including a possible heart problem, that cannot be specifically determined due to the immobile nature of Mrs. Munoz's deceased body. 

"Quite sadly, this information is not surprising due to the fact that the fetus, after being deprived of oxygen for an indeterminate length of time, is gestating within a dead and deteriorating body, as a horrified family looks on in absolute anguish, distress and sadness," attorneys Jessica Janicek and Heather King said in a statement.

A brain-dead woman kept on life-support to carry a fetus that won't live. What's that? Pro-life!

Some people say they "admire the pro-life person's deep committment to their values" or some formulation like that, even if they don't agree with them. I have a very hard time saying anything like that.