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Rants >> Rant 238

::Today's soundtrack: VNV Nation "Crome" ::


Hold on to your hats folks; you're in for another political rant. I'm doing it. This time, I'm "going there" and not backing away. I've thought about doing this rant so many times and chickened out. That's right it's time for WILLIAM'S STANCE ON ABORTION. Holy crap. Don't kill me until you've read this the whole way through. THEN you can kill me.

Hopefully if you've read any of my politically slanted rants, it should come as no surprise that I am in fact PRO-CHOICE. You could say that term, "pro-choice," is my stance on a lot of things (see previous rants on how I think people should be able to hire prostitutes if they want to or have multiple spouses). I am all about getting Big Government away from making decisions for me, telling me what I can and cannot do and so forth. I believe in people's right to make their own decisions in their own life and live with it. I don't think people want or need Big Daddy Government shoe horned into their lives and taking away rights or choices. I would be a hypocrite if I did not carry this basic belief and support of people's right to make their own choices to the abortion subject.

This is because, to me, it is what it comes down to: the right to have a choice. Right now I'm not going to wax philosophical on you about when life begins, whether or not a fetus has a soul, if abortion is murder, or all of that. I heard someone say once something along the lines of life is unpredictable, and sometimes, the unexpected can happen, and when it does, it is good to have choices. Not that everyone needs to use that choice, merely that it be available on the odd chance that it be needed. A choice like this is something that only the individual in the center of it can make. No one else can possibly know the circumstances or what that person's life has been like until now. It needs to be their choice alone, and I don't think any government has the right to ever take away a choice.

Another aspect of my stance is that I am a man. I do not have a uterus, and unfortunately neither do a great many of the people who write up and pass laws. I cannot fathom what it is like to be pregnant, the emotional and physical stress involved in that whole ordeal, and I don't believe I have any right to tell all of the women out there what they can and cannot do with their uterus and bodies. It shouldn't even factor into it whether or not I think abortion is morally or ethically the right thing to do because it isn't me. It isn't ever going to be me. I will never be in a situation where I personally will have to go through that. I do not want to push my personal belief system on other people, and this is no exception.

Another thing to address is the other side of this, the so called "pro-life" group. First off, I'm not going to call them that any more. Saying that they are pro-life sort of gives the implication that I am some how pro-death, which is not the case at all. Why don't I call them "anti-choice" since that is kind of what they are doing, trying to remove a choice. Secondly, I don't have a problem with people with the "anti-choice" point of view. Everyone is free to believe what they like. It is when they try to force their own belief of abortion being wrong on others that I have a problem. If you do not agree with abortions, THEN DON'T GET ONE. I can really understand why they think they are so right and everyone else so wrong. Really, I can. Theirs in an attractive argument. Unborn children being murdered is indeed a gruesome subject and not one I'm sure many women take lightly.

The other thing you need to remember is that just because abortions are available, doesn't mean that because I'm pro-choice I believe every woman needs to get one. I'm not about to force every pregnant woman to a clinic for an abortion. Not every woman who gets pregnant gets an abortion, and they are currently an available service. There are women who find out they are pregnant rather unexpectedly and are overjoyed and can't wait to be mothers. They have the option to get an abortion, and did not use it. Probably didn't even occur to them, but I still wouldn't want to take it away.

Something which has bothered me for years are the politicians. I remember soon after I turned 18 I was going to participate in my first presidential election. I got really into it. I watched debates and everything. There was one television program which had all of the candidates for one party present and they were answering questions. A media person would ask a question and then one by one each candidate would answer. The topic of abortion was brought up, and one by one each candidate said how opposed to abortion they were and how it should be outlawed. Then the follow up question was posed: what if it was your own daughter? The candidates started coughing and shifting uncomfortably and they all said something along the lines of "if it were my daughter we'd all sit down as a family and discuss our options." Ten seconds ago abortion was amoral and now it's an "option"? It's okay when it's your own daughter and she's unexpectedly knocked up, but you want to make it illegal for all other women? Are you saying your family is smart enough to make this hard choice, but others aren't so the government needs to make sure they don't make the "wrong" choice? I'm not exactly sure what they were saying, but I do see the lovely double standard and hypocrisy in their two replies to the media. Also it drove home what I always thought: not everyone needs or gets an abortion, but it's good to have there as an option, just in case.

In summary, if you're a woman and you find yourself pregnant, get an abortion or don't, it's your choice. And that's what it really is, about the choice. The government shouldn't take that choice away. I live in the United States, which is supposed to be all about rights, and freedoms, and the ability to make your own choices. The government shouldn't get to decide which choices we get to make on our own, or decide for us which is the correct choice to make. We have the freedom to do that on our own, abortion should be no exception.

Okay, NOW you can kill me.

William the Bloody (hoping to make his opinion heard and maybe change a few minds)