This one will Piss Off the Left for sure!

Reader Candace was not impressed with the idea that I used abortions as an example of left wing thinking. In fact she tore quite a strip off of me for it as evidenced below.

First of all, Richard, men arguing against abortion doesn't work. Those same men (not meaning to use a very broad paintbrush, hoping you get my drift here) are the fathers & uncles & brothers impregnating their daughters through incest, the abusive husband/boyfriend impregnating, through what sometimes amounts to rape, their wives/girlfriends.Most importantly: Men do not "not get hired" because they're likely going to get pregnant (don't laugh, I had many an interview, years ago before PC came into play, where I was asked when I intended to start a family... WTF??? More recently, I've seen it asked, in a roundabout way to avoid the PC Police.). Men do not lose their income for 6-12 months (EI maxes out at what, $1,100 per month? could YOUR family survive?) Men do not risk their lives to bear children (check the stats on live-births vs. non-live, on miscarriages, on related health issues). Men are not the ones carrying the burden of raising a child (fine, you're happily married & I assume engaged in child-rearing - check the stats, you're a minority). Men are not left with raising a child in sub-poverty or poverty-line income levels (check the stats). Men don't change their careers or lives to suit their children (check the stats, call a divorce lawyer if you must). Men don't get raped (often, and don't get pregnant as a result). Men are not left holding the bag when "the condom broke."In short, MEN DON'T GET IT.IMHO, when men get pregnant, they can comment effectively. Until then, back off...Candace 04.24.05 - 5:49 am #

That was a very passionate response Candace. The post was not placed to start a discussion on abortion though. It was there to illustrate the mindset of the average liberal and frankly, your roots are showing.I'll do a post later today on abortion because my thoughts are too lengthy for the comments section.Richard Evans Homepage 04.24.05 - 9:58 am #

"It was there to illustrate the mindset of the average liberal..."A better argument would be something along the lines of Chretien decrying what happened in Bosnia but refusing to join in the fight against Iraq (and the number of atrocities committed against the Iraqis by Saddam).I'll be curious to see how much pushback you get from "right thinking" women on your post (note RG's home page).I'm in a hurry so can't research right now; but will.No abortion at all, without taking "unusual circumstances" into account, is a pure male argument. Especially when that male is against welfare etc. Who's gonna feed the baby, Richard?Cheers.Candace 04.24.05 - 11:38 am #

As noted in my reply, Candace seems very passionate about this issue and will likely not take kindly to what I have to say.

The article excerpt did not state a position on the ethics of abortion Candace. It merely illustrated the conflicting nature of the lib-left mindset. e.g. they disagree with clubbing cuddly baby seals and yet endorse abortion within the 3rd trimester of pregnancy. Do a google search on the recent seal hunt and see how many hits you get. Then do a search on "Bobbi Jo Stinnett" and "amber alert". In this case a woman was murdered and the 8 month old baby was removed from her womb. The media initially called it a fetus until it was found to be a living breathing baby. (note that even after calling it a baby in the story CNN uses this as the web addy of the story: http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/12/18/fetus.found.alive/) It had the potential to do some serious harm to the idea that "fetus" and "baby" are not one and the same. The media quickly let the story die. There was no mention of their contridiction of terms in reference to the child. The point of my post was to show the contradiction Candace.

Seeing that I was asked to justify MY position on abortion here it is:

First, If a woman gets pregnant because of rape, abortion is acceptable. Public funding of said procedure should be endorsed. I did not claim otherwise even though Candace read it into the post in question.

Second, If an abortion is required because of a medical danger to the mother it is acceptable and should be publicaly funded. Again I did not state otherwise even though Candace read it into the post.

Third,If some trollop gets pregnant because she couldn't keep her pants on and now sees the little life growing inside her as an inconvenience she should have the right to have it removed. It is her body after all. I don't think the taxpayers should be funding it. I find it disgusting that the pro-abortion movement uses slogans on t-shirts to promote it. I think the trollop should should be made to take councilling prior to and after the procedure because said individual has made a serious error in judgement (taking her pants off to begin with). I think women under the age of 18 need to have their parents permission for having said procedure performed. I think the woman has a moral responsibility to include the father in the decision making process.

Fourth, I think that having the "abortion safety net" used as carelessly as it has been has done more to hold the feminist movement back than it has to further it. I think it's created an environment where a large number of women (most notibly teenagers) have lost their self respect. By "putting out" so easily and casually they have certinly lost the respect of many men.

Fifth, I think that Candace's argument that men should not be discussing abortion is completely absurd. Men comprise approximately 50% of the population. Abortion used to be a personal private issue but the lib-left turned it into a social issue citing how it was required to stop children being born into poverty, how it needed to be pubicly funded, etc. As 1/2 of that effected society, you bet your ass men should have a say in the direction taken.

And finally, I have a personal attachment to this issue as well. My wife and I had a very hard decision to make just over 10 years ago. We decided to become parents after having the proverbial "accident". Notice how I said "WE". It was inconvenient. We had to adjust our lives considerably. I had to get a real job while Corinne took care of Courtney(fact of life because I don't lactate). I had to learn responsibility. We learned that teaching our daughter to keep her pants will save a whole lot of agony for her later in life.

I can't help but wonder what my life would be like if we had chosen to abort Courtney. There would have been a light missing but, to tell the truth, I would likely still be so self involved that I wouldn't know it.

I expect pushback for my opinion Candace, yes. You should know that by now. I'm prepared to argue it to the point of exhaustion and beyond. If there are those that choose to remove links to my page ( e.g. rightgirl ) because of my stance I'm fine with that (you may wish to let her judge for herself though). The only validation I need on this issue, I get every evening when I tuck my little ones into bed.

I think that instead of putting a focus on hiding mistakes we should be looking at encouraging people to not make the mistakes to begin with. Society is currently doing the opposite.