The 2017 March for Life

[lilwriter85]

It's getting close to March for Life time and we know some of our favorite fundies will be attending as well as various church groups, anti-choice organizations, and politicians. So search the usual hashtags on twitter and instagram to snark.

[Carm_88]

Ick. I know that the Duggars were marching on Planned Parenthood yesterday. 

[iweartanktops]

Oh, fuck. The pro-birthers are going to be out? Hide me from these idiots. I imagine there won't be much of a turnout in San Francisco! 

[ophelia]

What a mean crowd. Taking away reproductional rights from women, oppressing female sexuality, but at the same time cutting off social securities and healthcare. The hypocrisy makes me sick. I know I'm preaching the choir, but I just can't wrap my head around these folks.

 

[Childless]

Want to understand them?  Here you go: Pro-lifers don't give two fucks about life or preserving it.  They want to punish women for having sex.  End of discussion.

[formergothardite]

Ah, the yearly We Want To Oppress Women March. They don't care about life since women are disposable. They don't care about babies since most of them support politicians and laws that hurt at risk children. They don't really even care about the fetus since, again, most are against all the laws and regulations that will actually lower abortion rates. Plus, if they cared about the fetus they would be out there marching to fund studies in how to reduce miscarriages. They aren't. They are just wanting to punish women.

I know we have anti-choice members here, I hope you read this and really think about what you are supporting. You are supporting oppressing women. 

[Tangy Bee]

How was the turn out? Bet it was NOT as massive as the Women's march. So far on this end there are the "happily" married chicks posting about how happy they are to let their husbands have the last say or be in charge of the house hold. What fustrates me is every women is not living their happily ever after. 

[Loveday]

41 minutes ago, Tangy Bee said:

How was the turn out? Bet it was NOT as massive as the Women's march. So far on this end there are the "happily" married chicks posting about how happy they are to let their husbands have the last say or be in charge of the house hold. What fustrates me is every women is not living their happily ever after. 

It hasn't happened yet. It's scheduled for January 27.

[ILoveJellybeans]

It wont be as good as the Women's March. Also the things the pro lifers are fighting for will actually cause more abortions, more maternal deaths, and more children born into homes where they cannot get their needs met.

 

Banning abortion will not work, because there are barriers up that prevent people from being able to welcome another baby, and barriers that prevent people from accessing birth control, so there will still be unwanted pregnancy.  When abortion was illegal, or before the procedure as we know it existed, it didn't mean that everyone carried their pregnancies to term and lived happily  ever after. Some tried to abort by themselves, with all sorts of harmful methods, and ended up dying. Some died in their pregnancy or in childbirth, or birthed babies that lived for a painful few days before dying. Some just gave birth in secret and then killed the baby, This is not what we want to go back to.

 

To reduce the number of abortions (it will never be completely gone, because sometimes birth control fails, sometimes it needs to be done to save the mother's life, and sometimes it is the most merciful option if something incompatible with life is detected during pregnancy), we need to fix the problems in society that are causing a lot of unwanted pregnancies:

-Provide every teenager, in school, with a comprehensive sex ed program. Teach them about the options they have to prevent pregnancy, and how to have safe sex. Abstinence only doesn't work, as some teens have sex anyway, and some of them get pregnant because they had no responsible adult to teach them about birth control, so all they had to go on are rumours from other kids at school, who also don't know. They then either seek abortion, or have a higher chance of dropping out of school when they have their baby.

-Make birth control easy to get. What we need for that is a low cost clinic people can go to about all of their reproductive problems, including affordable birth control....hmmm I wonder where  would find that. If people have information and access to affordable birth control, they will use it. and will not get pregnant. Nobody wants an abortion, except for one rather odd "celebrity" who wishes she had one, its merely a way out of a bad situation.

-Help those who are in poverty. A barrier between someone having an abortion, and choosing to remain pregnant, is not being able to afford to raise another child. Some people would continue their pregnancies if they had more money, but shaming them out of it and then giving them a box of diapers and some baby clothes doesn't work. Babies grow up, and the organisations that do this aren't going to support all of the expenses for these kids until theyre adults. Also the biggest barriers are not being unable to afford baby clothes or diapers, but its being unable to afford healthcare, and the high cost of daycare, as it is not always possible to have one parent at home at all times. Support paid maternity leave, affordable healthcare, raising minimum wage, stop cuts to welfare, and pay women equally, and there will be less people who are wanting to abort an otherwise wanted pregnancy due to being unable to feed themselves, let alone another child.

-Also, encourage gay people to foster/adopt instead of judge them as unsuitable to raise a child, because you cant advocate everyone continue their pregnancies and then choose adoption, if you knew that there are so many children in foster care already who need homes. Raise money to fund research into treatments and ways to prevent medical conditions that people abort their wanted pregnancies for because the outcome is so bad. Improve healthcare so people are better able to provide for a disabled child if continuing the pregnancy is what they choose, for conditions that are disabling but also not life threatening.

 

Statistically, the abortion rate goes down under Democrat leadership, where these things are campaigned for. Also, the amount of teen pregnancies goes down with proper sex ed, and raises with abstinence only.

 

There are people marching for those things. You will not find them at March For Life though, They all marched at the weekend, at the Women's March. So if you really want to help lower the abortion rate, put down your gory sign misrepresenting what fetal development looks like at the age most abortions are done, and grab a pussy hat (lol) and join the fight for equality that will make these changes happen.

 

[ShepherdontheRock]

Every time I see an anti-choice comparison to the holocaust or doctored picture it makes me a little more pro-choice than ever before. 

They really need to come up with better arguments. 

And I don't get women who've done mental gymnastics to convince themselves that being against other women's choices makes them "pro-woman." The irony is some of these women end up aborting unwanted pregnancies themselves (then promptly going back to picketing.) 

 

[formergothardite]

 @ILoveJellybeans is exactly right. If you are reading this thread and care anything about ending abortion as much as possible, then stand up and fight the pro-life movement. The pro-life movement is really the pro-oppress women movement. 

 

[ophelia]

13 minutes ago, formergothardite said:

 @ILoveJellybeans is exactly right. If you are reading this thread and care anything about ending abortion as much as possible, then stand up and fight the pro-life movement. The pro-life movement is really the pro-oppress women movement. 

 

YES! And I feel like even in germany this is becoming more and more an important topic (again).

[Marly]

Is this a yearly thing?
I'm not from the USA, and although there are a lot of fundies in my country (I grew up in a small town with lots of fundies), I have never heard of them either marching against abortion and birth control or harassing women who visit abortion clinics here. As far as I know there is even only one political party here, a christian fundamentalist party - surprise - that completely opposes abortion. I have talked about the topic of abortion with two fundy women, and they both said that although they believe that from their religious perspective abortion is wrong, they would not prevent their daughters from having an abortion if they were raped and got pregnant. They would prefer to offer their daughters help in raising the child, but if the daughter would rather have an abortion, they wouldn't stop them. And in case of non-related women, they said they would never prevent anyone from having an abortion. They would prefer considering other options first, such as offering help in raising the child or putting it up for adoption, having a conversation with a woman who wants an abortion IF that woman wants to have a conversation with them, to see if they can somehow help, but they acknowledged that not everyone shares their beliefs, and that they live in a country where women have the choice, and so if a woman chooses for an abortion, it is not up to them to (physically) prevent them from having one.
 I have to admit that for fundy women, the two women I spoke to were relatively 'liberal'. They were both in favor of birth control, and one of them was also on birth control despite her church preaching against it. The eldest daughter of the other woman left the church and religion completely and lives with her boyfriend whom she isn't married to, and her mother (and father) still support her, despite their church telling them they shouldn't. 
Yet, I still can't wrap my head around the idea that there actually exist marches like this, that people harass women who visit abortion clinics. What are you trying to achieve? I think it makes much more sense to be open to a friendly conversation with women who don't share your beliefs/are considering an abortion. Try to figure out why they are having an abortion, is there anything you can do that will enable them to have the child? And don't force your opinion upon them/others. Not everyone shares your beliefs, and the freedom of religion that you value so much means that you are not the only one who is allowed to be free to believe something - it works both ways. And the beauty of abortion being legal is that it allows you to be opposed to abortion for yourself, and to not have an abortion when you get pregnant, while at the same time it allows women with unwanted pregnancies the option of having an abortion. If you're against it, don't use it. 
Protests and marches against abortion give me the idea that pro-lifers think that abortion being legal means that every women will be forced to have an abortion. And that just makes absolutely no sense to me.

[Nina]

In Germany there is the AFD wich spews the same hate Trump is spewing. I keep you all in my pleas to the goddess. 

[HereticHick]

Ah yes, Friday March 27-- or as one of my colleagues here on Capitol Hill calls it: the most awful day of the year. There are usually a couple of Bateseseses who come up for the march.

No fundies I am familiar with are listed as speakers, but they haven't released the whole schedule yet: http://marchforlife.org/mfl-2017/conference/

[smittykins]

@Marly, yes. This is an annual event, around the time of the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion in the United States.

[December]

7 hours ago, Childless said:

Want to understand them?  Here you go: Pro-lifers don't give two fucks about life or preserving it.  They want to punish women for having sex.  End of discussion.

 

 

Yep. Don't forget that on top of shaming women for having sex, many of them (edit: though definitely not all pro-lifers) also want to force women who are victims of rape and/or incest to carry any resulting pregnancies.

[lilwriter85]

From the Washington Times.

 

News media: You were there for Women’s March, now cover the March for Life

1 minute ago, lilwriter85 said:

From the Washington Times.

 

News media: You were there for Women’s March, now cover the March for Life

Also from twitter. There are bunch of tweets similar to these ones. March for Life is a yearly thing and the media imo doesn't need to make a big thing.
 

Quote

 

Common Catholic Girl ‏@comcatholicgrl Jan 21

The media has really become excited about protest coverage!!! But will they suddenly become silent next week? #MarchForLife

 

Quote

 

Ben Parks ‏@benmparks Jan 21

Hoping the #MarchForLife next week gets as much media attention as the pro-abortion #WomensMarch is receiving

 

 

[smittykins]

28 minutes ago, December said:

Yep. Don't forget that on top of shaming women for having sex, many of them (edit: though definitely not all pro-lifers) also want to force women who are victims of rape and/or incest to carry any resulting pregnancies.

Because the baby is INNOCENT, y'all!(but not the mother?)*

*I do realize that some rape survivors choose to carry to term, and I support them 100%.

[Toothfairy]

16 hours ago, Tangy Bee said:

How was the turn out? Bet it was NOT as massive as the Women's march. So far on this end there are the "happily" married chicks posting about how happy they are to let their husbands have the last say or be in charge of the house hold. What fustrates me is every women is not living their happily ever after. 

Omg. They're so upset they get zero coverage. 

Can't wait for this. I tune in every year. I even hand out foster care applications to my localprolifers outside planned parenthood. Unfortunately I had zero sign up. Maybe if I go to DC I'll get more people to be foster parents to BORN kids. 

 

 

Remember fundies Mary got pregnant as a virgin so abstinence doesn't do shit to prevent pregnancy.

10 hours ago, lilwriter85 said:

From the Washington Times.

 

News media: You were there for Women’s March, now cover the March for Life

Also from twitter. There are bunch of tweets similar to these ones. March for Life is a yearly thing and the media imo doesn't need to make a big thing.
 

 

You would think they would get it. Nobody cares about your fake photos and signs. Abortion has been legal for over 40 years. Get over it

13 hours ago, Marly said:

Is this a yearly thing?
I'm not from the USA, and although there are a lot of fundies in my country (I grew up in a small town with lots of fundies), I have never heard of them either marching against abortion and birth control or harassing women who visit abortion clinics here. As far as I know there is even only one political party here, a christian fundamentalist party - surprise - that completely opposes abortion. I have talked about the topic of abortion with two fundy women, and they both said that although they believe that from their religious perspective abortion is wrong, they would not prevent their daughters from having an abortion if they were raped and got pregnant. They would prefer to offer their daughters help in raising the child, but if the daughter would rather have an abortion, they wouldn't stop them. And in case of non-related women, they said they would never prevent anyone from having an abortion. They would prefer considering other options first, such as offering help in raising the child or putting it up for adoption, having a conversation with a woman who wants an abortion IF that woman wants to have a conversation with them, to see if they can somehow help, but they acknowledged that not everyone shares their beliefs, and that they live in a country where women have the choice, and so if a woman chooses for an abortion, it is not up to them to (physically) prevent them from having one.
 I have to admit that for fundy women, the two women I spoke to were relatively 'liberal'. They were both in favor of birth control, and one of them was also on birth control despite her church preaching against it. The eldest daughter of the other woman left the church and religion completely and lives with her boyfriend whom she isn't married to, and her mother (and father) still support her, despite their church telling them they shouldn't. 
Yet, I still can't wrap my head around the idea that there actually exist marches like this, that people harass women who visit abortion clinics. What are you trying to achieve? I think it makes much more sense to be open to a friendly conversation with women who don't share your beliefs/are considering an abortion. Try to figure out why they are having an abortion, is there anything you can do that will enable them to have the child? And don't force your opinion upon them/others. Not everyone shares your beliefs, and the freedom of religion that you value so much means that you are not the only one who is allowed to be free to believe something - it works both ways. And the beauty of abortion being legal is that it allows you to be opposed to abortion for yourself, and to not have an abortion when you get pregnant, while at the same time it allows women with unwanted pregnancies the option of having an abortion. If you're against it, don't use it. 
Protests and marches against abortion give me the idea that pro-lifers think that abortion being legal means that every women will be forced to have an abortion. And that just makes absolutely no sense to me.

Yes. Every damn year. Then they have fake ass pregnancy centers to prevent women from aborting by giving them false medical information. 

10 hours ago, smittykins said:

Because the baby is INNOCENT, y'all!(but not the mother?)*

*I do realize that some rape survivors choose to carry to term, and I support them 100%.

Unfortunately on adoptive parents forums for infants. A few adoptive parents wish a woman would just take the rape and pregnancy then choose adoption 

[Toothfairy]

13 hours ago, ShepherdontheRock said:

Every time I see an anti-choice comparison to the holocaust or doctored picture it makes me a little more pro-choice than ever before. 

They really need to come up with better arguments. 

And I don't get women who've done mental gymnastics to convince themselves that being against other women's choices makes them "pro-woman." The irony is some of these women end up aborting unwanted pregnancies themselves (then promptly going back to picketing.) 

 

This. 

 

Keep your legs closed. Remain abstinence. Wtf? Mary got pregnant as a virgin and people have sex. 

 

Choose adoption. But that requires 9 months of pregnancy. 

 

Because Jesus. Nothing in the bible about abortion. 

 

A baby is a consequence. But I thought they were blessings.

[closetcagebaby]

There were a bunch of people here for the March for Life behind me at Starbucks this morning and they just made me SO ANGRY (for all the reasons you all have articulated so well) that I went straight to my computer and donated money to NARAL and PP.

 

Probably not the effect they had intended, but a good one nonetheless!

[ophelia]

15 hours ago, closetcagebaby said:

There were a bunch of people here for the March for Life behind me at Starbucks this morning and they just made me SO ANGRY (for all the reasons you all have articulated so well) that I went straight to my computer and donated money to NARAL and PP.

 

Probably not the effect they had intended, but a good one nonetheless!

That's great. Here in Germany there is a campaign called "Hass hilft!" ("Hate helps!") so when ever members of this campaign find racist postings and comments on FB 1€ is donated to organizations that help people who want to leave right wing exremist groups.  And it is not only the donation, the person that was throwing all this BS into the cyberworld also gets a comment under his/her post that states that he/she now has supported the case just by spreading this hate speech.

The money is generated by private donators, but also by big companies, newspapers, etc. I love this campaign!

[AuLait]

I feel it's too easy to turn either side into monsters. Pro-choice does not always equal baby murderers who want to use abortion as birth control. Pro-life doesn't always equal women haters and prudes.

I was raised strongly pro-life, volunteered in CPC's, did the local March For Life many times through my teens. Probably 75% of the people I know are pro-life. I am a fairly recent convert to pro-choice. Neither label is comfortable for me because I understand both sides.

Now there are definitely plenty of pro-lifers who fit the stereotypes. One of my sisters, a nurse, is one. She thinks people just want to have consequence free sex. Keep your legs closed, blah blah. But no birth control either because it's poison and no sex education because you'll give them ideas! But honestly I can say the majority are people who have fundamental belief that life begins at conception (or implantation... Oh the debates we had!) and cannot resolve the conflict of ending one life at the choice of another so they settle on no one having the choice. Most of them are OK with birth control and sex education. (**This may be because I live in a liberal state). It really comes down to whose life is more important. And that is where the divide starts.

 

There are so many complicated and personal reasons someone might get an abortion and I feel my pro-life friends are not as sensitive to these concerns as they should be. I also feel the movement has decieved them in some areas with misleading information.  On the other hand, I feel my pro-choice friends misunderstand the core issues pro-lifers have with abortion. In my experience, it's not been about punishing women at all for most people. It really is about what they feel are two lives being equal and giving one the authority to kill the other. 

For myself, the change of heart came when I thought of my daughters who were sexually abused by a family member. If they had been impregnated, would I make them carry the child? No, I wouldn't. So then I followed the logical course... If I could not make them to do it, how could make others? If I believed a victimized woman should have full ownership of her body, why not all women?

Anyway, not sure what my point was ☺I guess I've had stuff rolling around my head since the Women's March last weekend and seeing the ugliness from all sides on social media and I needed to spill. I'm not sure there will ever be a resolution to the abortion debate but I resist the temptation to lump either side into broad stereotypes and reduce folks to the lowest common denominator. I hope that as medical advances continue that eventually a solution might be found that could reduce abortions even more than contraception and sex education.

 

 

 

[smittykins]

I have absolutely no issue with someone deciding she herself could not abort(or wear pants, or listen to secular music, or whatever).   When she tries to push it on everyone, that's a problem.