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Teen Mom Star Calls rape "a sorry excuse" for abortion


Mela99

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This one is presented as the ultimate 'gotcha' question:

I have mentioned a few times before that I had a pregnancy scare after being raped. I knew in that moment (pissing in a pot in a sexual health clinic) that I absolutely would have an abortion if it came to it (thankfully, I wasn't pregnant and hadn't contracted any STDs). I do respect other women's choices if they want to carry that pregnancy to term, either to raise the baby themselves or have it adopted, hence the term 'pro-choice'.

That quote is the one that got me going. Who cares if it's human? What does that even mean? Non-humans can have rights and humans don't have unlimited rights. It's bizarro world.

I'm sorry that you went through that and I imagine I would feel exactly the same way in that position.

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Young enough that she's still growing into her brain. Let's all hope for a weather change in her attitudes as she grows up further.

Also old enough to know better. Here's hoping.

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How old is she now? How old was she when she got pregnant?

She actually got pregnant when she was 15, had the kid at 16, and she is probably about 20 now. This person has been messed up and traumatized, first by the situation she was raised in, and second by carrying to term and having to give up a kid she wanted. I have no doubt she is being manipulated by right to lifers in the adoption community. We aren't talking about someone who had a reasonable sexual education and was able to weigh pros and cons with someone she trusted. The mother still twists the knife in her back over the adoption, how she was selfish and gave up her child. This isn't coming from a place of priviledge in a world where bad things don't happen to "good" girls. It's going to take a lot of therapy for her to begin to heal, so I have a hard time throwing rocks at her, whereas I'm very comfortable with throwing rocks at the likes of Stacy McCain and her ilk.

I agree the comments at the end of the transcript are gross and disheartening. More fruits of abstinence only educations. :(

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Also old enough to know better. Here's hoping.

Although I've always been a supporter of abortion rights, I do know I grew out of some really nasty attitudes and beliefs that I held in my late teens and twenties. I grew out of them, so here's hoping she grows out of hers!

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It's quite obvious from the language that they use that they've been indoctrinated into thinking the way they do. Abortion is not "slaughter"; it is not "murder". And no woman ever decides that they'll go get an abortion for a fun day out. It's a difficult decision to make, but it's a personal decision. No woman should ever be judged by what she does with her body.

I was 10 when I first learned what abortion was, thankfully from an unbiased source. It was outlined as one of the choices a woman had if she found herself unexpectedly pregnant. And to me, at 10 years old, I could see why it made sense. It's not a complicated concept, which is why so many militant pro-life groups use shock, lies and hyperbole to recruit young people to their way of thinking.

I could rant about this forever.

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Oh yeah, because none of us here have EVER gone near recreational vegetation. :roll:

Look, she was a kid who went through something extremely traumatic (giving up her baby), with an abusive loser of a mother and and a stepfather with the same stellar qualities who also cycles in and out of jail. I vote for cutting her some slack. Hopefully one day she will grow up, but she is more worthy of pity than snark, IMHO.

I agree with this. She likely thinks her situation is similar. Bottom line: she is young and screwed up. I'll roll my eyes at her, but that's about it.

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I was 10 when I first learned what abortion was, thankfully from an unbiased source. It was outlined as one of the choices a woman had if she found herself unexpectedly pregnant. And to me, at 10 years old, I could see why it made sense. It's not a complicated concept, which is why so many militant pro-life groups use shock, lies and hyperbole to recruit young people to their way of thinking.

I find it really interesting that I cannot remember the first time I learned about abortion. I don't remember being shocked or horrified. I wasn't traumatized. I didn't have a child's reaction to slaughter....because it's not.

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I find it really interesting that I cannot remember the first time I learned about abortion. I don't remember being shocked or horrified. I wasn't traumatized. I didn't have a child's reaction to slaughter....because it's not.

Slightly OT but...The first time I heard about abortion was from looking something up in the phonebook for my mother. I saw something about abortion and asked her what it was. She told me and I didn't have some "oh no they're killing teh baybeez" reaction. I think your initial feelings toward abortion are heavily influenced by how it is presented.

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I first learned about abortion in Catholic school, so you can bet how that turned out initially.

Then I met someone who admitted to me that she'd had an abortion. About that time, a newly pregnant friend developed hyperemesis and was hospitalized for dehydration several times before deciding to terminate. I realized, after some lovely cognitive dissonance, that I couldn't see these women as murderers...because they weren't. They were still my friends.

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I find it really interesting that I cannot remember the first time I learned about abortion. I don't remember being shocked or horrified. I wasn't traumatized. I didn't have a child's reaction to slaughter....because it's not.

I remember - I was about 7 or so and saw an anti-choice bumper sticker. I didn't know what a word meant so I asked my dad, "What's abortion and who is Hitler?"

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The first time I heard about abortion was an assembly in my Catholic high school to convince us that abortion was bad and we must fight it.

The weird bit is, it was always clear to me if I got pregnant before marriage I'd be getting one. And even though I bought into the "abortion is bad" there was a bit of "but, it should still be legal."

My viewpoint has widened and I'm pretty much for abortion on demand, any reason, any woman. I hate the idea of late term abortions, but have decided that no one goes through a late term abortion willingly. They are only done if medically indicated, and if/when they are medically indicated, it's usually a major tragedy.

I've also decided that no one but a woman can decide rather or not she wants to go through pregnancy. 9 months is a long time, the body changes are often forever and pregnancy is itself a challenge outside the challenge of raising a child. Yes, it sucks for men to have no say in a decision that impacts the rest of their life. But, y'know what? A lot of women don't have a say in things that affect the rest of their lives. And this is socially enforced. So, suck it up men, and be glad this is one of the few places where it happens to you.

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My mother was active in NARAL when I was young, so it was never presented as a negative thing to me, although I didn't understand how the whole procedure worked until I read Our Bodies, Our Selves ataround 15 or so.

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I've also decided that no one but a woman can decide rather or not she wants to go through pregnancy. 9 months is a long time, the body changes are often forever and pregnancy is itself a challenge outside the challenge of raising a child. Yes, it sucks for men to have no say in a decision that impacts the rest of their life. But, y'know what? A lot of women don't have a say in things that affect the rest of their lives. And this is socially enforced. So, suck it up men, and be glad this is one of the few places where it happens to you.

Well said.

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she no doubt had a traumatic life, but at the age of 20, and with the resources available to her now as a teen pregnancy prevention and adoption advocate, she should know better.

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About that time, a newly pregnant friend developed hyperemesis and was hospitalized for dehydration several times before deciding to terminate.

I've always been pro-choice, but having suffered from hyperemesis, I'm even more pro-choice. I can't imagine being put in that situation without actively choosing to be there. I lay in the hospital during my first hospitalization, wanting to cry but A., being unable to because I wasn't hydrated enough yet to produce tears, and B., knowing that crying would make me throw up (because EVERYTHING made throw up. Bright lights made me throw up. Talking made me throw up. Standing up made me throw up. Taking anything other than a shallow breath made me throw up. Yeah, it was that fun), and I contemplated whether I could keep going with this for seven more months.

And I thought, and I thought, and I decided that I wanted that baby so much that it was worth living like that for seven more months. But you know what? I don't fault anyone for choosing to end that misery, because holy shit, it was AWFUL. SO awful.

If you're not able to control every aspect of your body, you live in fear of it. And that's why I'm pro-choice.

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Exactly. Her story really struck me, though, because I have a STRONG phobia of vomiting. Simple nausea can make me have severe panic attacks. I couldn't ever in good conscience FORCE anyone through something I myself am terrified of.

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I wonder if adopting it her kid has made Catelynn a martyr in some anti choice circles. If those types have got to her, they maybe simultaneously validating her difficult decision and grooming her to be a anti choice spokesperson.

She has become a martyr with anti-choice people. I haven't looked the iMDB boards for Teen Mom in awhile, but a couple of years back there were several posters always praising Catelynn for not aborting. But they didn't praise the other girls for not aborting. I liked Catelynn and Tyler on their 16&Pregnant episode. But as the Teen Mom series went on I started to dislike both of them. They got bad grades in school and I believe they didn't finish high school until 19. I also recall that both missed a lot of school after the baby was born. All of the teen moms have their flaws, but sometimes on IMDB and twop, C&T were seen as saints for putting Carly up for adoption. C&T's drug use has been known for a few years, they had myspace pages that showed them drinking and smoking pot.

I have a friend who is an adopted and she is very anti-choice and always uses the adoption is alternative abortion motto. She has said the cases in which abortion should happen are if the mother's life is in danger. She was apart of Facebook group that wad called something like "Adoptees Against Abortion". That group doesn't exist anymore. My friend used to post anti-choice things on FB quite a bit, but in the past year she hasn't posted anything. Maybe her opinions have changed. As for Catelynn, maybe her opinion will change on aborting children conceived through rape. The adoption agency she used was discussed once on IMDB and someone said that it was a very conservative Christian type organization.

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I haven't seen all the C&T episodes but even though the emotional trauma of putting their child up for adoption was rough it seemed like adoption was a positive force in their lives. Compared to the train wreck of the other teens who didn't finish high school or go to college and tried to earn money and it turns out it's HARD and the baby won't stop screaming and your friends are out partying and you have to watch the baby and your boyfriend isn't as helpful as you'd like.... C&T got off easy. IIRC they're the only couple who is still together.

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Another thing anti-choicers don't seem to consider is that adoption can screw kids up pretty badly too, particularly with closed adoptions. I had two friends in high school who lived with stable and loving adoptive parents, but both went through some seriously dark times. One of them struggled with forging a sense of identity -- she didn't know where she came from and never quite felt like she belonged with her family. She struggled with addiction and toxic relationships for years. Her parents gave her all the love and support they could, but she always felt as if a part of her was missing.

Obviously this is an extreme example, but adoption is not always sunshine and roses for the kid, even if they're placed an a stable, loving environment.

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I have a friend who is an adopted and she is very anti-choice and always uses the adoption is alternative abortion motto. She has said the cases in which abortion should happen are if the mother's life is in danger. She was apart of Facebook group that wad called something like "Adoptees Against Abortion". That group doesn't exist anymore. My friend used to post anti-choice things on FB quite a bit, but in the past year she hasn't posted anything. Maybe her opinions have changed.

OMFG, I hate the "I could have been aborted if my mother hadn't chosen adoption!" argument. I was born to teen parents who had already put up one child for adoption. I have met my "sister" and we are both pretty staunchly pro-choice, although we both easily could have been aborted. Knowing that my parents easily could have chosen abortion doesn't make me anti-choice any more than knowing about my conception makes me pro-drunken unprotected teen sex, without which I wouldn't be alive. It is such a lame argument.

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OMFG, I hate the "I could have been aborted if my mother hadn't chosen adoption!" argument. I was born to teen parents who had already put up one child for adoption. I have met my "sister" and we are both pretty staunchly pro-choice, although we both easily could have been aborted. Knowing that my parents easily could have chosen abortion doesn't make me anti-choice any more than knowing about my conception makes me pro-drunken unprotected teen sex, without which I wouldn't be alive. It is such a lame argument.

QFT.

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Exactly. Her story really struck me, though, because I have a STRONG phobia of vomiting. Simple nausea can make me have severe panic attacks. I couldn't ever in good conscience FORCE anyone through something I myself am terrified of.

Ugh, yes. Hyperemesis is one of the reasons I aborted (the others were poor overall health, poverty, lack of health insurance, and pregnancy with multiples). I lost my job, I needed a ton of dental work afterwards, and it re-triggered my panic disorder because among my phobias is vomiting*. I'm also terrified of the dentist...

I hate how anti-choice people act like being pregnant is some trivial inconvenience. It's not like being out of clean socks, people.

*Still, though I've been through a lot of therapy since and can now throw up without it ruining my entire week.

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Ugh, yes. Hyperemesis is one of the reasons I aborted (the others were poor overall health, poverty, lack of health insurance, and pregnancy with multiples). I lost my job, I needed a ton of dental work afterwards, and it re-triggered my panic disorder because among my phobias is vomiting*. I'm also terrified of the dentist...

I hate how anti-choice people act like being pregnant is some trivial inconvenience. It's not like being out of clean socks, people.

*Still, though I've been through a lot of therapy since and can now throw up without it ruining my entire week.

My dad wanted my mother to abort me because she had this condition and had to be hospitalized multiple times during the pregnancy. I always find it funny when people pull out the "all the people who are for abortion have already been born" card because I was very close to being aborted (though it's never been outright stated, I get the feeling that the only reason I wasn't is because they didn't have the money to pay for it) and not only am I strongly pro-choice, I don't give a damn that my parents seriously considered aborting me. Being pregnant caused great harm to my mother and, if anything, I'm pissed that she had to choose between her health and the money for the abortion, which would have had to be taken from the grocery budget.

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My dad wanted my mother to abort me because she had this condition and had to be hospitalized multiple times during the pregnancy. I always find it funny when people pull out the "all the people who are for abortion have already been born" card because I was very close to being aborted (though it's never been outright stated, I get the feeling that the only reason I wasn't is because they didn't have the money to pay for it) and not only am I strongly pro-choice, I don't give a damn that my parents seriously considered aborting me. Being pregnant caused great harm to my mother and, if anything, I'm pissed that she had to choose between her health and the money for the abortion, which would have had to be taken from the grocery budget.

I'm sorry about your mother.

My mother is quite anti-choice. She is also emotionally and physically abusive. She was abused as a child and in turn abused her children. I chose differently than she did, I had my abortion about the age she had me. It's one way to end the cycle of abuse.

I guess in fundie-land beating the living shit out of your children for Jesus is a-okay, so why abort? Just lock your children in the basement for days and days! It's tradition, just like my grandmother did it!

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