Real Choice Blogger.

[merrily]

And no, she's not pro-choice, she's pro-life thinly disguised as pro-choice.

Then came the double whammy to my awareness. My babysitter told me about two abortions her mother had forced her into, and how Planned Parenthood had lied to her, telling her that at 8 weeks there was no baby, just "a blood clot." And I heard the local abortion clinic administrator complaining about a billboard showing prenatal development. She said, "We've been getting hundreds of angry calls from women wanting to know why they weren't given this information before their abortions. We want that billboard down!" So what had happened to my babysitter wasn't a fluke: It was systematic deception.

We were poor, the lower enlisted at Fort Ord. And I got pregnant again myself. I'd already been brainwashed -- excuse me, educated -- in college about how poor women "need" abortions. Now I was one of them!

realchoice.blogspot.de/2005/05/why-abortion.html

I'm sorry, but... this doesn't sound like something PP does on a daily basis.

[Mama Mia]

The main thing I found unlikely is that her college professor said that the most dangerous form of birth control was none and the safest was abortion. That doesn't make any logical sense for anyone to say. What about condoms ? How could those NOT be safer ?

Being from the same general area, and having some experience with that particular regions PP, I agree generallywith how she says they present fetal development - except "clump of cells" is more the terminology. Although the hundreds of calls sounds like an exaggeration.

eta: based on previous experience on fj, I am going to assume that people will say I'm lying and freak out about what I'm saying about pp, that's okay, I know my own experience, and the experience of friends/relatives. Maybe it's this area and not prevalent elsewhere.

[wtylcf]

The ending of that essay is a hot mess. She was "brainwashed" in college into thinking all poor women need abortions. (Is this really true to the experience of anyone taking human biology or sociology courses in college? I am a humanities student so I wouldn't know). She was pregnant for the second time as a college student while her husband was in the army, and although she has said she was always pro-life, she apparently felt pressured into having an abortion she didn't want. A friend of hers who was pro-life solved the pressure upon her to get an abortion as a "poor person" by helping them find a better place to live. A better, nicer place which presumably they could still afford? Which probably means they weren't as desperately poor as she seems to think? Can you imagine this advice being given to poor people in general - "don't worry about having another kid - just find a larger place to live and you'll see you can manage it just fine!" It's shockingly out-of-touch.

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but would any of you non-religious pro-choice heathens on FJ pressure a poor woman into getting an abortion? If the woman was convinced she couldn't handle another kid and that an abortion was what she needed to be a good mom to the kids she already had, or that she wasn't up to the task of being a mom to a new baby, of course I would support that decision. But I would also never presume to pressure a poor woman to get an abortion if she didn't want one. The blogger chose to have a baby, yet doesn't see the contradiction involved in presuming her personal choice is the best thing for every woman.

[Mama Mia]

That is a very strange blog. Most of the zillions of entries seem to be listing various deaths of women by abortion throughout the last hundred years. I think she's trying to say that legal abortion didn't mean an end to women dying, or that doctors still did abortions before it was legal .... but she lists all these illegal abortion deaths too... it's very very strange.

[AnnieC 305]

The main thing I found unlikely is that her college professor said that the most dangerous form of birth control was none and the safest was abortion. That doesn't make any logical sense for anyone to say. What about condoms ? How could those NOT be safer ?

Being from the same general area, and having some experience with that particular regions PP, I agree generallywith how she says they present fetal development - except "clump of cells" is more the terminology. Although the hundreds of calls sounds like an exaggeration.

eta: based on previous experience on fj, I am going to assume that people will say I'm lying and freak out about what I'm saying about pp, that's okay, I know my own experience, and the experience of friends/relatives. Maybe it's this area and not prevalent elsewhere.

It's the area and it's not just the PP there. I was born and raised in that area and over time I've seen it become less and less hospitable to young people and young families, including pregnant women. I had two miscarriages at Community Hospital, neither of which were listed in my medical chart even though I was married and on fertility medication because they couldn't/didn't bother to get an OB in to confirm what was happening. That was on top of only being able to get any kind of prenatal care for the first trimester because a good friend was already working with a group of midwives and she begged them to take me. And the L&D department only has six beds, despite still having three military bases in town.

That said I call bullshit on her story. Her husband has a college degree but he's only a private? Why wasn't he going for officer? And if he was stationed at Ord why wasn't he in housing, they had ample back when it was open? If she had said he was a lieutenant at DLI her story would make sense, but as is something doesn't hold up.

[Cannelle]

So what had happened to my babysitter wasn't a fluke: It was systematic deception.

The plural of anecdote is not data, darlin'.

[mlady]

Unless Abortions 101 is in the college catalog nobody is going to talk to you about them unless A)you ask for their opinion or B)you or someone you know is considering one.

This blogger is exaggerating stories is all. I had a miscarriage at 8 weeks, in the toilet, it was no baby. I'd had a baby and knew what was what. I also would know what I was doing if I had an abortion. I would NOT BE HAVING A BABY. And the part about her crying in the parking lot wonder why nobody cared about her baby....well WHY SHOULD ANYONE ELSE HAVE TO CARE ABOUT HER BABY! She made the decisions that landed her pregnant. I only want to worry about me and my problems, not everyone else in the worlds problems. That's why I didn't get pregnant until my husband and I both had good jobs and had already bought a house. Hell, I didn't even get a CAT until I had a house! Delayed gratification or common sense or responsibility, whatever it was we had it.

[sugarloaf]

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but would any of you non-religious pro-choice heathens on FJ pressure a poor woman into getting an abortion? If the woman was convinced she couldn't handle another kid and that an abortion was what she needed to be a good mom to the kids she already had, or that she wasn't up to the task of being a mom to a new baby, of course I would support that decision. But I would also never presume to pressure a poor woman to get an abortion if she didn't want one. The blogger chose to have a baby, yet doesn't see the contradiction involved in presuming her personal choice is the best thing for every woman.

If by "pressure", you mean "if asked for help, present abortion as a viable option, along with other options, and find relevant information and offer to be a sounding board on the woman's feelings about her options", then yes, by golly, I would pressure her. And that's not limited to poor women- any woman who came to me with "I'm pregnant and I'm not sure whether I want it" would get that from me. If I thought abortion was the best choice for that woman's circumstances, and she asked me what I thought, I might tell her so, but only after emphasising that it's not up to me.

I don't think that's pressuring, I think that's eminently reasonable. But what do I know, I'm an evil pro-choice atheist. :?

[Rosa]

8 weeks is half an inch long, so while "clump of cells" is an exaggeration, "Your baby" is a much bigger exaggeration.

A life-size (or even "enlarged to scale with the size adults usually are on billboards") 8 week fetus billboard would spark 0 calls, because nobody would notice it.

[sassycupcake]

Unless a woman having an abortion or miscarriage chooses to look at the products of conception under a microscope, "a blood clot" is a pretty close description of what you would see at 8 weeks gestation.

http://www.thisismyabortion.com/

This woman had an abortion at 6 weeks- no visible solid pieces came out of her uterus.

At 6-7 weeks, the embryonic sac is the only recognizable product of abortion.

http://web.archive.org/web/201201180449 ... ctures.htm

As a biologist, I can guarantee that embryos do not undergo any sudden, rapid development between weeks 7 and 8 that would render them "babylike" in any way.

While early embryos have begun cellular differentiation and often resemble reptilian or fish-like creatures with recognizable morphology, they would appear to be no more than a blood clot or bit of tissue to a non-embryologist.

[ILoveJellybeans]

I think a lot of these pro lifers exaggerate how Planned Parenthood tries to get them to abort. Im guessing a lot of what really happened would be letting them know they do have options and abortion is one of them. Its not like pro choice people hate pregnancy and are forcing people who want babies to abort them, like fundies seem to think.

Also I am sure fundie women at least get books on pregnancy when theyre expecting their first in the quiver, which will tell them that it doesnt even resemble anything human for at least a few months after conception or have any brain development. For people who have loads of kids, theye very ignorant on fetal development and seem to think that as soon as the egg and sperm meet, it changes into a microscopic but fully formed baby that already smiles, prays and loves its mommy.

[NurseNell]

She is writing about a criminal abortion case from 1955, this is what she said:

The district attorney also told the jury, "Frankly, I don't know how you feel about this matter of abortion--it is a matter of difference of opinion. Some people say well, people can't afford it, it's all right to have an abortion. Some people say if the woman's health won't stand it it's all right to have an abortion. Our law says it's all right to have an abortion if her health is of such nature she can't have a baby. Some people think abortions are all right. Some people are absolutely against all of them. If you want to know the truth, I'm pretty much against all abortions myself, I think it's a terrible thing for a girl to be talked into this."

In 1955? No way, sorry, not buying it. I

[JMarie]

Unless Abortions 101 is in the college catalog nobody is going to talk to you about them unless A)you ask for their opinion or B)you or someone you know is considering one.

This blogger is exaggerating stories is all. I had a miscarriage at 8 weeks, in the toilet, it was no baby. I'd had a baby and knew what was what. I also would know what I was doing if I had an abortion. I would NOT BE HAVING A BABY. And the part about her crying in the parking lot wonder why nobody cared about her baby....well WHY SHOULD ANYONE ELSE HAVE TO CARE ABOUT HER BABY! She made the decisions that landed her pregnant. I only want to worry about me and my problems, not everyone else in the worlds problems. That's why I didn't get pregnant until my husband and I both had good jobs and had already bought a house. Hell, I didn't even get a CAT until I had a house! Delayed gratification or common sense or responsibility, whatever it was we had it.

Exactly! What college requires a sex ed class?

[Mama Mia]

8 weeks is half an inch long, so while "clump of cells" is an exaggeration, "Your baby" is a much bigger exaggeration.

A life-size (or even "enlarged to scale with the size adults usually are on billboards") 8 week fetus billboard would spark 0 calls, because nobody would notice it.

True, except that this particular regions planned parenthood uses that terminology through the first trimester and in to the second trimester when talking to patients.

[lilith]

If she approached Planned Parenthood and told them she had an unwanted pregnancy and enquired about abortion, I'm sure they did all they could to facilitate it. That's their job.

I would have been very pissed off if, when I went to the clinic I had my abortion in and requested that they terminate my pregnancy, they tried to talk me out of it, which seems to be what she wanted PP to do.

And I had a medical abortion at 8 weeks, passing the pregnancy at home. Lots of blood clots is a pretty accurate description, I didn't see anything I would identify as tissue, let alone a baby.

[desertvixen]

She was pregnant for the second time as a college student while her husband was in the army, and although she has said she was always pro-life, she apparently felt pressured into having an abortion she didn't want. A friend of hers who was pro-life solved the pressure upon her to get an abortion as a "poor person" by helping them find a better place to live. A better, nicer place which presumably they could still afford? Which probably means they weren't as desperately poor as she seems to think?

That, and we have a lot of assistance available in the military. One, no prenatal or labor costs. Two, health care covered for afterwards. Day care on a reasonable sliding scale. She'd qualify for WIC. Housing pretty reasonable.

That said I call bullshit on her story. Her husband has a college degree but he's only a private? Why wasn't he going for officer? And if he was stationed at Ord why wasn't he in housing, they had ample back when it was open? If she had said he was a lieutenant at DLI her story would make sense, but as is something doesn't hold up.

Maybe by private she means "junior enlisted". He could come in as a Specialist (E4) with a degree - plenty of people who do that because enlisted people can get their job guaranteed and get a good bonus, officers can't.

Agree the story has a serious touch of BS...

[longskirtlotsakids]

Gah, a college professor telling women to not use birth control and just have abortion after abortion? Oh yes, that happened to me too.

That was the morning after orientation where we danced naked around a campfire, learned about lesbian sex from our dorm RA who made us do it, and tasted vegan food.

Then I went off to my White Men Are Evil class.

[NurseNell]

Gah, a college professor telling women to not use birth control and just have abortion after abortion? Oh yes, that happened to me too.

That was the morning after orientation where we danced naked around a campfire, learned about lesbian sex from our dorm RA who made us do it, and tasted vegan food.

Then I went off to my White Men Are Evil class.

Was that before or after you dyed your hair green? :character-afropik:

[alba]

My babysitter told me about two abortions her mother had forced her into

It never fails to amaze me how pro-lifers fail to realise that what they are doing is exactly what this woman's mother does: forcing their own opinions on other women's bodies. Here's a hint for them: pro-choice =/= pro-abortion. The word "pro-choice" means we are in favour of women getting to make their own choices. It's right there in the name!