NO GOOD CAN COME FROM THIS!
By Clyde
Thursday, March 9, 2006
I have never been one to dabble in the issue of a woman's right to choose, mainly because as a man it really is none of my business. However, my silence ends with the new abortion ban in South Dakota. Without any exceptions for rape or incest, this ban even more notorious than any other attempt to overturn Roe vs. Wade. This is not just an attack upon the women of South Dakota but the entire United States. The religious right has perpetrated this all out assault on the freedom of choice for decades. However, never has the right of women to do what they want with their own bodies ever been in more peril that it is today. One does not need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that this ban is deeply rooted in hatred and religious zealotry.
What possible good could come from forcing a woman to carry the product of one of the most vicious crimes that can be committed against a female to term? Think about the poor woman who must relive the worst experience of her life every time she looks into the eyes of the child that resulted from the assault. The mental anguish that the victim of rape must go through is tragic, but to compound that with State mandated motherhood is catastrophic to the extreme. The bond between mother and child is not something that is to be dictated, but must instead result from the woman's want. It is possible that the woman may learn to love the child, but even the most ardent supporter of forced-gestation must admit that the chances are slim.
Instead of a strong loving emotional attachment between mother and child there would more than likely be animosity at best and hatred at worst. Imagine you are the child of this type of scenario. Would you feel good about yourself if you knew that you were born into this world not because of the love between your mother and father but because you were the unwanted result of a crime? Are you more likely to be an asset to society or are you more apt to display antisocial behavior? The fact of the matter is that the State dictated birth of an unwanted child is more than likely to have devastating results. This legislation increases the chance of child abuse dramatically and the possibility that the child becomes a problem for society to deal with. The fact is that this scenario would likely result in the child being given up for adoption and that reduces the chances of the child growing up in a positive environment. A child born into this kind of situation does not even get the chance to start life on an even playing field.
When you add the situation of incest to the scenario above the nightmare becomes tenfold. While rape for the most part happens once, incest on the other hand usually happens over the span of months or years and is normally not reported but discovered. The traumatic effects of incest are heinous enough but to add a pregnancy into the situation is nothing short of a recipe for disaster. Imagining the effects of long-term incest are bad enough but to force a woman to be constantly reminded about it are totally beyond comprehension.
While the ban does address the health of the mother, it does nothing in terms of the fetus. Modern medicine has advanced to a stage where Doctors are able to diagnose several types of birth defects or medical conditions in the womb. Yet this ban would doom a child that is afflicted to a lifetime of pain and suffering. In addition, modern medicine does not come cheap and the medical costs would have a huge economic impact on those who must care for the child whether it be family or State.
Face it, this ban does nothing more than pander to the hard line right wing in this country and does absolutely nothing to address any concern other than religious zealotry. The main supporters of this type of ban call themselves pro-lifers. However, when you really look at their actions, you can only conclude that they care more about the length of gestation than they do about the child once it has left the birth canal. They proudly proclaim their love of the fetus, but when it becomes a child, they do not want it to receive a good education through a public school system. Their love for the embryo stops when it comes time to fund Head Start. They applaud the union of two gametes right up until it takes a few pennies away from their tax cut. This ban is an assault on humanity and it proves my good friend Bob Kincaid right when he says, "these people are just plain mean."
Admittedly, the scenarios presented are extreme but that does not mean that they are not possible. It is even possible that the women affected could go on to lead happy lives and be strong enough to love and nurture the child. That is her choice to make not the government's. One has to wonder about how the women who support this ban would feel if the government forced them to implant a blastula from a fertilization clinic and carry it to term. There is no doubt that these fine upstanding women of virtue would oppose a State mandated pregnancy on those terms, but other than the violence how does that differ from rape?
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