Sasha, what a beautiful essay, full of heartfelt honesty. I think you may be correct on that years down the road, these truths will come to light.
I got pregnant at 17. Abortion was not yet legal and that is why it seemed wrong to me, otherwise I probably would have had one. I got married instead. We will have our 54th anniversary in a few weeks.
God miraculously saved our marriage 7 years in. This is when all those around us were divorcing. I was very blessed to be spared many regrets and heart aches.
Your voice is vital in this conversation. There are millions of women sharing your experience. God is gracious and merciful and He is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Thank you for bearing yourself in this excellent piece.
Abortion aside, I would like to see the Republican party focus on holding the democrats responsible for all the horrors they have imposed upon us with their totalitarian mandates. You cannot defend a woman's right to an abortion, while at the same time mandating her to be injected with a real bioweapon that is neither safe nor effective.
OK, I'm a man. So, what would I know about having kids? I know that I am a father, and that I was the father from the moment of conception. I know that it is absurd to suggest that a father isn't a father until the moment of birth.
It is frightening to see the number of people who can rationalize the most absurd premises ever devised by man. Or woman. Killing Jews is OK because, well, there must be some good reason. Of course, men can compete in women's athletics. It fits progressive idiotology, and that's all that matters. Science, and plain rational thought must be subjugated to progressive totalitarianism.
One more thing; I'm from Ohio, and I've been trying to get rid of Sherrod Brown for years. The guy is just another sock puppet.
This absolutely broke my heart! I am like you. I believed in what I was being told that women should focus on our career, travel and live our lives before we have children. I nearly aborted my first boy and I was fortunate to have a doctor that told me the trauma of abortion is more than having a child even if out of marriage. I had my child. And the joy and love and purpose was found at last. I realized then that what i'd been searching for was just this .. a child. That having a child is what we are here to do. We are told that it is a burden and expensive anf ties you down etc. I'm so sorry that you didn't have that doctor guiding you like I did, but in the end you had your joy.
Freeing slaves, giving woment the right to vote, going to war gainst Germany, . . .
Just a few notions that were widely considered "losing issues."
Of course, making abortion entirely illegal would be a "losing issue."
But the 15-week policy, widely practiced through the civilized world, should be given far more favorable consideration than US democrats are giving it today.
But Republicans are always looking at how they can implement an outright ban. I don't want to listen to another middle-aged, religious male tell women that they need to carry an ectopic pregnancy to term. The idiots who say, that yes, abortion is out of the question for the 10-year-old who was trapped by her dad need to see themselves out of the public conversation as well. Finally, there are plenty of high-profile idiots who STILL want to ban abortion when the life of the mother is at risk. When any of the aforementioned activists run their mouths publicly, they need to be loudly shouted down by those on the Right
If you can center the stories of women like Sasha a reasonable compromise (15 weeks) is possible. The pro-life side needs to win not in court, but in the court of public opinion.
You have no idea what you’re talking about regarding ectopic pregnancies. Please educate yourself. A woman will die if she isn’t treated for an ectopic pregnancy.
Of course she will; please re-read what I wrote, which is that of course these women need treatment andI don't want to hear the uninformed opinions of the lunatic Right to the contrary. Let's actually read the comment.
There's a religious white man around every corner looking for women with ectopic pregnancies so that he can kidnap her and force her to give birth to the fallopian embryo. This is what MSNBC would have you believe - and apparently most liberals believe it. Fear is a powerful currency and seems to be all that liberals have these days. Sad - they used to actually care about people.
Treating an ectopic pregnancy was never considered an abortion until after Roe v. Wade was overturned. All the way back in 1957, before legalized abortion in the US, press and photographers reported on Marilyn Monroe leaving a hospital after being treated for an ectopic pregnancy. IIRC, Planned Parenthood used to have a web page about the difference between abortion and treating an ectopic pregnancy - a page that mysteriously disappeared after the Dobbs decision.
So right. Abortion apologists saying a 10 year old impregnated by rape would not be allowed to have an abortion is ludicrous. Same with a mother whose life is endangered. It’s all twisted for their political agenda.
In 2023 US, public opinion is formed, taught and enforced by a left-leaning media. Any "court" put together by such a cultural force is hardly going to bring a fair verdict.
You are buying the far left bs. See below on ectopic pregnancies. Please list any human who would deny a pregnant-due -to-incest 10 year old an abortion. Re health of mother, the devil is in the details. Mental health? Compliant doctors can be found to say a pregnancy threatens a mothers health because of, well you know...something. But a real threat to the mothers life? Please list ONE high-profile "idiot" who would forbid an abortion and allow the mother to die.
This may sound like I am anti-abortion. I am vehemently opposed to late term abortion. But the heartbeat bill or an outright ban I will never support. To me, the ban after 15 weeks is where this country should be at this time.
The idiots are actually the far-Left, who celebrate abortions and zealously lobby for abortion on demand THROUGH birth. They are a sick death cult spreading fear and lies, and winning. We have to stop them.
Ectopic pregnancy is a disingenuous argument. It is not considered abortion when a doctor does surgery to save a woman’s life when she has an ectopic pregnancy.
This is nothing but a lie.. it’s crazy to think how many people believe that a woman is forced to carry an unviable baby. Sadly I had three miscarriages and with the first one has to have a d and c for my own health. It’s very telling that to attempt to win in this argument one has to LIE.
Here's something to consider. The removal of an ectopic pregnancy is not an abortion. It only qualifies as an abortion if done in the uterus. Ergo no abortion is needed to end a fallopian tubal pregnancy which would surely kill mother and child in a few months.
Oh, I agree; that is another thing that has to change. The good thing, if there is one,
is that the anti abortion hard liners are being called out in places like the national review. The huge margins in red state ballot measures has emboldened the moderate Republicans to call this stuff out. Nikki Haley is a good example.
Plenty of European countries, including the most progressive ones and many certainly more progressive then us, have 11-12 weeks rule. Some - more, like 20 weeks, but that’s not the point. The point is reasonable people on both side have the same idea, but extremists’ rhetorics, be it pro-life or pro-choice, kills all common sense. Until we start listening and speaking to each other, we will continue to be a dtysfunctioning society. Isn’t it embarrassing that citizens of other countries found common ground on this fundamental issue,and all we can do is demonstrate, waive slogans and give speeches. Frankly, I find it annoying. 15 weeks is a reasonable point with exceptions for a threat to woman’s health or other extenuating circumstances, such as when a woman is raped or is underage. I am not a n attorney or a doctor. We should get them involved in working out the details. But the dispute is not about women’s rights or Christian belief in the preciousness of life. 99% of people do not want to force motherhood on women like in the Handmaid’s Tale or have an abortion on the ninth month of pregnancy. It is all about partisanship. Our country is too divided to come to a reasonable and practical solution on any issue we face: abortions, deficit, immigration, gun control. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. And my apologies for a long rant.
In every issue today, it seems like a race to the extremes, but most of the populace are still in the middle somewhere. They’re just drowned out by the radicals at either end.
They have nothing to fight except the boogeyman of The Patriarchy they yammer about smashing. Ask a third waver what she means by that and she will either freeze or scream incoherently. The latter is a common response when they can't think of something rational to say.
I’ve seen this over and over since the onslaught of the women’s right movement …invariably those women that “hate” men the most are the ones who had relationship problems with men. Most of these feminists would LOVE to be in a stable relationship with a man, but for whatever reason, aren’t able to achieve that. And before someone starts yelling about me being sexist or some other nonsense, I’m a woman and I’ve spent time with plenty of these “ladies”, who when they’ve had too much to drink, whine and cry about not being able to find a guy to love them.
Sasha: post abortive women suffer disproportionately from depression, substance abuse, suicidal ideation, emotional numbness, anger and self harm. I counsel with these women and hear the pain, sorrow and deep regret in their stories of missing children and grandchildren. I urge you to seek help so you can be forgiven and set free from your abortions. Please look at Rachel’s Vineyard website.
The thing that bothers me the most about the pro-choice movement today is the absolute glee they show about killing babies. Read Connie Schultz's (Sherrod's disgusting wife) substack about this issue. Since when is aborting a child a celebration? I'm 64. I can't recall anyone I know that got an abortion acting as if it was no big deal. It just shows how amoral we've become. I live in Ohio and when I went to vote I noticed that the most controversial part of this issue was listed last on the ballot. This referrs to the ability to kill the baby even if it can live outside the uterus. How clever of them. Democrats know they have an ignorant and lazy base who won't bother to do their research. I contacted the Secretary of State office to find out who decides the organization of the ballot wording. This is handled by the Ballot Board of the General Assembly.
I thought you liked to keep government out of the bedroom? Is that the good message? What about "choice"? Does "Choice" apply only to women who vote D??
What I find so disturbing are the crowds of women celebrating their unfettered ability to do away with their inconvenient offspring. Is that the only way they feel they can be free and equal citizens in this country? I just can't wrap my head around this mindset.
There is something ghastly about a civilization that glories in the killing of unborn babies. Thank you for writing your piece. A part of me thinks that the crumbling of our civilization can't come soon enough. What a depressing thought. Somehow slave gladiators forced to fight to the death for the enjoyment of the people is more clean than killing our unborn babies. Sometimes I have a difficult time seeing the worth in humanity. Thank God for my wonderful family showing me the true meaning of life.
It's pretty damn brave to talk about your abortions and lifelong regrets. I've spoken of mine, 1989 & 22 years old, openly on FB a couple times and on other boards even Substack. I express my forever heartbreak too. I did create 3 humans which kinda deepens the abortion blow.
Where I stand is that everyone on that pre-exam table should lay still for the heartbeat check on speaker. Plug your ears if you want but make the choice available to keep or stop a beating heart. In 1989, I didn't know my 8 week baby would have a heartbeat. When I think back, my uterus was getting heavy and life was thriving but there was no internet for that kind of self research and no one told me. I would not have stopped that beating heart.
This must be a discussion about both men and women. For too long abortion has been discussed as a female issue, but there's another involved. Changing the abortion debate requires a hard look at why many males are not taking responsibility for their fertility. The sexual revolution detached males from their fertility and from females, and I believe this is directly tied to a 2021 male suicide rate 4 times that of women according to the CDC. It's as if we've given up on the men and the male/female bond. The chart displays 47 years of abortions and while it's come down from the 1990 peak, we still haven't gone below that base number of 615,000 after 4+ decades of laser focusing only on the females. I also had an abortion that I regret and have to live with, and I know I'm fortunate to have my 3 children. We are also dealing with a medical establishment that seems obsessed with population control through the bcp. I can remember in all my childbearing years (I'm almost 63) the first question asked at every single physical or other medical appointment was which bcp was I taking. I answered I didn't take it because of side effects and then the browbeating started. Every single time. The medical personnel were consumed with getting every fertile female on birth control pills. I like your statement that a desire for a baby is an evolved trait for women, and I also believe males have a complimentary evolved desire to attach to a woman and help her make children. But that male desire has been squashed by social forces and politics.
Thank you for sharing. We have almost fully decoupled the natural coupling of males and females. It's bad for both, but I believe more so for the men you mention who want to support the child. A woman who decides to keep her child even if the guy walks away still has the bond with her child, but a man devastated by an abortion has nothing. This is terrible and leaving many men adrift.
One problem is there are pro-life crisis pregnancy centers out there and democrats attack them. They won't allow funding or they cut funding. Just because they won't offer abortions or refer them. Dems are pro-death and anti-woman.
“… if the abortion debate begins to shift to celebrating mothers and women in general for this miraculous thing they and they alone can do…”
Ahhh, but the Democrats do not except this premise; they believe that “birthing people“ can be male or female! So none of this language change is going to help when we’ve undergone such a radical re-definition of “reality”.
P.S. Re: Ben’s video in Sasha’s post: WTF is up with the use of the term “Israelites”among pro Palestinian supporters lately? Are they boldly trying to show that this IS, in fact, about the Jews as a people and not about “Israel”? Or are they still living in biblical times?
So who were those far-right neo-nazis marching in the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville? I believe they were MAGA supporters. Who wore a "Camp Auschwitz" t-shirt on Jan 6? I'm sure there were others with a similar mind-set who stormed the Capitol.
Oh, God, please stop! This is utter bs and you know it. There are bad actors on both sides of the political spectrum. But equating MAGA supporters with Nazis! Just stop.
Wait! I figured it out. You, NWCitizen, are actually President Biden, communicating with his serfs via one of his many aliases. And spewing hate about Republicans and all others with whom you disagree.
Are you kidding? David Duke of the KKK (whom Trump pretended not to know in the Jake Tapper Interview) endorsed Trump. White supremacists and neo-nazis like RIchard Spencer celebrated when Trump won which is why they organized the "Unite the Right" Rally in 2017. Trump did his best to avoid denouncing them because he knew they made up part of his base and is why his first comments on Charlotteville talked about "hate on all sides." He didn't denounce them until after a public outcry.
"Charlottesville"--the magical word, the incantation that evokes an imaginary bloc of "white supremacists" who want to MAGA.
In the meantime, we've had, among other massive riots, the Summer of Hate in 2020, all the assorted antifa actions, and petulant lefty riots culminating in a wave of public hatred of Jews and praise for Hamas.
P.S./Edit: We MAGA white supremacists had better get on the ball. That "insurrection" was probably the worst example of one in the history of insurrections. A bunch of Boomer Republicans milling around the Capitol were ushered in by Epps and the cops who managed to be on duty at the time despite being dismissed by the Democrat Solons who had them stand down.
The NY Post on 4/14/21 reports that "a 104-page report by Michael Bolton, the inspector general of the Capitol Police, [. . .] quotes an Army official telling then-Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund that 'we don’t like the optics of the National Guard standing in a line at the Capitol' even after the unruly crowd had broken down doors and shattered windows to enter the federal building.
Law enforcement agents were quickly overwhelmed by the crowd, because of serious failures in training and equipment."
Political opponents of Trump quite obviously blew up the Capitol mill-around "riot" into a nonexistent "insurrection." The truth of the matter is coming out, which is why we no longer hear anyone bitching about it anymore except those desperate anti-MAGA pricks who have been so far unable to stop us and whose vaporings have only increased Trump's lead in the polls.
I don't think anyone has forgotten about the outrageous spectacle of thugs (that Trump proclaimed he "loved" and called them "very special") climbing walls, breaking windows, trashing the Capitol, and trying to get their hands of lawmakers. BTW, they did not have guns because they had to go through metal detectors to get into the area where their dear leader was ranting about the "big lie" but brought clubs, bats, bear spray, etc.
After Donald Trump lost the 2020 election but BEFORE JAN 6, multiple individuals plotted to use force to stop the peaceful transition of power. It was NOT a spur of the moment attack but was planned & carried out by a diverse coalition of Trump supporters including QAnon, Three-Percenter militia, Oath Keepers, Proud Boys. On Nov. 5, 2020, two days after the election, Oath Keeper leaders began using encrypted messages to communicate about a "civil war". Chairman Stewart Rhodes joined a Roger Stone text chat group asking "What’s the plan?, held an online members-only video conference in which Rhodes outlined a plan to stop transfer of power using force, planned to store "an arsenal" with a "Quick Reaction Force" (QRF) in nearby Alexandria, VA. On Jan 5, leaders began unloading weapons to the "QRF" in Alexandria then drove into D.C. on a "reconnaissance mission" before returning their hotel in VA. That night, Stewart Rhodes participated in an underground parking garage meeting with Proud Boys, including leader Enrique Tarrio. On January 6, Oath Keepers clad in reinforced vests marched to the Capitol in two tactical formations know as "stacks", where they participated and led the attack.
On Dec. 20, the Proud Boys leadership formed a special handpicked group of Proud Boys leaders which communicated through an encrypted messaging group & announced plans to be "incognito" on Jan. 6, not wearing traditional black and yellow garb. On Jan 3, Proud Boys leadership explicitly discussed attacking the Capitol. On Jan 4, Tarrio notified other leaders that a warrant had been signed for his arrest in connection to a stolen and burned BLM banner. Tarrio was arrested by D.C. police, who discovered he possessed illegal high-capacity magazines. On Jan 5, he was released and ordered to leave DC but participated in the Jan 5 parking garage meeting first where leaders divided members into teams, passed out radios programmed to specific channels. Orders were issued to assemble at 10 a.m. at the Washington Monument. On Jan 6, about 100 plainclothes members assembled at the Washington Monument and marched to the Capitol to participate in the attack. So your theory about Trump’s enemies leading the attack is WRONG!
On Nov 6, 2022, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy along with FL chapter leader Kelly Meggs for plotting the violent attack on the Capitol. On May 4, 2023, Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio, was found guilty of seditious conspiracy along with 3 others. Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years and Tarrio to 22 years while other members were convicted of lesser charges.
That's your job since I don't believe there was any conspiracy. Trump thought he would win but laid the groundwork for a possible loss long before the election by claiming the only way he could lose was if the election was "rigged." I'll leave you with the words of a distinguished Veteran, General John Kelly, Trump's chief of staff, who confirmed all of the disparaging comments Trump (the former "commander in chief") made about the military during his admin.
Kelly: "What can I add that has not already been said? A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all 'suckers' because 'there is nothing in it for them.'’ A person that did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because ‘it doesn’t look good for me.’ A person who demonstrated open contempt for a Gold Star family – for all Gold Star families – on TV during the 2016 campaign [John Kelly's son died in combat] and rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in America’s defense are ‘losers’ and wouldn’t visit their graves in France. A person who is not truthful regarding his position on the protection of unborn life, on women, on minorities, on evangelical Christians, on Jews, on working men and women. A person that has no idea what America stands for and has no idea what America is all about. A person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law.
There is nothing more that can be said,” Kelly concluded. “God help us.”
Sasha, what a beautiful essay, full of heartfelt honesty. I think you may be correct on that years down the road, these truths will come to light.
I got pregnant at 17. Abortion was not yet legal and that is why it seemed wrong to me, otherwise I probably would have had one. I got married instead. We will have our 54th anniversary in a few weeks.
God miraculously saved our marriage 7 years in. This is when all those around us were divorcing. I was very blessed to be spared many regrets and heart aches.
Your voice is vital in this conversation. There are millions of women sharing your experience. God is gracious and merciful and He is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
God bless you Sasha and thank you.
Thank you for bearing yourself in this excellent piece.
Abortion aside, I would like to see the Republican party focus on holding the democrats responsible for all the horrors they have imposed upon us with their totalitarian mandates. You cannot defend a woman's right to an abortion, while at the same time mandating her to be injected with a real bioweapon that is neither safe nor effective.
OK, I'm a man. So, what would I know about having kids? I know that I am a father, and that I was the father from the moment of conception. I know that it is absurd to suggest that a father isn't a father until the moment of birth.
It is frightening to see the number of people who can rationalize the most absurd premises ever devised by man. Or woman. Killing Jews is OK because, well, there must be some good reason. Of course, men can compete in women's athletics. It fits progressive idiotology, and that's all that matters. Science, and plain rational thought must be subjugated to progressive totalitarianism.
One more thing; I'm from Ohio, and I've been trying to get rid of Sherrod Brown for years. The guy is just another sock puppet.
Man is not a rational animal, he is a rationalizing animal.
I get your point. But there are both types.
Yes, you are right.
He’s horrible
Thank you. I look forward to every article you write.
Me too although this one made me sad.
This absolutely broke my heart! I am like you. I believed in what I was being told that women should focus on our career, travel and live our lives before we have children. I nearly aborted my first boy and I was fortunate to have a doctor that told me the trauma of abortion is more than having a child even if out of marriage. I had my child. And the joy and love and purpose was found at last. I realized then that what i'd been searching for was just this .. a child. That having a child is what we are here to do. We are told that it is a burden and expensive anf ties you down etc. I'm so sorry that you didn't have that doctor guiding you like I did, but in the end you had your joy.
Freeing slaves, giving woment the right to vote, going to war gainst Germany, . . .
Just a few notions that were widely considered "losing issues."
Of course, making abortion entirely illegal would be a "losing issue."
But the 15-week policy, widely practiced through the civilized world, should be given far more favorable consideration than US democrats are giving it today.
But Republicans are always looking at how they can implement an outright ban. I don't want to listen to another middle-aged, religious male tell women that they need to carry an ectopic pregnancy to term. The idiots who say, that yes, abortion is out of the question for the 10-year-old who was trapped by her dad need to see themselves out of the public conversation as well. Finally, there are plenty of high-profile idiots who STILL want to ban abortion when the life of the mother is at risk. When any of the aforementioned activists run their mouths publicly, they need to be loudly shouted down by those on the Right
If you can center the stories of women like Sasha a reasonable compromise (15 weeks) is possible. The pro-life side needs to win not in court, but in the court of public opinion.
You have no idea what you’re talking about regarding ectopic pregnancies. Please educate yourself. A woman will die if she isn’t treated for an ectopic pregnancy.
Who is the religious middle aged man who has told a woman she must care an ectopic pregnancy to term?
Exactly. No one is demanding that.
Right?!
Of course she will; please re-read what I wrote, which is that of course these women need treatment andI don't want to hear the uninformed opinions of the lunatic Right to the contrary. Let's actually read the comment.
There's a religious white man around every corner looking for women with ectopic pregnancies so that he can kidnap her and force her to give birth to the fallopian embryo. This is what MSNBC would have you believe - and apparently most liberals believe it. Fear is a powerful currency and seems to be all that liberals have these days. Sad - they used to actually care about people.
You are soo correct. Fear is a huge motivator and it works for those in mass psychosis.
Clearing an ectopic pregnancy isn’t an abortion, by definition.
And no "total ban" includes this.
Name-calling --- "lunatic" --- is not going to get you credit. Not around here.
I did, and its still an asinine, ignorant statement.
This samhain is totally outta pocket on the whole topic if you ask me...sheesh.
I’ve never heard anyone say an ectopic pregnancy should be not aborted. An egg implanted outside the uterus is unviable.
Treating an ectopic pregnancy was never considered an abortion until after Roe v. Wade was overturned. All the way back in 1957, before legalized abortion in the US, press and photographers reported on Marilyn Monroe leaving a hospital after being treated for an ectopic pregnancy. IIRC, Planned Parenthood used to have a web page about the difference between abortion and treating an ectopic pregnancy - a page that mysteriously disappeared after the Dobbs decision.
So right. Abortion apologists saying a 10 year old impregnated by rape would not be allowed to have an abortion is ludicrous. Same with a mother whose life is endangered. It’s all twisted for their political agenda.
From what ive read, 1% of abortions are the result of rape or mothers life being in danger. And even the later is subjective.
Exactly. I’ve forgotten what the percentage was for “convenience” (aka another form of birth control), but the percentage was very high.
In 2023 US, public opinion is formed, taught and enforced by a left-leaning media. Any "court" put together by such a cultural force is hardly going to bring a fair verdict.
We need a new "court."
No. Just one that is not quite as left-leaning as the present "public opinion."
See who celebrates Hamas' "heroic" deeds: They are today's "public opinion" on campuses, which are the places that manufacture tomorrow's leaders.
And the left is out for them too...
Correct. And that venerable court has not had any influence on "public opinion" for decades. Many decades.
So, what does the Cort have to do with what I posted?
Its what we have...
You are buying the far left bs. See below on ectopic pregnancies. Please list any human who would deny a pregnant-due -to-incest 10 year old an abortion. Re health of mother, the devil is in the details. Mental health? Compliant doctors can be found to say a pregnancy threatens a mothers health because of, well you know...something. But a real threat to the mothers life? Please list ONE high-profile "idiot" who would forbid an abortion and allow the mother to die.
This may sound like I am anti-abortion. I am vehemently opposed to late term abortion. But the heartbeat bill or an outright ban I will never support. To me, the ban after 15 weeks is where this country should be at this time.
The idiots are actually the far-Left, who celebrate abortions and zealously lobby for abortion on demand THROUGH birth. They are a sick death cult spreading fear and lies, and winning. We have to stop them.
And this is in reply to Samhain, not to MLM Fan. I have no idea why my post above was stacked incorrectly.
Ectopic pregnancy is a disingenuous argument. It is not considered abortion when a doctor does surgery to save a woman’s life when she has an ectopic pregnancy.
No one wants to ban medically necessary abortions. This is a lie created by the left.
This is nothing but a lie.. it’s crazy to think how many people believe that a woman is forced to carry an unviable baby. Sadly I had three miscarriages and with the first one has to have a d and c for my own health. It’s very telling that to attempt to win in this argument one has to LIE.
Here's something to consider. The removal of an ectopic pregnancy is not an abortion. It only qualifies as an abortion if done in the uterus. Ergo no abortion is needed to end a fallopian tubal pregnancy which would surely kill mother and child in a few months.
"The Republicans" you say. I say: Some do, others don't. Think a bit.
Oh, I agree; that is another thing that has to change. The good thing, if there is one,
is that the anti abortion hard liners are being called out in places like the national review. The huge margins in red state ballot measures has emboldened the moderate Republicans to call this stuff out. Nikki Haley is a good example.
Oh please tell me oh wise one ...what is the answer to stop the killing of unborn babies?
Pence is irrelevant. Especially now.
The extremists are those who support unlimited access to free abortion with zero restrictions. I.e. every elected Democrat in the country.
Yep. PARTY OVER PRINCIPLE they scream.. gack!
Oh, Pence is a mendacious clown and he needs to Go Away. We're on the same side here (at least with regard to abortion)
He has already gone away.
Why? Because he loves children?
How do you "moderately" stop a pregnancy?
Plenty of European countries, including the most progressive ones and many certainly more progressive then us, have 11-12 weeks rule. Some - more, like 20 weeks, but that’s not the point. The point is reasonable people on both side have the same idea, but extremists’ rhetorics, be it pro-life or pro-choice, kills all common sense. Until we start listening and speaking to each other, we will continue to be a dtysfunctioning society. Isn’t it embarrassing that citizens of other countries found common ground on this fundamental issue,and all we can do is demonstrate, waive slogans and give speeches. Frankly, I find it annoying. 15 weeks is a reasonable point with exceptions for a threat to woman’s health or other extenuating circumstances, such as when a woman is raped or is underage. I am not a n attorney or a doctor. We should get them involved in working out the details. But the dispute is not about women’s rights or Christian belief in the preciousness of life. 99% of people do not want to force motherhood on women like in the Handmaid’s Tale or have an abortion on the ninth month of pregnancy. It is all about partisanship. Our country is too divided to come to a reasonable and practical solution on any issue we face: abortions, deficit, immigration, gun control. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. And my apologies for a long rant.
In every issue today, it seems like a race to the extremes, but most of the populace are still in the middle somewhere. They’re just drowned out by the radicals at either end.
Seems like there are a lot of unmarried, unhappy career women out there.
LOL of course. They've been taught and brainwashed that they don't need men and that men are the ultimate problem.
Misandrists.
They have nothing to fight except the boogeyman of The Patriarchy they yammer about smashing. Ask a third waver what she means by that and she will either freeze or scream incoherently. The latter is a common response when they can't think of something rational to say.
I’ve seen this over and over since the onslaught of the women’s right movement …invariably those women that “hate” men the most are the ones who had relationship problems with men. Most of these feminists would LOVE to be in a stable relationship with a man, but for whatever reason, aren’t able to achieve that. And before someone starts yelling about me being sexist or some other nonsense, I’m a woman and I’ve spent time with plenty of these “ladies”, who when they’ve had too much to drink, whine and cry about not being able to find a guy to love them.
Everybody needs a purpose.
Lovely honesty, right on!
Just like slavery was widely considered acceptable two hundred years ago, so will abortion, some time in the future, be viewed with moral horror
Sasha: post abortive women suffer disproportionately from depression, substance abuse, suicidal ideation, emotional numbness, anger and self harm. I counsel with these women and hear the pain, sorrow and deep regret in their stories of missing children and grandchildren. I urge you to seek help so you can be forgiven and set free from your abortions. Please look at Rachel’s Vineyard website.
Thank-you for your service. I can imagine that it is a very difficult career.
The thing that bothers me the most about the pro-choice movement today is the absolute glee they show about killing babies. Read Connie Schultz's (Sherrod's disgusting wife) substack about this issue. Since when is aborting a child a celebration? I'm 64. I can't recall anyone I know that got an abortion acting as if it was no big deal. It just shows how amoral we've become. I live in Ohio and when I went to vote I noticed that the most controversial part of this issue was listed last on the ballot. This referrs to the ability to kill the baby even if it can live outside the uterus. How clever of them. Democrats know they have an ignorant and lazy base who won't bother to do their research. I contacted the Secretary of State office to find out who decides the organization of the ballot wording. This is handled by the Ballot Board of the General Assembly.
What are you TALKING ABOUT? MEN get paid maternity leave where I work and where just about everyone I know works. What imaginary world do you occupy??
That’s appropriate. It should not be government mandated.
I thought you liked to keep government out of the bedroom? Is that the good message? What about "choice"? Does "Choice" apply only to women who vote D??
What I find so disturbing are the crowds of women celebrating their unfettered ability to do away with their inconvenient offspring. Is that the only way they feel they can be free and equal citizens in this country? I just can't wrap my head around this mindset.
You can't legislate love.
There is something ghastly about a civilization that glories in the killing of unborn babies. Thank you for writing your piece. A part of me thinks that the crumbling of our civilization can't come soon enough. What a depressing thought. Somehow slave gladiators forced to fight to the death for the enjoyment of the people is more clean than killing our unborn babies. Sometimes I have a difficult time seeing the worth in humanity. Thank God for my wonderful family showing me the true meaning of life.
Sorry for your loss, Sasha. We love you.
Well said.
It's pretty damn brave to talk about your abortions and lifelong regrets. I've spoken of mine, 1989 & 22 years old, openly on FB a couple times and on other boards even Substack. I express my forever heartbreak too. I did create 3 humans which kinda deepens the abortion blow.
Where I stand is that everyone on that pre-exam table should lay still for the heartbeat check on speaker. Plug your ears if you want but make the choice available to keep or stop a beating heart. In 1989, I didn't know my 8 week baby would have a heartbeat. When I think back, my uterus was getting heavy and life was thriving but there was no internet for that kind of self research and no one told me. I would not have stopped that beating heart.
This must be a discussion about both men and women. For too long abortion has been discussed as a female issue, but there's another involved. Changing the abortion debate requires a hard look at why many males are not taking responsibility for their fertility. The sexual revolution detached males from their fertility and from females, and I believe this is directly tied to a 2021 male suicide rate 4 times that of women according to the CDC. It's as if we've given up on the men and the male/female bond. The chart displays 47 years of abortions and while it's come down from the 1990 peak, we still haven't gone below that base number of 615,000 after 4+ decades of laser focusing only on the females. I also had an abortion that I regret and have to live with, and I know I'm fortunate to have my 3 children. We are also dealing with a medical establishment that seems obsessed with population control through the bcp. I can remember in all my childbearing years (I'm almost 63) the first question asked at every single physical or other medical appointment was which bcp was I taking. I answered I didn't take it because of side effects and then the browbeating started. Every single time. The medical personnel were consumed with getting every fertile female on birth control pills. I like your statement that a desire for a baby is an evolved trait for women, and I also believe males have a complimentary evolved desire to attach to a woman and help her make children. But that male desire has been squashed by social forces and politics.
Thanks for this. Many men have been devastated by their girlfriend’s choice, even when they wanted to fully support their child.
Thank you for sharing. We have almost fully decoupled the natural coupling of males and females. It's bad for both, but I believe more so for the men you mention who want to support the child. A woman who decides to keep her child even if the guy walks away still has the bond with her child, but a man devastated by an abortion has nothing. This is terrible and leaving many men adrift.
And many men are extremely relieved to not be on the hook for supporting the result of an unplanned pregnancy,.
Then don’t have unprotected sex with multiple partners.
They do with IVF embryos and there have been some males that have successfully gotten an injunction to stop an abortion. It's rare but it does happen.
Depends on the laws in each state. "Danger" is up to interpretation.
One problem is there are pro-life crisis pregnancy centers out there and democrats attack them. They won't allow funding or they cut funding. Just because they won't offer abortions or refer them. Dems are pro-death and anti-woman.
and anti-semites. They are the party of HATE
“… if the abortion debate begins to shift to celebrating mothers and women in general for this miraculous thing they and they alone can do…”
Ahhh, but the Democrats do not except this premise; they believe that “birthing people“ can be male or female! So none of this language change is going to help when we’ve undergone such a radical re-definition of “reality”.
P.S. Re: Ben’s video in Sasha’s post: WTF is up with the use of the term “Israelites”among pro Palestinian supporters lately? Are they boldly trying to show that this IS, in fact, about the Jews as a people and not about “Israel”? Or are they still living in biblical times?
So who were those far-right neo-nazis marching in the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville? I believe they were MAGA supporters. Who wore a "Camp Auschwitz" t-shirt on Jan 6? I'm sure there were others with a similar mind-set who stormed the Capitol.
Oh, God, please stop! This is utter bs and you know it. There are bad actors on both sides of the political spectrum. But equating MAGA supporters with Nazis! Just stop.
Wait! I figured it out. You, NWCitizen, are actually President Biden, communicating with his serfs via one of his many aliases. And spewing hate about Republicans and all others with whom you disagree.
Are you kidding? David Duke of the KKK (whom Trump pretended not to know in the Jake Tapper Interview) endorsed Trump. White supremacists and neo-nazis like RIchard Spencer celebrated when Trump won which is why they organized the "Unite the Right" Rally in 2017. Trump did his best to avoid denouncing them because he knew they made up part of his base and is why his first comments on Charlotteville talked about "hate on all sides." He didn't denounce them until after a public outcry.
If you see thi, why are you participating in the name game?
"Charlottesville"--the magical word, the incantation that evokes an imaginary bloc of "white supremacists" who want to MAGA.
In the meantime, we've had, among other massive riots, the Summer of Hate in 2020, all the assorted antifa actions, and petulant lefty riots culminating in a wave of public hatred of Jews and praise for Hamas.
P.S./Edit: We MAGA white supremacists had better get on the ball. That "insurrection" was probably the worst example of one in the history of insurrections. A bunch of Boomer Republicans milling around the Capitol were ushered in by Epps and the cops who managed to be on duty at the time despite being dismissed by the Democrat Solons who had them stand down.
The NY Post on 4/14/21 reports that "a 104-page report by Michael Bolton, the inspector general of the Capitol Police, [. . .] quotes an Army official telling then-Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund that 'we don’t like the optics of the National Guard standing in a line at the Capitol' even after the unruly crowd had broken down doors and shattered windows to enter the federal building.
Law enforcement agents were quickly overwhelmed by the crowd, because of serious failures in training and equipment."
Political opponents of Trump quite obviously blew up the Capitol mill-around "riot" into a nonexistent "insurrection." The truth of the matter is coming out, which is why we no longer hear anyone bitching about it anymore except those desperate anti-MAGA pricks who have been so far unable to stop us and whose vaporings have only increased Trump's lead in the polls.
I don't think anyone has forgotten about the outrageous spectacle of thugs (that Trump proclaimed he "loved" and called them "very special") climbing walls, breaking windows, trashing the Capitol, and trying to get their hands of lawmakers. BTW, they did not have guns because they had to go through metal detectors to get into the area where their dear leader was ranting about the "big lie" but brought clubs, bats, bear spray, etc.
After Donald Trump lost the 2020 election but BEFORE JAN 6, multiple individuals plotted to use force to stop the peaceful transition of power. It was NOT a spur of the moment attack but was planned & carried out by a diverse coalition of Trump supporters including QAnon, Three-Percenter militia, Oath Keepers, Proud Boys. On Nov. 5, 2020, two days after the election, Oath Keeper leaders began using encrypted messages to communicate about a "civil war". Chairman Stewart Rhodes joined a Roger Stone text chat group asking "What’s the plan?, held an online members-only video conference in which Rhodes outlined a plan to stop transfer of power using force, planned to store "an arsenal" with a "Quick Reaction Force" (QRF) in nearby Alexandria, VA. On Jan 5, leaders began unloading weapons to the "QRF" in Alexandria then drove into D.C. on a "reconnaissance mission" before returning their hotel in VA. That night, Stewart Rhodes participated in an underground parking garage meeting with Proud Boys, including leader Enrique Tarrio. On January 6, Oath Keepers clad in reinforced vests marched to the Capitol in two tactical formations know as "stacks", where they participated and led the attack.
On Dec. 20, the Proud Boys leadership formed a special handpicked group of Proud Boys leaders which communicated through an encrypted messaging group & announced plans to be "incognito" on Jan. 6, not wearing traditional black and yellow garb. On Jan 3, Proud Boys leadership explicitly discussed attacking the Capitol. On Jan 4, Tarrio notified other leaders that a warrant had been signed for his arrest in connection to a stolen and burned BLM banner. Tarrio was arrested by D.C. police, who discovered he possessed illegal high-capacity magazines. On Jan 5, he was released and ordered to leave DC but participated in the Jan 5 parking garage meeting first where leaders divided members into teams, passed out radios programmed to specific channels. Orders were issued to assemble at 10 a.m. at the Washington Monument. On Jan 6, about 100 plainclothes members assembled at the Washington Monument and marched to the Capitol to participate in the attack. So your theory about Trump’s enemies leading the attack is WRONG!
On Nov 6, 2022, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy along with FL chapter leader Kelly Meggs for plotting the violent attack on the Capitol. On May 4, 2023, Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio, was found guilty of seditious conspiracy along with 3 others. Rhodes was sentenced to 18 years and Tarrio to 22 years while other members were convicted of lesser charges.
Flimsy rationalizations intended to justify railroading Trump into the klink and preventing his taking the Presidency next year.
Now do the conspiracy that handed the 2020 election to our walking corpse-in-chief.
That's your job since I don't believe there was any conspiracy. Trump thought he would win but laid the groundwork for a possible loss long before the election by claiming the only way he could lose was if the election was "rigged." I'll leave you with the words of a distinguished Veteran, General John Kelly, Trump's chief of staff, who confirmed all of the disparaging comments Trump (the former "commander in chief") made about the military during his admin.
Kelly: "What can I add that has not already been said? A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all 'suckers' because 'there is nothing in it for them.'’ A person that did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because ‘it doesn’t look good for me.’ A person who demonstrated open contempt for a Gold Star family – for all Gold Star families – on TV during the 2016 campaign [John Kelly's son died in combat] and rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in America’s defense are ‘losers’ and wouldn’t visit their graves in France. A person who is not truthful regarding his position on the protection of unborn life, on women, on minorities, on evangelical Christians, on Jews, on working men and women. A person that has no idea what America stands for and has no idea what America is all about. A person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person that has nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law.
There is nothing more that can be said,” Kelly concluded. “God help us.”