Jes posted this about a month ago. Now here are my thoughts about abortion vs. adoption. (Quick side note: We as women in this 21st century really have come a LONG way (thanks to our suffragette sisters!!!). I've been watching Mad Men and in the 2nd season, one of the ad guys want to find a way to get a pay raise so he contacts a friend that works at CBS and the ad guy gets a show no one wants to promote because it mentions abortion 50 some odd times in a 50 minute show. In the 1960s women's bodies sadly were not their own. And how widely debated abortion is today. It's mentioned even in the evening news. It's still a taboo subject among many people but HOW GRATEFUL I am that I am a woman who can say what I will do with my body and what it can and cannot do. I support Planned Parenthood for being a way women (and men) can educate themselves about sex. I used PP when I was first married, poor and had no insurance or way to support a baby. Thanks PP for being them for me and countless women)
I live in the area of the US known as THE BIBLE BELT. You want a church? We've got one on almost every corner ranging from Baptist to Jehovah's Witness. Need someone to preach to you? We've got them on TV and radio 24/7. But here's something interesting I've seen in my 2 years here: babies with babies. Now it might seem racist to say for whatever reason I'm not shocked by African American or Hispanic teenagers having babies in their teens but MOSTLY because their mommas are not taking them to TARGET to buy the baby some diapers. In some weird realm of my mind, I find that less disturbing and here's why.
When I see a 15 year old white GIRL with a baby in Target with her mother who is sometimes in her late 40s, I am shocked that it was okay for this CHILD, this girl to keep her baby. I'm not saying abortion is the answer (i'm only for abortion in the "conservative" sense: incest, rape or endangerment to mother. You have sex, you live with your consequences even if you are an EDUCATED working woman. We in live in a time where there is no excuse for stupidity. We have many methods of preventing an UNWANTED pregnancy BEFORE it happens.I know sometimes the mood hits and you're without a jimmy, well that's why it always pays to be prepared. Our purses are big enough that we can carry a condom or 20 if we really wanted to. I mean come on! If Samantha from SATC was carrying condoms aplenty in her purse in Dubai to only have the contents of the purse strewn on the ground from all the Arab men to see and condemn, you too can be prepared but not judged for having sex but later judged yes for killing a being inside you. ) but there's another A word: ADOPTION. Now how is this good for the 15 year old who got knocked up? I'm not saying her life is going to be like Quinn from Glee and go back to life full of song and dance. You carried a baby in you for 9 months there has to be some sort of emotional consequence to that, as well as physical. But there are so many families (excluding the Pitt-Jolies becaue CLEARLY they hate AMERICANS because they keep adopted from OUTSIDE the US. There are plenty of black babies that need adopting in America, Angie, that are of the same blood line as Zahara. Just sayin...), so many women who WANT babies but cannot physically have them. That's why there's adoption.
Adoption will give this baby a better chance at life. Babies born to teenager mothers are statistically more likely to become a teen parent themselves, have higher incidences of abuse, neglect and physical or mental illness(1). Who would want that for a baby/child? As a mother of two (by choice), I am saddened when I see cases of abuse of neglect of a child/baby. I see it almost any time I'm at Wal-Mart. It's like a mecca. I'm not saying motherhood is easy but for a girl who has not fully emotionally developed, it can be devastating and terrible for both her and the baby. I am glad that the mothers of these girls are supportive but support them in GIVING UP their CHILD through ADOPTION. Give the baby and yourself the chance at a wonderful life and future.
(1)
Oh my gosh - love this. How have I not seen all these awesome posts before? I need to link this to my blog via the update thingy. I agree with this 100%! You read about so many babies abused and killed by immature parents driven to their limits. Those babies could have made some childless couple's (of which there are plenty!!) dream come true of being a parent, and those babies would have been welcomed into and raised in a home where they were wanted and planned for, with a mother and father to raise them and see them as the amazing gift that they are - not the "oops" outcome of a drunken night at a field party. (um, can you tell that I have "feelings" about this?)
ReplyDeleteAnd I, too, am a big supporter of PP. I utilized them all throughout the first few years of my marriage when I was still practically a child myself and not ready to be a mom.
Great post.