Parents Who Take Small Children To Abortion Clinics

[Hane]

God Bess!

I hereby nominate this homeschoolism as our official FJ FU.

[formergothardite]

I really don't think any of you should judge someone. The Bible speaks of judging others. I happen to know Lisa and think she is a wonderful Mother. I support her whole heartedly in her stand on abortion. Bringing her children is a decision her and her husband made for their family. They are not asking you to take your children. This Mother is very careful with her children. I am certain she talks with them gently to explain what they are in support of. Abortion is not new. It has been going on for way to long. This family is not hiding the fact from their children. They are just showing them the true facts. If you would look in the mirror and ask yourself...."What have I allowed my children to see? What movies? What songs do they hear?" I bet if you are truely honest with yourself you will be surprised at what you have allowed in your childrens life. At least this mother is trying to teach her children how to save lives. She is not asking any of you to do this. I would also evaluate your own lives. The words I saw being used speaks of you very well.

God Bess!

Well, by standing by the side of the road holding those signs she pretty much is denying all the parents with kids in the car the right to make the decision of whether or not they want to expose their children to those pictures. Right now my six year old has no clue about abortion and if I had driven past them I would have been majorly pissed off.

As for the "it's just true facts", I bet she wouldn't be happy if she was out and about with her kids and people were holding up signs of people having sex. I mean, it is just true facts and all that. Just cause it is "true facts" doesn't mean children should see it.

And finally, I guess by following that first line with the rest of that post you are just admitting you aren't going to follow the Bible when it doesn't suit you.

Will be shocked if she comes back to answer any of this.

[cindyluvs24]

Firstly, I live in blue-collar Catholic town (you know, with the plaster Virgin Marys on the lawn) on the East Coast and these uber-virtuous mamas have no problem taking their daughters to private doctors when the need arises "Well, it would be harmful for her health." Riiiight. It would also get in the way of her scholarship to Rutgers. Hypocrites.

Secondly, my dentist has his office in the same complex as an OB/GYN practice. I didn't know they did abortions until I went in for a root canal and had to walk around the protestors. After explaining that i was going to the dentist, I asked them how they reconciled voting against budgeting for food and housing programs for low income families with their belief that each child was a precious gift from God. I got the standard "you need to educate yourself young lady" response. Big hypocrites.

[demgirl]

Aaaand... time for a new dentist. :) Look, I have no doubt that the honest protesters can provide short term help to women who choose not to have abortions. I also have no doubt that it's extremely short term and does not take care of endemic poverty. A couple of weeks of food, a couch to sleep on for a month or baby blankets and strollers does not provide what someone suffering from extreme destitution needs to raise a child -- and that's what is being offered. What really gets me is how it goes hand in hand with anti-welfare propaganda. It's obvious by what they currently provide that private charities and churches could not fill the gap of welfare as these people so often claim.

I would prefer that none of these people came over here, but you'd at least think Lisa could fight her own battles.

[emmiedahl]

I really don't think any of you should judge someone. The Bible speaks of judging others. (BLAH BLAH BLAH, SANCTIMONIOUS CRAP) What have I allowed my children to see? What movies? What songs do they hear?" I bet if you are truely honest with yourself you will be surprised at what you have allowed in your childrens life. At least this mother is trying to teach her children how to save lives. She is not asking any of you to do this. I would also evaluate your own lives. The words I saw being used speaks of you very well.

God Bess!

My children have never seen a dismembered baby. They do not know about abortion, the death penalty, the reality of wars, or what it is like to be a starving child in the Sudan. They know a comfortable and religious two-parent home. Sorry, but I don't equate letting a 9yo watch The Simpsons with letting a 4yo see/carry around a sign with a blown-up, larger than life dismembered baby.

[emmiedahl]

Just wanted to add: women don't have abortions because they can't afford a stroller. Babies are the cheapest children out there. My youngest has cost me less than $500 in his nine months of life. I've paid $1100 for violin lessons and supplies for one child in the same interval--with a huge discount from the teacher because he knows we are poor and that we can't afford to give her as much as a very musically talented young lady needs.

Take your table of baby crap to the nearest social services building or put it on Freecycle so a woman who has decided to give birth can use it.

[Burris]

I have no doubt that the honest protesters can provide short term help to women who choose not to have abortions. I also have no doubt that it's extremely short term and does not take care of endemic poverty. A couple of weeks of food, a couch to sleep on for a month or baby blankets and strollers does not provide what someone suffering from extreme destitution needs to raise a child -- and that's what is being offered. What really gets me is how it goes hand in hand with anti-welfare propaganda. It's obvious by what they currently provide that private charities and churches could not fill the gap of welfare as these people so often claim.

I think anti-choicers would argue 'murder is wrong regardless of economic circumstance' - but if they say that out loud, then they end up with the burden of proving a fetus is person enough to have rights that compete with and even supersede the rights of the sentient, fully developed human being who is providing the life-support.

Those anti-choicers who are not at once hypocrites could, and probably do, work with pregnant women to develop a support network that might include government assistance or access to supportive employment. (That, to me, would be the crowning glory of any crisis pregnancy center, along with short-term aid - e.g., food, clothing, shelter - from the center itself.)

This raises another problem I see on some anti-choice blogs: The total lack of anything resembling confidentiality. The Seppis, for example, posted pictures of women going into the clinic. This blog has pictures of at least two women who "chose life" - which is especially silly considering how the author omits their names. There's a serious lack of respect and professionalism.

[emmiedahl]

Burris, another thing to consider is that those women also might be going to the clinic for bc or there to get the official pregnancy test they need to get medicaid so they can see a real doctor. I mean, I have had to almost push protesters out of the way to get into PP when I was there for both reasons. If they were taking my picture I would be pissed. One time was after a miscarriage. Those photos really made me feel better. So Godly of them to rub that one in my face.

[demgirl]

Oh, you do not even want to get me started on the human cesspool that is the Seppis.

[Maul the Koala]

Burris, another thing to consider is that those women also might be going to the clinic for bc or there to get the official pregnancy test they need to get medicaid so they can see a real doctor. I mean, I have had to almost push protesters out of the way to get into PP when I was there for both reasons. If they were taking my picture I would be pissed. One time was after a miscarriage. Those photos really made me feel better. So Godly of them to rub that one in my face.

I read a blog about a woman who was a part of a movement that goes and prays outside of Planned Parenthood/the local abortion clinic so that maybe women will change their minds about the abortion they're about to have. I can't help but wonder if all that time and energy spent on praying in front of the clinic might be better spent helping out a mother in need, or fundraising for causes that help mothers in need.

But I guess it's easier to say that you did something while doing nothing instead of actually doing something.

[SquirrelySquirrel]

Firstly, I live in blue-collar Catholic town (you know, with the plaster Virgin Marys on the lawn) on the East Coast and these uber-virtuous mamas have no problem taking their daughters to private doctors when the need arises "Well, it would be harmful for her health." Riiiight. It would also get in the way of her scholarship to Rutgers. Hypocrites.

This reminds me of The Only Moral Abortion is My Abortion.

[Patsy]

Thanks, SquirrelySquirrel

[Brainsample]

Thought:

(Sorry if someone has already suggested this, but I'm happy to suggest it again.)

If the purpose of protesting abortion clinics and going to them to talk to women is ultimately aimed at preserving the dignity and sanctity of human life, would it not be better to stick to the beautiful and artful photographs of living unborn babies, whole and intact? Jesus said to clothe the naked, and though I can understand the significance of wanting to expose the gore to influence and manipulate the woman on behalf of her unborn baby, is it right to so openly show it in the presence of children.

In a way, it also desensitizes children to the violence of the procedure and the products of conception, looking at those photos every time they go to the protests or whatever they want to call them.

Why not hold up the artful photos that preserve the dignity and sanctity of life for which they advocate, and possibly hand out pamphlets for crisis pregnancy centers or hold up pictures of young moms and adoptive parents with their babies? It is a compromise.

But I think that it's a bit oxymoronic when people hold up large images of the gore. It's not appropriate for small children, IMO. It actually makes them comfortable with what the outcome looks like through desensitization, like watching hundreds and thousands of murders on TV, something restricted from these children, I'm sure.

[alysee]

It definitely desensitizes when you keep seeing the pictures. I went to a Catholic school my entire life and from about grade 8 on, every other week they were protesting at our school. Pictures and all. The pictures aren't even graphic anymore and I know they should be.

[Patsy]

Lot of abortions done at your school, eh, alysee? Seriously, if you're going to do a stupid over-the-top protest it should at least be relevant :roll:

[slickcat79]

Just wanted to put this here because it's about stupid anti-choice people: my dad was watching The Factor, which led to me saying how insane Michelle Bachman is, which led to him saying, "she's probably done more good than bad (what the fuck does that mean?) and generally apologizing for her, which led to a mini-abortion debate. He used the, "I thought a lot differently when I was your age, but then I got more mature." So when I "grow up," I'll be totally against abortion, too. His ultimate "checkmate" is when he wants to get out of a debate by saying, "Well, I just have a lot of life experience, I don't live inside a computer (looking at me, because if he ever sees me on the computer, that means I'm not doing anything with my life)." So fucking frustrated that he over-simplifies the issue by saying, "There are so many people who want to adopt, everyone can just give their babies up for adoption!!!" My response, "Yeah, people want to adopt white, American babies, there are plenty of kids who will never get adopted." Idiot. :evil:

Doesn't everyone know by now that those ridiculous photos are dishonest?

Ugghhh. That sounds exactly the way a conversation with my dad would go, except that I'm not sure he cares about abortion one way or another. Apparently if we just got these damn democrats out of office, we could get unemployment taken care of and everything would be flowers and rainbows and fluffy kittens. Upon commenting that the republicans had done a great job while they were in control, I was informed that I just don't understand. It's not like I have a poli sci degree or anything :roll:

[starfish]

I call this type of convo "mansplainin'" b/c it's what these older guys do.

You see this a lot from the Tx legislature. These old guys think the gals are all willy-nilly having abortions on the spur of the moment so they can go to the rodeo that evening, so they have to pass laws making us gals "think about it", and then they man-splain why we can't make up our own minds about a medical procedure.

I didn't think of the term "man-splain" but I sure do like it.

[kb2]

I live in a very, very conservative, red state area, where people assume everyone is pro-life by default. I have been very careful to not "come out" as pro-choice, because I think there would be consequences both personally and professionally. There are multiple pro-life billboards in town (with cute babies on them). Even the most openly liberal people I know are discreet about their views on abortion (it's not just my own wussiness, although my wussiness does play a part in my being silent).

We also have an abortion clinic. And yet, in this town where almost everyone is pro-life, there really isn't the hateful protesting going on. There's usually just one older guy who stands on the sidewalk praying the rosary, and the most I've seen were ten college students lined up. Protestors stay on the sidewalk (they don't go into the parking lot), they don't block the driveway entrance, they don't block people from going inside. They don't yell, they don't hold gruesome signs. The college students put duct tape on their mouths and held a completely silent protest. No one drags their kids out there. I certainly disagree with the protestors, and I think on the inside they're being judgey, and it may not be the most effective use of their time. But I'm always impressed by how respectful and peaceful they are compared to stories I hear of other places. Why is it that here, where I'm afraid to share my views with anyone, the clinic isn't being harangued by zealots, while in more liberal enclaves they have to have volunteer escorts to get people in the building?

What I mean is, I've seen clinic protestors that I could respect. But this lady is a terrible example, and many pro-lifers would be very embarrassed to be associated with her.

[urban explorer]

I was more shocked that the parents would allow there child to stand behind pictures like that, those pictures were disturbing but seeing a child behind them didn’t make me feel anything but slight anger at the parents. It’s fine if that’s your views but I don’t think dragging your kids to something like this is appropriate.

Farther down the page the mom talks about having a miscarriage, while that’s hard on anyone but, having your kids there and her daughter was holding it(from my point of view disturbed me a little) then telling at 16 weeks the doctors and ER people were surprised how formed it was, come on there doctors for pete sakes, this made her sound more crazy.

[rachelmom]

I remember having my then 3yo DD in the car and having to pass an anti-abortion protest with the graphic placards. Luckily she was distracted as it is not a subject I want to broach with her for a very long time.