Sarah Maxwell lays a guilt trip on people who are pro-choice

[FloraKitty35]

The Maxwells offer prayer to the "unloved and unborn" during their conferences. They don't offer prayer to the woman who has to make the decision to have an abortion. But then, they aren't willing to understand life outside of the Maxwell bubble.

I wish I could speak to Sarah and let her know abortion isn't a decision anyone wants to make. It's not as though women are running around getting pregnant just so they can have an abortion. I wish she could understand it's not as easy as promiscuity and sin.

My husband and I would like to begin trying to conceive again. However, I began having heart issues and was hospitalized last week for palpitations and a whole gamut of symptoms. Last week was the optimal time for me to conceive. I purposely refrained from sex after my release from the hospital because I was afraid I would need more testing and possibly surgical or chemical intervention. Thankfully we did refrain because my doctor started me on heart medication this week. I purposely abstained to avoid having to make that difficult decision, if I had needed surgery that would have threatened a pregnancy or some sort of medical intervention necessitating an abortion. Others aren't in that position. I'm guessing Steve and Family hasn't thought of situations like mine.

Quite frankly, I don't give a shit why a woman needs an abortion. If she seeks one out, I support her decision. I do care when people like Sarah Maxwell post ignorant tripe when they're in absolutely no position to make an informed, educated opinion on the topic.

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

[artdecades]

I am kinda uncomfortable with this whole "what if Sarah were raped" discussion. Rape is a very real, traumatic thing that happens to women in our society. I get the point that is being made of "what would she do if she were suddenly pregnant" but I think there are other ways to go about this discussion than using a theoretical rape. Using it as a hypothetical debate point seems flippant and unnecessary.

[Jana814]

The Maxwell kids r so sheltered that they don't realize that it is ok to be pro-choice. However, that don't have a choice in anything that they do.

[SPHASH]

I am kinda uncomfortable with this whole "what if Sarah were raped" discussion. Rape is a very real, traumatic thing that happens to women in our society. I get the point that is being made of "what would she do if she were suddenly pregnant" but I think there are other ways to go about this discussion than using a theoretical rape. Using it as a hypothetical debate point seems flippant and unnecessary.

I agree. I'm not fond of the Maxwells but I can't think of anyone of them being raped.

[gustava]

I agree. I'm not fond of the Maxwells but I can't think of anyone of them being raped.

I understand what you all are saying, but sometimes putting an potential experience into personal terms is the only way to connect.

My guess is that Sarah would see the baby as a gift from God and hand it over to one of her brother's wives to raise.

[fundiefan]

Sarah doesn't understand the concept of choice, period. So she obviously cannot apply it to an unintended, unwanted, dangerous, etc...conception. If she ever made a choice in her life, she might be on the path to having an opinion. Since, however, she has never made a choice of her own, I can only read her diatribe as a cluster fuck of words being regurgitated.

[Disengaged]

It's not even an original argument. I swear I've read similar 'fetus pleads with the mother' stories before.

[FloraKitty35]

I wouldn't wish rape or any other kind of sexual trauma on Sarah Maxwell or any other woman. No woman should be put in that kind of position.

[uber frau]

Steve is the type of guy to get his vasectomy reversed when he knew his wife was in no fit state to care for more children.

He doesn't give a flying fuck about the women who how choose to terminate their pregnancies (and he doesn't give a fuck about any children either).

He'll never consider anyone's reason to be good enough.

[16strong]

I think Sarah would have a quickie courtship and engagement resulting in a "premie" baby.

No, because there's always the chance of the baby being mixed-race. I think they would probably send Sarah off to relatives or family friends to "help out" with little children and housework for a few months, and then put the baby up for adoption afterwards.

[uber frau]

It would be (at least partly) Sarah's fault for tempting her attacker.

And the baby would be considered a blessing. There's no way they would allow her to have a termination. They wouldn't trust anyone else to raise it right so it would be raised Maxwell. If not by Sarah (I don't know if they would trust her by herself), then by Chris and NR Anna or maybe another 'relative'.

[sparkles]

It's not even an original argument. I swear I've read similar 'fetus pleads with the mother' stories before.

It's been around for ages. In 1996, some coward gave my then six year old daughter one of those "mommy, mommy, why are you killing me" pamphlets and it upset her terribly. I had no idea this happened until she asked me if it was true that when you got pregnant they had to cut something out of you. Because six year olds, no matter how smart they are, really aren't able to process that kind of propaganda. It forced a discussion that should have happened much later but I at least I was able to explain things to her and calm her fears. It also made me realize just how low the anti-choice zealots would go. I've still got it and read it from time to time just so I never forget. My blood pressure goes through the roof every time.

Glad to say it didn't work though. My daughter is staunchly pro-choice, she was an AIDS peer educator, and a sex education peer counselor in high school and college.

[gustava]

I wouldn't wish rape or any other kind of sexual trauma on Sarah Maxwell or any other woman. No woman should be put in that kind of position.

No one is wishing rape on Sarah.

[slh12280]

It took me many years of back-and-forth on the issue of choice, lots of research, reading, talking, supporting friends, and soul searching to reach my pro-choice position. Abortion never was and never will be just a black-and-white issue and intelligent, thoughtful and well-informed people–regardless of their position–should never treat it as such.

Sarah Maxwell has zero life experiences and has spent the entirety of her adult existence wrapped in cotton wool. She thinks and believes what she's told without ever questioning. She's never put herself in anyone else's shoes. She has no opportunity for examination, debate or critical thinking on ANY issue, let alone one as sensitive as abortion. Therefore, Sarah, STFU. Thank you.

Exactly. Couldn't have said it better. I grew up with anti-abortion teachings. I was vehemently anti-abortion. What changed my mind? Personal life experiences, and lots, lots of research. And truthfully? I still feel uncomfortable around some abortions. The reason I am pro choice is because making it illegal does more harm than good and actively taking steps to prevent it is a lot more effective than trying to ban it. Life experiences take you out of black and white thinking! Unfortunately, she will probably never leave the bubble.

ETA: It was actually a hard core pro-lifer that got me thinking about this initially by saying: "Women that get abortions should die." Yeah, that didn't sit well.

[lawfulevil]

I notice that these "pro-life" portrayals are always super sunny about the outcome of unwanted-but-kept pregnancies (and of course only male fetuses matter! Silly FJers!).

Mommy, Mommy. I LOVE you. I want you to hold me, to rock me, to be my mommy – her baby would plead with her if he could.

I know a few other people who are the products of accidental pregnancies, and none had easy childhoods. I'm sure there ARE people who, if FORCED to give birth, will love their offspring anyway, and magically mom/dad will get a raise, and everything will be a-okay. I'm equally sure that a lot of these forced births will result in kids who don't have enough to eat (no matter how hard their mom is trying), or kids born to abusive moms/dads, or born horribly sick.

And not everyone looking to adopt is a good person.

[Jana814]

Steve is the type of guy to get his vasectomy reversed when he knew his wife was in no fit state to care for more children.

He doesn't give a flying fuck about the women who how choose to terminate their pregnancies (and he doesn't give a fuck about any children either).

He'll never consider anyone's reason to be good enough.

Agree!! He only cares about himself. He thinks he is some kind of a G-d.

[MamaJunebug]

Some pretty girl who otherwise ignored me pushed a "mommy why are you killing me?" flier into my hands when I was 14, and Roe was looming large.

It saddened me but even then I remembered BigMamaJB's psychiatric breakdown after she miscarried and the physicians shouted at her that she'd tricked them into aborting the fetus - which she would NEVER have done.

And yet here I am, 50 years later, still grimacing thru sermons that include anti-choice rhetoric.

Sorry for the personal tidbit instead of cogent discussion of Poor Sarah's latest toolishness, but I had to post this because Steve, you should know that your scribe's post has galvanized me: I'm quitting the congregation with the anti-choice pastor NOW.

It's past time to do it. Thanks, Steve, your screed was the final push necessary.

Still a Lutheran Christian, but not subjecting myself to stupidity ANY more.

[SquirrelySquirrel]

You go, MJB! And no one thinks Steve does any good.

And I'm so sorry for MamaJB's experience. What a horrible thing to face in a time of such sadness. :(

[thoughtful]

Not surprisingly, Sarah's post is the argument of a childlike, uneducated mind.

[DGayle]

Probably the saddest reason I know of that women abort is women who were raped who abort because they are scared of their rapists having paternal rights. It's amazing to me that rapists have full parental rights to the children conceived from their crimes.

[Cartmann99]

The bible is specific on this very question. Her father is supposed to make her marry the rapist. How would that feel, Sarah?

An older friend told me that she was a victim of date rape when she was a teenager. After telling her mother what had happened, her mother told her that they would have to wait and see if was pregnant. She was, and she was forced to marry her rapist to spare the family the shame of an unwed pregnant daughter. :(

This is one of the reasons I become enraged when the nostalgia junkies start their bleating about the moral decay of the present era. Things were so shiny and perfect in the past, and wasn't it awesome how everyone knew their place? :roll:

[nelliebelle1197]

The abortion debate is quite old, and I think we all know where everyone and their mother stands. A better debate would be at what age should Sarah stop being excused for her ignorant words and actions[because of her upbringing and continual sheltering]? 18? 50? 100? Never?

Certainly longer than the married Bates adults. She has had zero chance to have a life outside of Steve and isn't even allowed to choose her own reading material or what she may listen to on the radio. Sarah is a victim and deserves sympathy. She does not even have the critical thinking skills to make a decision for herself about dinner.

[BrownieMomma]

Why does Sarah Maxwell even care about this?

There is so much work to do out there to help people, to be a concerned, caring Christian, this is a subject on which she has no experience other than her own when she was a baby and doubt she's recalling it.

How about volunteering at the local women's shelter or any number of things that could be done instead of sitting at the computer pontificating over something that just has nothing to do with Sarah's life. How about just stop being a regurgitator for Dad.

Having had abortions and then actually bearing and raising a child after rape... I find her simplistic depiction of an unborn baby incredibly naive and even offensive. How dare she.

Sarah Maxwell, if you are so concerned about babies not being aborted, how about you go over to a mother's house, you know, the one with the little baby, change a few diapers, clean the bathroom, do a load of laundry, fix a few freezer meals or watch the feverish baby so Mom can go to work because Sarah, you probably don't realize that babies in daycare get sick quite often and then the daycare won't let them come and then Mom has to scramble for childcare. Very stressful.

You don't know what an unborn baby thinks, or even that it has thoughts, much less what a woman thinks when she has to contemplate abortion. You do know that a born baby needs to be held and fed and changed and loved on - so how about you go do that and STFU about blogging on things you know nothing about. You also know a pregnant woman could probably use a friend so how about just being there for someone facing a hard decision - just making her lunch might give her hope and clarity and help her when she has a hellacious decision to make.

[Justme]

Sarah is a parrot. She thinks and speaks what Steve tells her. I feel sorry for her, a grown woman kept like a child.

[Jana814]

Sarah is a parrot. She thinks and speaks what Steve tells her. I feel sorry for her, a grown woman kept like a child.

So very true!!