Comments on: “It’s Not a Choice, It’s a Child” — Except When It’s Beneficial To Say It’s a Choice

By: On Zebra Cones, the Palins, and Choice « Elizabeth Nolan Brown

On Zebra Cones, the Palins, and Choice « Elizabeth Nolan Brown — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:12:00 +0000

[...] that choice and then champion taking away the ability to even make that choice from others? As Cara at The Curvature points out: The ironic thing is that in a world where Palin did not have a choice (one that I find hard to [...]

By: Cara

Cara — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 21:13:49 +0000

Ha. Carolina, I do find abortion acceptable. So I’m actually pleased to be seen as promoting that view. In fact, I’m proud of it. Abortion is not ideal, but it is acceptable and should always be available, otherwise women die. Oh, and they’re also turned into incubators by law.

But what do I know? I also apparently drink aborted fetus blood for breakfast . . .

By: carolina

carolina — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:24:17 +0000

Abortion will become more prevalent the easier it is to obtain & the more socially acepted it is & that’s certainly evident. You are endorsing it by making it part of this culture. How dare you say it’s not you responsible ‘it will always happen’, you are not supporting, you are encouraging people to find it acceptable & by doing so ensuring it will always be viewed as acceptable & non-harmful by many & many more. Who will likely then say to themself ‘it doesn’t matter if I don’t use protection, nobody will be hurt’, which is pure ignorance. I’m not religious, but the whole abortion thing bring to mind paganism & child sacrifice- they believed during that era they were doing it for the greater good, just like people now who do it often do. The sad fact is you truly believe you are helping & doing good.

By: Helen

Helen — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:04:50 +0000

To portray Palin as this wonderful pro-life martyr is both misogynistic and ableist.

It also ignores the fact that unlike 99.9% of women, Palin is rich enough to hire a live-in carer, so she doesn’t have to make the hard choices between caring and earning her living.

By: Jen R

Jen R — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:32:11 +0000

Kristin, I considered prenatal testing, even though I would not have aborted, just for the purpose of being able to research and prepare ahead of time if my child did have a genetic condition.

Ninety percent of women whose children are diagnosed in utero with Down Syndrome abort. There is a lot of pressure put on parents not to have “defective” children — both in lack of support (as Anna points out) and in direct statements that children like Trig should not be born. I do admire Sarah Palin for living up to her principles in the face of that pressure.

By: Cara

Cara — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:26:56 +0000

Aisah — what that analysis ignores though is the reality of people’s lives and the fact that they don’t make these choices in a vacuum. People often make these choices due to a lack of support in terms of financial and medical needs, social judgments like many we’ve seen about people who knowingly give birth to those with disabilities, and so on.

Now, if we fix those problems, I think that these abortions would not disappear — just like we can do everything in the world to provide sex and make it easier for women to parent, and they’ll still have abortions for other reasons. I think that we can (and should) support a woman’s right to make that choice regardless of whether or not we agree with that choice.

By: Sarah Palin, her daughter, and that unexpected pregnancy announcement « Ffeminist

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:34:41 +0000

[...] glad that Ann also brought up Cara’s great post from last week on the discussions surrounding Sarah Palin’s “choice” not to abort [...]

By: on3radio

on3radio — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:03:32 +0000

Sarah Palin, Pro-Life-Feministin…

Als John McCain seine Vizepräsidentschaftskandidatin Sarah Palin der Öffentlichkeit präsentierte, wurde schnell vermutet, dass er damit auf die Wählerinnen und Wähler abzielt, die gerne Hillary Clinton ihre Stimme gegeben hätten. Und jetzt wied…

By: Kristin Lasagna

Kristin Lasagna — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 02:41:26 +0000

As the mother and sister of people with disabilities, I’ve been super teed off by this whole “controversy”, but I have another thought. Why would we think that an absolute anti-abortion pregnant mom would have any prenatal testing that would have informed her before his birth that the fetus was anything but perfect?

By: Aisah

Aisah — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 00:25:28 +0000

I think the whole reason that the conservative media is praising her is because 80-90 percent of fetuses, diagnosed with Down Syndrome, are aborted (Washington Post).

Sure women have the right to choose, what’s best for their family, and they might come up with different reasons why they may not continue the pregnancy; but when you see a statistic, such as above–well, actions speak louder than words. It seems like pure eugenics, in my humble opinion.

Aisha